DIY: Here it is Dashboard ambient lighting ABL

[Musclebee]

Originally Posted by WySS

Had it on the CTS and its not distracting at all, you barely notice it. I loved the ABL in that car. It looked awesome at night, probably my favorite feature.

Sounds cool never seen it on the CTS, will have to check that out.

[HannoverFist]

First - thanks to TeccBoxx and his consistent and quality good work. I was inspired to give this ABL stuff a go, and see what happened.

Second - this is my first post, so forgive my abrupt de-lurking.

I got my EL wire from SeattleLumin, who has already introduced himself in this thread.

A condensed replay:

Remove the dash panel over the fusebox on the drivers side. Start at the bottom of the panel and pop it off gently, working upwards.

You'll need to remove the aircon duct for easier access - it twists and then pulls out easily.

The trim panels are held in by spring clips: If you use pliers to compress the back of the spring on the first clip it will slide out, then you can gently pull the trim piece down and towards to to get it out.

The passenger side long trim panel is a bit trickier: I ended up removing the glove box and plastic cover above it to get better access to the spring clips holding it in, but turns out I didn't need to do that. Patience and a slow approach will let you remove the panel ( after using pliers to get compress the first clip and pull the panel out a bit ).

The longer trim piece was completed painted, and would allow no light to shine through the top. I did some delicate work with some light sandpaper to remove the paint only on the top area of the panel where the light needs to shine through. The shorter trim piece had no paint along the top edge, so you could see the EL wire with no additional work.

I used clear tape to test-fit the EL wire to the back of the trim pieces, thusly:



Not pretty, but it got the job done. I removed the tape after the test fitting, but there was enough adhesive left on the wire and trim to keep it tacky enough to hold in place for the install.

I put the trim pieces back on, using the upper lip to hold the wire in place. When the trim was back on, I powered up the wire and used a small jeweller's screwdriver to ->carefully<- push the wire further down until I could press the trim completely back in, holding the wire captive.

My last hurdle for completing this is finding the plug that will go into the existing sockett harness on the drivers side, above the fuse box. I went down to a Chevy parts counter today, and after about 15 mins of working with the parts guy, came up empty handled. I could just hack off the existing socket and re-wire, but I'd rather not.

Given the pictures of the socket below, can anyone help in identifying the appropriate plug?

-------


Here's my version of the "work in progress" view:



Standard low-light shaky idling-car quality image.

Here's the view of the driver's side of the dash with the access panel removed, showing the location of the fusebox and of the connector that seems to have been left there for ABL in the first place:



And a closer view of the connector:



Here's a view of the back of the long trim panel that you'll need to remove:



----

So, that's where I stand now. TeccBoxx, I'm sure that you've done yours better, and I join the crowd in waiting for more details on how you've done yours!

HannoverFist

[GTAHVIT]

awesome!

[rharon]

Just a thought. Have you checked to see what the lighting looks like in the door. It might have the same plug and use the same light. That way you can go to the parts counter and have them order you the light from the doors.It might be worth a try, there is another post on how to remove the door panels You should be able to see the plug in that one........GOOD LUCK I CAN'T WAIT

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36063

here is the link

[Tecca]

Nice writeup hanover, looks great.

Anyway, expect writeup late tomorrow night!!!!

Oooh and I would hold off on el wire!!!!!

[Rikarus]

Hanover, how was the re-fit, I notice if you sand that top bevel to pass the light, and lay the EL wire there, it looks like when you re-install it will casue a gap above the piece against the actual dash....

[King Mouse]

Hannover,

Great job. Looks like your plug might be a Deutsch. They are great plugs.

You can try getting them @ Ladd Industries www.laddinc.com If they won't sell to you, shoot me a PM.

Dave

[rharon]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2010-...=p4506.c0.m245

Maybe this uses the same plug for the footwell kit?

[ROE]

does it come in organge

[HannoverFist]

Thanks for the comments!

Rharon: Thanks for the pointer to videos, and to the ebay auction - the plug there does seem to be the same one! Great catch! I'm a little hesitant to spend that much money for $5 in parts, though. I have something to chat with the Chevy parts guy about now. EDIT: The auction lists this part as GM 92213222, which shows up in the GMPP parts catalog. Isn't there a dealer who gives special discounts on GMPP parts?

King Mouse: I spent some time going over Deutsch's catalog looking for a match and found things that were close, but no cigar. Thanks for the pointer, though.

Rikarus: Regarding re-fit and possible gaps - I was able to get the trim piece back in with no gap showing. It's late here, but if you like I'll take a pic and post it.

ROE: I've seen images of the orange EL wire, but not the orange illumination in yours , so I can't vouch for how close a match it might be. I think that earlier on in this thread TeccBoxx had posted a color chart, so that'd be a good place to start.

Side note: Took my first good long road trip from the Seattle area over to Kennewick, WA and back today. I continue to be impressed with this car - ride, handling, comfort, power. I saw two other '10 Camaros, both Black, both looking good!

HannoverFist

[TAG UR IT]

Originally Posted by Teccboxx

Nice writeup hanover, looks great.

Anyway, expect writeup late tomorrow night!!!!

Oooh and I would hold off on el wire!!!!!

?? What you got? C'mon.....

Originally Posted by HannoverFist

Thanks for the comments!

Rharon: Thanks for the pointer to videos, and to the ebay auction - the plug there does seem to be the same one! Great catch! I'm a little hesitant to spend that much money for $5 in parts, though. I have something to chat with the Chevy parts guy about now. EDIT: The auction lists this part as GM 92213222, which shows up in the GMPP parts catalog. Isn't there a dealer who gives special discounts on GMPP parts?

King Mouse: I spent some time going over Deutsch's catalog looking for a match and found things that were close, but no cigar. Thanks for the pointer, though.

Rikarus: Regarding re-fit and possible gaps - I was able to get the trim piece back in with no gap showing. It's late here, but if you like I'll take a pic and post it.

ROE: I've seen images of the orange EL wire, but not the orange illumination in yours , so I can't vouch for how close a match it might be. I think that earlier on in this thread TeccBoxx had posted a color chart, so that'd be a good place to start.

Side note: Took my first good long road trip from the Seattle area over to Kennewick, WA and back today. I continue to be impressed with this car - ride, handling, comfort, power. I saw two other '10 Camaros, both Black, both looking good!

HannoverFist

Personally, I'm a HUGE supporter for the dash ABL. I was so bummed when GM said they could not come up with a fix. I thank the both of you for your efforts in getting this done for all of us to see. I'm going to hold off on the El wire for just a sec as Teccboxx has mentioned just to see if he's got anything up his sleeve.

Thanks again! The pix are going to help us all greatly.

[seattlelumin.com]

Hannover,

what does the connector in the dash carry? Is it simply a 12 volt power connector you would use to power the driver (which would in turn illuminate the EL wire), or is there already a driver somewhere already installed, and you just need to hook the wire to it?

They already have at least one, and possibly two drivers in the car, driving the wire in the doors. It's not unreasonable to believe that you could power the dash light off the existing drivers. I'm curious if the connector in your photo is just a power lead or the EL wire AC signal. I can't tell from here.

-mike
http://www.seattlelumin.com

[HannoverFist]

Mike - it's not that I couldn't power the driver for the EL wire from other 12v sources in the car, it's that I'm being picky in wanting to have the correct plug to fit into the factory power source so it's treated like the rest of the cabin lighting ( comes on at the same time, and hopefully under the influence of the dimmer ).

I've already got both short and long wire sections brought back to the drivers side, and I've confirmed that one driver can light both without issue.

HannoverFist

[rharon]

I bet dollars to donuts that its the same wire as the door panel. You might want to just buy the door panel light (dont know the part #) and plug it in to the plug in the dash. You might be able to buy 2 of them and complete the dash. I am going to guess that its also controlled by the diming control.


Or you can remove the door panel and check the light sorce by plugging it in to the pigtail in the dash.

Good luck I want to change all of the blue to orange.... PM me with your results,,,,,,