DIY - ABL using EL wire, and 3/16" tube

[camarorick]

Here it is folks.... a complete guide on ABL installation using EL wire, and aquarium 3/16" diameter tube.

Rickray, and myself completed this yesterday.... we had a great time doing this, while our wives went shopping

See the attached photos ( with comments ) that should answer most, if not all your questions.

Here's the bill of materials:


- Green-Blue EL Wire 2.2mm : $0.99 ft - get 10 feet

http://elwireonline.com/inc/sdetail/187

- Two ( 2 ) four way splitters: $1.50 ea.

http://elwireonline.com/inc/sdetail/146

- One ( 1 ) female connector : $1.75 ea.

http://elwireonline.com/inc/sdetail/120

- Three ( 3 ) male connectors : $ 1.75 ea.

http://elwireonline.com/inc/sdetail/108

- EL Driver for 12VDC ( 0-4 ft length ) : $4.99

http://elwireonline.com/inc/sdetail/296

- 2 x Aquarium rigid acrylic air tube ( 3/16" diameter, approx 40" long ) :
$1.99 x 2 = $3.98

- Super glue.

- Approximately 5' of standard Stereo wire ( 20 or 22 gage )

-How to solder EL wire:

[sugar'n'spice]

Awesome! The best! Excellent!......of course!

[kga10734]

Nicely done guys, and a great detailed description on how to do it.

My wire should be in tomorrow and I have the sanding done or so I thought. I didn't go the extra 1/16 - 3/32 below the angle, is it need to get the light to show through properly?

I may also be able to do it without drilling a hole. The wire side connectors I will be using may fit right through the rectangle holes without messing them up.

[thecamaroguy]

Very nice write up!!

[camarorick]

Originally Posted by kga10734

Nicely done guys, and a great detailed description on how to do it.

My wire should be in tomorrow and I have the sanding done or so I thought. I didn't go the extra 1/16 - 3/32 below the angle, is it need to get the light to show through properly?
I may also be able to do it without drilling a hole. The wire side connectors I will be using may fit right through the rectangle holes without messing them up.

Thanks !!

Absolutely, we tried to do it directly on the corner of the angle, and the light was very faint...... we then retaped, and continued to sand

Originally Posted by sugar'n'spice

Awesome! The best! Excellent!......of course!

Thank you dear

Originally Posted by thecamaroguy

Very nice write up!!

Thanks !!

[tradosaurus]

That's real nice!

Heck I just got tired reading it.

[franknbeans]

Does it dim with the dash lights?

looks great.

[camarorick]

Originally Posted by franknbeans

Does it dim with the dash lights?

looks great.

Yes it does, and the intensity / color are VERY close to the doors !! 99.9% perfect

[Jferrell88]

looks great they got any orange/red

[RickRay]

Originally Posted by Jferrell88

looks great they got any orange/red

http://elwireonline.com/99__per_foot_el_wire

[khislop007]

Looks great. This way looks easier than the digi-key tube. Is this kit dimmable?

[Camaro509]

Absolutely awesome tutorial on the ABL guys, really hit it on the head with this one.
Thanks for taking the time and being detailed with both the description and the pictures, going to make it real easy for the rest of us.

You guys ROCK!!!!!

[kga10734]

Originally Posted by khislop007

Looks great. This way looks easier than the digi-key tube. Is this kit dimmable?

Since I already had the stuff to do the digi-key way I played around with the digi-key way on the left hand side(short piece) yesterday when I had the trim pieces off to sand, even that short one was a pain to try and get right. This way with the El wire is the way to go for now in my opinion until GM comes up with something for us.

My hats off to these guys.

[qbert48]

bravo and good work looks really good still gonna go with leds but DAMN fine job guys Damn fine
and i really love the write up

[qbert48]

Originally Posted by khislop007

Looks great. This way looks easier than the digi-key tube. Is this kit dimmable?

they both dim with the lights i think

[TJ91]

Great detailed write up. Still deciding on which one to do. All three types look great, have you guys seen the light tape thread yet in cosmetics?
These all look great. Great job!

[khislop007]

Just ordered mine!

Question - I guess when I go to install my kit I might answer my own question,..... but why didn't you drill the hole for the passenger side closer to the gauge cluster so you didn't have to fish the wire so far?

[Mikes SS]

why do you have four connectors and only use 2 of them? Also couldn't you just use 2 drivers and connect the other one behind the gauge cluster?

[King Mouse]

Great job!

[camarorick]

Originally Posted by qbert48

they both dim with the lights i think

Yes, they dim perfectly with the doors, and your speedometer cluster

Originally Posted by TJ91

Great detailed write up. Still deciding on which one to do. All three types look great, have you guys seen the light tape thread yet in cosmetics?
These all look great. Great job!

Hey Dennis.... Yeah, I saw the light tape. I think it looks good, but way too bright for me. The fact that it's not "dimmable", and $200 are more reasons why I would no go with it....... Still, a great option if that's what you like

Originally Posted by khislop007

Just ordered mine!

Question - I guess when I go to install my kit I might answer my own question,..... but why didn't you drill the hole for the passenger side closer to the gage cluster so you didn't have to fish the wire so far?

It is MUCH easier to fish some wire to the access panel on the passenger side. We didn't touch anything underneath the speedo cluster.

Originally Posted by Mikes SS

why do you have four connectors and only use 2 of them? Also couldn't you just use 2 drivers and connect the other one behind the gage cluster?

The 4 connectors are there for possible future mods (Ambient floor lighting anyone ??? )...... Again, we didn't want to touch anything in the cluster, so the one power source is all that's required ( less touched, less chance of things breaking ).....

[CASTIG 2010SS]

What did you use the stereo wire for? I tried to look in the photos but the best I can make out is maybe used it to pull wire from driver to passenger side?

I think I see what you did, you put a plug on each end to extend the EL wire. I just realized how short you connector wire was coming off each piece. Why not make it a continuous wire when soldering? Can't you solder the speaker or some other wire to the EL and then put just one connector at the end?

[camarorick]

Originally Posted by CASTIG 2010SS

What did you use the stereo wire for? I tried to look in the photos but the best I can make out is maybe used it to pull wire from driver to passenger side?

Exactly

Originally Posted by CASTIG 2010SS

I think I see what you did, you put a plug on each end to extend the EL wire. I just realized how short you connector wire was coming off each piece. Why not make it a continuous wire when soldering? Can't you solder the speaker or some other wire to the EL and then put just one connector at the end?

Sure, you can make the wire continuous. I did think about extending the passenger EL right to the drivers side, but I wanted to have the extra connections for possible future mods.... Also, I wanted the ability to remove the trim easily while leaving all the wires behind the dash intact.

[CASTIG 2010SS]

Thanks. Good idea about having the extra connection so you don't have to pull the wire all the way everytime.

Why 2 4-way splitters? Did you use them both?

The best I can figure is you put a small lead on both lights with a male plug. The stereo wire had a female plug on one end and a male plug on the other. The drivers side EL wire plugged right into the 4 way splitter and the stereo wire plug into the passenger side wire and them ran under dash and then plugged into the splitter.
Is that correct? Just seems like you ordered more parts that required?

Thanks for the info.

[zebra]

wow. that looks awesome! great job & great write-up!

[camarorick]

Originally Posted by CASTIG 2010SS

Thanks. Good idea about having the extra connection so you don't have to pull the wire all the way everytime.

Why 2 4-way splitters? Did you use them both?

The best I can figure is you put a small lead on both lights with a male plug. The stereo wire had a female plug on one end and a male plug on the other. The drivers side EL wire plugged right into the 4 way splitter and the stereo wire plug into the passenger side wire and them ran under dash and then plugged into the splitter.
Is that correct? Just seems like you ordered more parts that required?

Thanks for the info.

You got it, Exactly as you wrote.

The reason I have all these connections was for ease of dismantling, and / or future expansions, besides, these connectors are really cheap @ $1.50 each.... I'm thinking of putting this EL wire under the dash too ( why pay $200 for G.M. floor lighting ).