Finally managed to get some photos and a
guide however like usual I didn't take any photos whilst in the process of making them therfore there is a longish step-by-step explaination and some photos after. If anyone has any questions just let me know and I'll try and explain. Also, mine is a 58 plate just in case you are wondering.
I got some usuful ideas from this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&fe...&v=Jx-jhpMtiUM but as its Spanish I decided to give it a go myself. Also, mine are waterproof as there are no issues with all this recent rain!
Most of the below items I had around the garage, the only things you will probably need to buy are the SMD's, Glass Cabochons, black sealant and Fuse Piggly Back.
I've put the ebay name to search for, the seller and the price so you know what to look for. There are other sellers out there so feel free to go to who you want!
Items Required
•A Circuit Fuse Tap Piggy Back Standard Blade Fuse Holder - £3.20 - autostar*
•Clear Glass Cabochons Cabs Flatbacks Oval Round Square Image Magnifying 10mm round x2 - £2.00 + £0.90 postage. Marmaladeblue
•2x ERROR FREE CANBUS T10 W5W 501 Car White 5 SMD LED x 2 - £5.94 (for 12) - delhanway2009
•Clear Silicone Sealant – Screwfix no nonsense £2.59
•Black Silicone Sealant – Screwfix no nonsense £2.59
•DVD case (perfect match to the vent plastic).
•Superglue
•10mm drill bit
•Needle File
•Soldering
•Black flex cable - 3m
•Scissors, cable strippers, spanner etc.
•Cable tie
•Insulation tape
•Cable blocks
•Cable fixing earth hoop.
•4 Amp fuse.
•Multi-meter (to check fuse power location)
How To Make:
Simply remove the three retaining Philips screws (top, middle and bottom) and slid the vent out towards you as there are a couple of retaining clips to the front of the vent. Incidentally, this is how access to the fog lights is obtained from!
Give the back of the vents a good clean to remove any dust which could affect the bonding of the glue. Now get the DVD case and cut it into three separate sections which are big enough to cover the holes in the 3 sections using scissors. You may have to do some trimming here and there to get them to fit in place but you will see once you get started. Hold them in place (some tape will
help) and then look at the front and mark the middle of the vent holes. Remove and then drill the 10mm hole in each with a wood drill bit on a slow speed, make sure you grip the plastic tight! Once drilled use the file to remove any sharp edges etc. Note: the second from top SMD is quite close to the vent fin, just make sure you cut the hole in the right place.
The glass Cabochons should fit in the holes perfectly however make sure you use the clear silicone to stick them in place on the inside of the vent and make sure that you stick the smd onto the glass at the same time, you don’t need a great deal of silicone and this also provides the waterproofing. Once dry you can cut small sections of the black flex cable (about 15cm long) and pull out the brown and blue inner wires and solder these onto the ‘+’ and ‘-‘ parts of the smd (be sure to have about 4 inches of wire so that the can get past the screw holes when refixing the vent back to the car). Make sure you check which is the + and – with a 9v battery just to be sure! Once this is all done you can connect all the + and – together with a cable block.
Apply the superglue to the back of the vent not using too much as it will squash out and then press your DVD/smd case to that making sure the smd’s are in the middle (apply the glue to all parts of the vent so it holds firm), hold it in place as the dvd case will flex to the shape of the vent so no gaps will be seen. Once dry (about 20 seconds) apply black silicone over the back of the smd and edge of the dvd case to give a waterproof seal and stop any light shining into the car body.
Feed the black flex from one side of the car to the other and cable tie it onto the inside of the under skirting behind the middle vent/mesh…there are a number of places to connect it to but you need to get on the floor to reach under. Connect the + and – to the driver’s side block on the completed smd vent and put tape around to protect it. Leave some slack so you can always access them if required.
Do the same to the passenger side but also remove the blue/brown section of flex which is long enough to feed up to the fuse box. Add a metal loop to one end of the ‘-‘ and fix to the bolt on the body. Connect the ‘+’ to the piggy back fuse holder using a connector and then use a 5 Amp fuse in the connector and plug this into fuse location F22. Screw the vents back on and all is done.
The lights will only come on with the ignition and once you have completed your journey they will stay on for about 10 mins after which are useful for ‘coming home lights’. As the power usage is so low you won’t have any issues with the battery going flat!
Things I would/will look at changing:
Adding some sort of frosting on the back of the Cabochons so that when the lights are off the green/yellow of the smd doesn’t show through. This is just me being picky!
Checking other sources of power which may only stay on for a couple of mins when locking the car or even straight away as I've already had two people coming up to me saying that I've left my lights on!. If anyone knows which fuse this is please let me know as it will save me time fiddling around at the weekend with the multi-meter!
Photos:
DVD case sut to size (cut around the screw holes etc.) and then glues in place. The silicone covers the SMD's to make them waterproof.
Side profile. You can see that the DVD case has the flexibility to follow the profile of the vent.
Make sure you don't block any of the clips with silicone otherwise you will struggle to get it back in.
Lights off.
End of '-' earth cable connected bolt on body above passenger headlight.
Piggy back fuse holder in F22.
Off....not really noticed.
On....just lisk a DS3.
At night (rubbish photo...sorry, thats an iphone for you!).
Close up when on.
Side view at night.
