Interior Lights

[Theessence]

So I just got my first couple of pieces to change my interior color scheme to blue. I painted a few things awhile ago but now I got a blue shifter replacement and blue fog light control piece. They look really awesome at night when the lights are on behind them but they're kind of hard to read during the day.

Is there any way I can make the dash / shifter lights stay on all the time, and be controlled by the dimmer like they are at night? Maybe if I could make the light sensor on the outside think that it's dark out all of the time? Not sure how I would do that though.

[grfnkl]

Originally Posted by Theessence

So I just got my first couple of pieces to change my interior color scheme to blue. I painted a few things awhile ago but now I got a blue shifter replacement and blue fog light control piece. They look really awesome at night when the lights are on behind them but they're kind of hard to read during the day.

Is there any way I can make the dash / shifter lights stay on all the time, and be controlled by the dimmer like they are at night? Maybe if I could make the light sensor on the outside think that it's dark out all of the time? Not sure how I would do that though.

if you want your lights to come on and stay on all the time... just cover over the light sensor which if I recall correctly it's under the defogger vent on the dash. A piece of black electrical tape would do the trick. simpe, effective, cheap and reversible!

[Theessence]

It'd be awesome if that's all I had to do. I'll pop off the defogger plate thing and take a look in there tomorrow. Hopefully it makes a difference with the legibility of those pieces.

I was trying to stay away from the black and red scheme because that's what everyone does! Now maybe I know why its so popular. The black and blue look good together but I guess they may not be contrasting enough for the little things like this.

[xeroinfinity]

One thing about covering the ALC sensor is your headlights will actualy be on. Not like the DRLs which run at a lower voltage so you might go through more headlights.

How did you change out the light colors, with a silicone gels or overlays ?
Or did you install LEDs ?

I've been meaning to replace some of the bulbs in my SE cluster with blu LEDs. I have my buttons and stuff blu but the Hvac and dash are the last of it, just time consuming.

Been meaning to also just swap out the factory bulbs w/LEDs in the door buttons but I need resistors soldered in first.. Just not enough hours in a day.

[Theessence]

I got some overlays for christmas and put those on. What buttons do you have blue xero? I just have the HVAC and speedometer left to make blue. Is there another light somewhere I could change that I'm not thinking of?

[xeroinfinity]

I changed the window and lock button lights to blue.
Pulled the red/orange silicone boots off the bulbs and used some blue silicone gels cut down to cover the bulbs.

Plus my dome light(s) are blu LEDs and the lights under the dash that shine on the floor.

They sell dash overlays and Hvac, think they were here.
http://www.customautoaccents.com/

Also be carefull with your defrost vent, they break easliy!!

[Theessence]

how did you change out the door lights and where did you get the colored gels and LED's? How difficult is it to install?


That's the site where I got the other overlays. I really want the dash replacement but its $120... I'll probably end up doing it anyways.

[xeroinfinity]

The door buttons arent to difficult to change.
See the "interior parts" in this section Appearance-Non-Performance, I do have other pics of the buttons if they arent all in the interior parts thread.

I got the gels from the Zone for like $3.
Here is a pic of those.....


The LEDs also came from AZ, in sets, $15-20.
I cut a bad cd to fit into the dome light, drilled some holes for the LEDs, then I soldered a jumper wire to the main dome socket for the LEDs ... might have a pic or two of that also.

Basicly on the door buttons....
I removed the red gels on the bulbs(factory red), then I cut one of those blue gels in strips about 1/2" wide.
Then cut the ring in half , then placed it over the bulbs in the buttons.

I'll have to search my photodump for those other pics.
Thier site is realy slow and I have like a gazillion pics and folders.

Edit>.
Ok here is another pic I found of those buttons.


Also I did use a very small dab of clear silicone to hold the gel half on top of the bulb, figured it wouldnt fall off that way.

And here is a pic of the lock button(from my GA GT=green)


same as the other bulbs, removed the red factory gels, then poped off the top white piece(green in that pic) and since I couldnt find any green gels(actualy couldnt find any at the time) I used a green sharpie and colored it 3-4times, drying between each time. They look awesome too !

The light emitter on the right was a failed attempt to color them blue with some transperant blu film I had laying around.

Good Luck

[Jmoney3318]

u can do wat i did with my gauges. . .


heres what it looks like during the day


Daytime and on



on at night...the pics arent so great but i think you get the idea

[syphon1337]

Originally Posted by Theessence

So I just got my first couple of pieces to change my interior color scheme to blue. I painted a few things awhile ago but now I got a blue shifter replacement and blue fog light control piece. They look really awesome at night when the lights are on behind them but they're kind of hard to read during the day.

Is there any way I can make the dash / shifter lights stay on all the time, and be controlled by the dimmer like they are at night? Maybe if I could make the light sensor on the outside think that it's dark out all of the time? Not sure how I would do that though.

Like others said the light is on the dash. It is a black little dome thing on the let side. But an even easier solution would be to just manually turn on your headlights.

[xeroinfinity]

Which ones are those Jmoney ??

You dont even see your numbers light up ....
I like the blu though.

Yeah syphon1337 I think the 99 isnt able to turn on the headlights during the day, just the DRLs.

But I thought the dash did light up then too.... just turn up the dimmer maybe . Or is that what you were saying syphon ??

I cant remember how they go, my DRLs and ALC are disabled anyways I can turn them at will.

[Theessence]

Jmoney I really like your gauges. Is that just a replacement face plate with blue needles and the stock red coming through? Where did you get the stuff you used?

I'm definitely going to do those lights xero, you talked me into it. I'm sure I'll have some questions when I actually go to do it though.

I'm gonna take some pictures of what it looks like now this weekend and maybe you guys will have some ideas on what I can do. I don't know if the white face would look good with my whole black/blue color scheme.

Thanks for the replies

[xeroinfinity]

Thats cool!
That interior thread explains how to remove and disassemble the buttons pretty well.

But if you need anything just ask!

I think I saw Jmoneys gauge thing somewhere, I think they do just set on top of the factory gauges. I'd rather it be all lit up blu or something, anything besides RED!

[Jmoney3318]

Originally Posted by Theessence

Jmoney I really like your gauges. Is that just a replacement face plate with blue needles and the stock red coming through? Where did you get the stuff you used?

Thanx, glad you like it. Yea that is a replacement white face plate, the needles are stock i just removed them and sanded down the orange part of them on the back and painted them white so the light reflects off of them. they are 4 leds around each needles connected to a dimmer switch i picked up from this website (let me find the link and ill post it). They came with white bulbs for the back but i messed up the 194 bulb socket holders on the back of the gauge itself but i just turn my interior lights all the way down anyway so no light shines through them on the back its just blue needles at night. doesnt bother me cuz i know where my speed limits are. im sure along the road ill get the faceplate that lights up blue im sure that will come out nic ein the cars theme i got going.

[Theessence]

Ok I just decided I'm going to have to stick with white and blue for the gauges and HVAC and I think it'll still look good with the rest of the black/blue. I just ordered a speedo gauge and hvac tonight.

The speedometer is white with a blue glow but the "warning light" surrounding area is going to be black. The hvac is white w/ a blue glow too. I hope this turns out ok! *crosses fingers*

Do you guys know how hard it is to get the needles back on there after its all done? The instructions they give say to look at where the needles are at idle and then put them back there when you're done. How do I put the speedometer needle back in at the right spot.