DIY part # for ABL (Pictures of Installation included!!!)

[Toasty]

Hey has anybody here tried the sanding method and messed up their panels?

Looking for some messed up panels to play aruound with

[buzzy56]

Originally Posted by overhaulengines

hello peps, ok i posted earlier, i purchased some 1/4 in weather stripping, put i along the trim, and raise or lowered it in areas. This is to hold the rod and in turn, the rod create to proper gap needed. hope this help, kinda crappy vid, but oh well

lupe

Hats off to Lupe on his weather strip idea.Took my abl dash lighting apart for the final (ha ha) time and installed the self sticking weather stripping.I re-installed the trim and wallah ,the light was as near perfect all the way across the dash.Well long story short two broken LED's later done on different tear downs, and I can say it is finished. Hats off to you Lupe for your sharing this and so many other things.Funny how every time you take it all down ,speedo,trim et'c . you get better and better at it.My advise use the weather stripping the first time!

[TAG UR IT]

Originally Posted by Toasty

Hey has anybody here tried the sanding method and messed up their panels?

Looking for some messed up panels to play aruound with

Missed me by a couple months. I gave all mine away.:(

Originally Posted by buzzy56

Hats off to Lupe on his weather strip idea.Took my abl dash lighting apart for the final (ha ha) time and installed the self sticking weather stripping.I re-installed the trim and wallah ,the light was as near perfect all the way across the dash.Well long story short two broken LED's later done on different tear downs, and I can say it is finished. Hats off to you Lupe for your sharing this and so many other things.Funny how every time you take it all down ,speedo,trim et'c . you get better and better at it.My advise use the weather stripping the first time!

x eleventy billion

[overhaulengines]

lol, guys/tag...i love this place and like most, just love to share what we have done.
lupe

[n201mw]

Hey Ofer,
Does your trim piece on the driver side panel have a gap between it and the dash board at all?

[2SSRS@Gen5diy]

Yes 2-3 mm i bend the pipe to get it as close as it will go.

[n201mw]

Originally Posted by 2SSRS

Yes 2-3 mm i bend the pipe to get it as close as it will go.

Alright. Yours is drilled correct?

[2SSRS@Gen5diy]

Yes, from the side into the instrument compartment, But that is because i sarted this mod the old way.

[TJ91]

Alright, so I finally had some free time and went out and bought weatherstripping.
Took the trim off, put the stripping on and took the trim off a few times to adjust the stripping. In the end, the right side of the panel looks great, then I hit a dead spot right above the radio which is really baffling me because everything is consistent with the right side of the trim.

I just have a few questions, I have quite a large gap though, ill measure it tommorow but its atleast 5mm or more. And I didnt snap in the clips because then it would close the gap or leave a 2mm distance with no light output.
So either, my gap is off, the weather stripping is off, or the way the tube is focused is off. Right now im leaning towards the tube being off.
How exactly did you guys focus the tube?
Is the white strip facing 6 oclock position(straight down) If 3 was facing the seats, and 9 was facing the engine, I would say my white strip is at 7o'clock. Hope you guys understand what I mean in relation to the clock.
And should I be snapping in these clips? It looks very unfinished from outside the car lol
Im going to give it another shot before I just say screw it and sand the panels

[Batman0837]

The intensity of the light is brightest opposite the white stripe due the reflection off of the stripe then the tube acts as a magnifying lens of sorts. So as you describe the seating area at 3 o'clock and straight down at 6. you would want the stripe around 7ish to shine out around 2 o'clock towards the top of the trim. I am in the process of doing this myself but my light pipe isn't here yet. I've been experimenting with the light pipe from the door to figure this out. I have also installed foil tape to help reflect some of the light towards the trim. If you don't want any gaps, there is practically no way to get out of sanding the trim and it appears that you need to go just a bit below the bevel depending on how much light you want. If you decide to sand, do it in increments to be safe.

Here are some pics of mine so far...

Foil tape





Testing at night, again I won't know much else until I get my fiber optics in...The pipe you see here is from the door.





This the driver side with no pipe, top sanded.

[TJ91]

Hey Batman, thanks for the clarification. Im going to tamper with it some more and see what I can get out of it. The foil tape looks like it will help alot

[Gene Culley]

I thought about the weatherstrip idea further. Since the back of the panel is lit up I can see the top of 1/4 part of the panel in a translucent manner. If you add the weatherstrip you're going to be able to see that from the front and it won't look good.

[TJ91]

Originally Posted by Gene Culley

I thought about the weatherstrip idea further. Since the back of the panel is lit up I can see the top of 1/4 part of the panel in a translucent manner. If you add the weatherstrip you're going to be able to see that from the front and it won't look good.

Hey Gene, I taped off the panel so that the only thing glowing is the exposed line. The weatherstripping sits on the taped edge so you cant see it when lit up.
Im just trying to figure out if people clipped in the panel and how big of a gap people have

[Gene Culley]

Originally Posted by TJ91

Hey Gene, I taped off the panel so that the only thing glowing is the exposed line. The weatherstripping sits on the taped edge so you cant see it when lit up.
Im just trying to figure out if people clipped in the panel and how big of a gap people have

I see what you're saying. I didn't tape anything off, so I do believe I would still see it back there.