I agree. I figured the tools were cheap and it is easier to remove trim. I have a Hummer H3 that I removed the center console bezel and all and that could not have been removed by hand!

Where did your line start? Did it begin at the edge of the bevel? Once you got it sanded down, did the light shine through nicely? Thanks for your response.

If your talkiing about the dash, it's still to clear for me, but your looking right at it, it's not like the door panels. I am going to try sanding with a lower grit or maybe tape to fog it up.

Best way to describe the sanding is to do just at the bevel, then look at it from the front at a light and see if you can see it. You also run your fingers back there and look from the front that is a good way to tell if your sanding is good.

You don't need to sand completely up from the bevel, in fact I think I have a couple MM of original paint at the very top. I usually sand about enough for the thickness of about half a pencil eraser.

How much vinyl tubing do i need?

I would say 6 inches will be good enough.

Well today I had a minute to work on the left side again. I cut out some of the clear bracket above the retainers. It fits a lot better now and kind of holds it in place. I do think that the only way to get more flush is to drill it from the cluster side and slide it through. I believe the head of the LED will not allow us to get any closer. If you drill from the cluster side then only the tube will be behind there.

Anymore pics ?
 

Did you take pics of the area that you removed material from for better fit ? Hoping someone resolves the fit problem before I tackle mine in the next few weeks. I purchase a heat gun and will attempt to bend the left side to the contour of the dash on the drivers side also and might try to alter the clear bracket as well if you think it makes the fit better?

Has anyone tried to sand with a little 4"X4" power sander? It seems like it would save time and give a consitent line of path.

Also, who has the best price for lights (GM parts)?

I am getting ready to start my right side also, removed the dash strip last night. Surprised to see that the clear part with the clips is separate and held on with double-sided tape, it's not like the left side.

I plan on going through the cluster and possibly use two leds, one on each end. Are you planning on using two also? Has anyone tried bending the light piping 90 degrees for the far right end? Will the light shine through? You will need to be sure where you want the white reflective strip before bending.

I altered the clear bracket that you're speaking of. I didn't take any photos, but I can have it out in a minute or two so I will post pics shortly. I don't think bending the tube is going to work. From doing work on mine on Sunday, it appears that the LED head and vinyl tube assembly are too large to fit back there. I think the only way to fix the left side is to drill a hole through on the cluster side.

We can certainly help you out with that. Just give us a call!

On the right side, I did use one LED on each end. There is no need to bend the light pipe on the right side.

Ok I want to do this but I'm trying to under stand what I need to do this. And what is the sanding for?

:popcorn:Gene, thanks to you & Ofer for developing & posting instructions for this mod. This is one I really want to add (with the assistance of my Gene)! I'll keep checking this thread for that 'out the door' kit...

The sanding is to allow the light to pass through the trim on the dash so that you can snap the dash pieces all the way back into the holes. If you are uncomfortable with doing that most people don't sand and it does not bother them how it looks.

I didn't sand anything on mine. I did the no sanding method. I did post the necessary item(s) required to install this in the beginning page of this thread.

I still would like to offer an out the door kit. I'm still messing around with mine here and there!

Ok, so I'm drilling and sanding this weekend. Cross your fingers. I still am not completely clear on how well the lighting will match with this method. And even more terrifing, I have no idea how the sanding will look from the front. But I'm going for it! Bought a bunch more red leds to do the entire perimeter of the door panel but as it turns out, they don't match the gm leds color. They are not orange at all. Spoke with Ofer and I believed the red leds would work. But they don't. And the orange or amber leds are just too yellow. Totally different shade. So be careful what leds you buy. I have 3 extra gm leds, so I will use them and do just the dash for now. But at $13 bucks a pop, I might have too improvise on the door panels.

Ok, let me know how the drilling and sanding goes. I was thinking about sanding one of my panels to try it out, but I'll wait to see what you do!

Ok, got the lights in but I don't like how the panels diffuse the light. They don't match.:mad0259: I tried turning the reflector at every angle. I notched the panels so I could flush mount but that is even worse. I sanded to the edge of bevel but did not go over. The sanded portion is now mounted flush so no light is going through it. If I shim the panel out it looks better. I'm wondering. If I sand(evenly) over the edge,will the light then fill the sanded area? Or do I have to keep it shimmed? Another thing is, the center of the right side is very dim in the middle. I used clear cable retainers to try to stop it from sagging but it is still dim. I extended the lighting in the doors. Took the tape off. Used Oops! Extreme Remover(Advance Auto) and Qtips to take the paint of the door panels. Worked great. A couple quick applications and it came right off, no drama. Kind of a tight area to sand. Doors really turned out great. Any input on the dim center would help. Thx

I have my panel tilted out a bit to shine the light up behind it. I didn't do the sanding method. Are you saying it is still dim in the center with the panel tilted out?

If you look behind the hole in this picture, you can see it is sort of blocked off. That is actually the panel behind that dash that houses the A/C vents and all. One of the moderators here, TAG, says he loosened that bolt and pushed on it and it allowed the LED through. I did loosen the bolt and pushed that panel back a little with the screwdriver.

OMG, I drilled that :facepalm: am I screwed?!

the more i think of it, i remember it being like a slim plastic piece that felt just like a bracket, so im hoping I didnt do any real damage

I was trying to mimic the door panel lighting and still have the dash panels flush mounted. I now think this is next to impossible. When I shim the panel out, I get really good lighting. The right side panel like to pull itself really far in, in the center. That's why I'm seeing dark, but I am working on it and think I have the answer. I used reflective tape behind the panel and that helped alot. But it still needs to be shimmed away to give the best light. I have a couple ideas on how to evenly shim the panel across the top. Should have it mostly done this weekend. Btw, the dimmer switch I installed really helps when you're thing to match the doors. The center is almost always brighter than the doors when it's wedged out. I'll post all the pics once I get this figured out. Thanks for the help everyone:thumbup: