bluechro's 1995 MX-3 - updated Jun/26

[tmac4t4]

hey do you have a pic of the rims after paint...i think ive been inspired...

*EDIT* i just noticed its on the future mod list...so i guess you have to finish them first

[bluechro]

Interior trim was just ripping off the old fabric and slapping on some fabric adhesive, but I'm really not satisfied with the results. The thickness of the fabric I used (black polyester felt) makes it pretty hard to manipulate to follow the flow of the panel. I'm not sure if I didn't apply the fabric adhesive correctly or what, but the method definitely could use some refining.

Rims are yet to be painted... Hopefully within the next week.. Will keep you updated

[Urbanconcept]

How did you wire up these LED's? So far I've only used pre-made LED's for my projects. Did you use a custom circuit board? I've looked through all kinds of how to's on other sites with wiring diagrams and custom circuit boards and lots of technical terms, but no actual "how to's" if that makes any sense. Could you show some pics of the process work of wiring them in? or a shot or two of what it looks like behind the dome light?

Dome Light Project

Decided to do something with my dome light the other day. Ended up spraying everything black, drilling holes in the lenses for 8 LEDs and wiring them all in with resistors. Looks really clean.



I'll grab some night pics in the car in the future - really lights everything up nice.

16 White LEDs: 18 cents
8 Resistors: 8 cents
Solder: 25 cents
1/8 Can of Krylon Fusion Black Spraypaint: $1.00
Total Cost: $1.51

[bluechro]

I was going to take some pictures of the light, but I can't find my camera at the moment.

Until I can grab it, here's a little circuit diagram of how it's laid out. No circuit board, just wired in the LEDs as you see. You need a calculator like this to figure out the resistor values. I grab my LEDs off of ebay for dirt cheap... Just got 100 shipped to me for like $6.00, and the quality is great. A lot cheaper and a lot easier to customize to fit something such as this. If you want more details as to precisely how I did it, post here and I'll see what I can do.

[Urbanconcept]

If I use that website, the Source voltage would be 12 volts right? or should I be on the cautionary side and do 14 volts?
What would the diode forward voltage be? And what would the diode forward current be? How do you calculate the diode forward voltage and forward current? Sorry for the noobie questions, I've never had to make these calculations before.

[Ryan]

Google Ohms Laws. You'll get a handle on it fairly quickly. Current is related to resistance and voltage.

[PatMX3]

they look cool! they must be bright as hell at night!! lol

[bluechro]

I always stay on the safe side and go with 14V. Forward voltage is anywhere from 3.2 to 3.6 depending on the LED, and forward current is around 25mA, depending on the LED. When you buy the LEDs, you'll get this information along with them, its not something that can be easily calculated.

[shameem]

Could you post a link to the ebay seller - i am looking for cheap bright leds for a tail light project.....
I found a lot of sources on ebay - but most of them ship from china and i dont want to take the risk of international buying/shipping...

[Ukrman]

looks great, especially the LED light

maybe I'll try to do one