DIY: Dashboard Ambient Lighting (ABL)

[TJ91]

Cant wait for Saturday, or for when you get the thread set up. Got to choose between the two set ups

[WCoolBreeze]

Got my Lights, now to find the time to do the install.

Walt B.

[qbert48]

Originally Posted by WCoolBreeze

Got my Lights, now to find the time to do the install.

Walt B.

i hear ya 3rd night in a row i can't do the install the wait is tickin me off

camarorick you almost had me the the leds showed up

[ryeguycamaro]

I received my lights yesterday. Installed the digikey tube and lights within a half hour. Guys it is just two small holes and noone will ever notice them. The digikey tube just sits in place and you can't beat that the led lights are plug and play. My connector behind my speedo was not even wrapped in the tape. It had its own foam wrap which I had to do nothing with. The color is right on. All I did was sand the edge right at the angle between the two flat surfaces on the top edge. I ran 220 wet/dry sand paper down it and it took me less than 1 min. I also taped the evident spots with 3m black electrical tape to keep from light shining through. Follow the steps and you will be amazed. It is easy and is a tight mod. Don't get me wrong do what you want to but plug and play to me is the way to go, especially since this was the way they do it in the door panels and the obviously intended to do something similar in the dash.

[ryeguycamaro]

Sorry for the ends I used electrical duct seal to tack the ends of the digikey tubes up in to there positions. I didn't tape them.

[camarorick]

Originally Posted by ryeguycamaro

I received my lights yesterday. Installed the digikey tube and lights within a half hour. Guys it is just two small holes and noone will ever notice them. The digikey tube just sits in place and you can't beat that the led lights are plug and play. My connector behind my speedo was not even wrapped in the tape. It had its own foam wrap which I had to do nothing with. The color is right on. All I did was sand the edge right at the angle between the two flat surfaces on the top edge. I ran 220 wet/dry sand paper down it and it took me less than 1 min. I also taped the evident spots with 3m black electrical tape to keep from light shining through. Follow the steps and you will be amazed. It is easy and is a tight mod. Don't get me wrong do what you want to but plug and play to me is the way to go, especially since this was the way they do it in the door panels and the obviously intended to do something similar in the dash.

Originally Posted by ryeguycamaro

Sorry for the ends I used electrical duct seal to tack the ends of the digikey tubes up in to there positions. I didn't tape them.

Do you have any pics ?

[ryeguycamaro]

I will get some.

[ryeguycamaro]

here are some pics. You can see just at the top edge I sanded the edge of the angle. It is just above the tape. My drivers side tube is a little short, I am redoing it today. I also did my drl but I didn't cut the harness of for the led bulbs. I used 3m crimp connects that are weather tight and crimped the new light sockets to the existing wires so I could change back if I wanted to. I know it is the wrong post for the drl's but I thought I'd show you guys the results.

[ryeguycamaro]

I also sanded my door panels to extend the light all the way to the dash. It looks awesome, don't know why they didn't finish it from factory as it leaves no glow on the windshield and is not distracting at all.

[camarorick]

Looks good !!! The holes you made are in the perfect location, you'll never see them if you decide to revert back to stock

So, did you install the LED's only in the speedo cluster ? Looks like the light reaches to the passenger door pretty well....

I believe the people with the regular inserts (blue) will need to sand more, as the grey paint is not translucent like the orange.

We will be starting Rickrays install in a couple of hours. Pics, writeup, and bill of material coming soon......

[RickRay]

Originally Posted by camarorick

Looks good !!! The holes you made are in the perfect location, you'll never see them if you decide to revert back to stock

So, did you install the LED's only in the speedo cluster ? Looks like the light reaches to the passenger door pretty well....

I believe the people with the regular inserts (blue) will need to sand more, as the grey paint is not translucent like the orange.

We will be starting Rickrays install in a couple of hours. Pics, writeup, and bill of material coming soon......

I'm just heading out for Breakfast and will be heading out right after.

[ryeguycamaro]

Yes I only did the two lights by the speedo cluster. Pics are a little blurry but I think you can see where I sanded. Didn't take any below or above the edge at all just sanded on the edge. As far as the doors go I sanded to make it look just like what the factory left unpainted and I finished all the way to where you can hardly sand anymore.

[RickRay]

Originally Posted by RickRay

I'm just heading out for Breakfast and will be heading out right after.

Well I happy to say that we completed the ABL install with EL Wire on the dash and it came out perfect. Rick is preparing the write up on this with pictures and should be posting soon in a new thread.. I'm very happy with the job. The long part is sanding the edges in a perfect straight line. The connector is located on the passenger side and there is no need to take the speedo cluster apart. Rick will explain it better..it is his Project
Thanks Rick Maybe our next project is to get the 3 inches that are missing on the side doors to complete the look (which was done by some members already)

UPDATE
Here's the link to the new thread

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47924

[third1]

I did my doors a few weeks ago. The leds came in this weekend so I started on the dash. I started to sand the drivers side on the edge but when I turned it around I could see the sanded area from the front.When installed can that line be seen? I stopped the install before I made any mistakes.