Illuminated footwells (ambient lighting)

**LSCto300C** · 10-09-2009, 08:07 PM

Hi everyone, I did this mod a while back and posted it over at the 300cforums but thought I'd share it with you guys too. I did this a few months back and still love it!

I used a 12" white led strip that sticks remarkably well to the carpeting under the dashboard with its 3M backing. The power source is from the light that illuminates the PRND by the shifter on the center console. I tapped those wires so the footwells now light up when the headlights are turned on and I can dim them with the thumb wheel to the left of the steering wheel. Anyway, I think it's pretty cool so here are the pictures.

Let me know what you think!
BTW, I noticed that at the time the pics were taken I forgot to plug the HVAC back in... whoops.

**Prospector** · 10-09-2009, 08:13 PM

OH, Man... I like it, looks great!

**Super T** · 10-09-2009, 08:19 PM

Ziptie them to the dashboard frame before they fall off the carpet - but i like the effect :-)

**05silvhemimag** · 10-09-2009, 08:45 PM

i did this with my 97 ford ranger splash ( bright ass yellow) anyway, i got those little led blue lights from radio shack and they fit perfect in about a 10mm hole that i drilled in my kick pannel worked great and not too bright just enough to look cool.

**SKULLBOY** · 10-09-2009, 09:11 PM

I did the same for the front foot well and the back..........I attached 12" Blue CCFL Neon tubes under the front and rear of the Driver and Passenger seats (2 12" tubes per seat)...........the tubes light up the floor area quite nicely...........

**LSCto300C** · 10-09-2009, 09:58 PM

Thanks everyone

Skullboy, I was going to use the CCFL tubes as well. I was worried about kicking them and breaking them though, so they went behind the grille. I never thought of putting them under the seats though, that's great!

**Badfish** · 10-09-2009, 10:02 PM

That really looks sweet. Do they bother you when you drive at night?

**SKULLBOY** · 10-09-2009, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by LSCto300C

Thanks everyone

Skullboy, I was going to use the CCFL tubes as well. I was worried about kicking them and breaking them though, so they went behind the grille. I never thought of putting them under the seats though, that's great!

They tuck up under quite nice..........I haven't broken one yet......they are 2 years old.........I also replaced the Shifter Indicator with a Blue LED,Changed the interior bulds over to Blue LEDs, Changed the Wiper/ESP buttons to Blue, and have Blue LEDS in the front and rear air vents...........

Illuminated Flip Open Cup Holder

**LSCto300C** · 10-10-2009, 12:35 AM

Originally Posted by Badfish

That really looks sweet. Do they bother you when you drive at night?

Nope, they're not distracting at all. I think the black carpet/floormats helps out a lot, too.

Originally Posted by SKULLBOY

They tuck up under quite nice..........I haven't broken one yet......they are 2 years old.........I also replaced the Shifter Indicator with a Blue LED,Changed the interior bulds over to Blue LEDs, Changed the Wiper/ESP buttons to Blue, and have Blue LEDS in the front and rear air vents...........

Illuminated Flip Open Cup Holder

Whoa!!! Bow down to the master!

That's amazing!
You've probably had the question a million times, but how did you do it all? I'm green with envy... or blue... I love it!

**SKULLBOY** · 10-10-2009, 01:08 AM

Originally Posted by LSCto300C

Whoa!!! Bow down to the master!

That's amazing!
You've probably had the question a million times, but how did you do it all? I'm green with envy... or blue... I love it!

It is actually pretty easy.......

I get power from the 12V accessory Circuit (Cigarette Lighter, or the Accessory plug inside the console.........The LEDs came from Oznium.com.........

To do the shifter LEDS and the rear Vent LEDS, I removed the whole center console............find a drill bit the same size as the LEDs you are using and drill the mounting holes for the LEDs inside the rear air duct.....

...The shifter LED was a little more complicated........I removed the clear bulb and drilled out the bulb socket and it fit the LED perfectly..............be sure to feed the wires through the bulb socket before soldering to the power/ground wires.........you can't feed the "bulb" end of the LED through the socket......

Factory Clear Bulb........

then tapped into the Accessory power wire and run then ran the wiring along the under of the console...........used the same power source for the cup holder LEDs............I drilled 4 evenly spaced hole at the rear top lip of the holder and installed the LEDs.............the power wire run to a dash switch, and all the LED ground wires are connected to the same ground.

The wiper/ESP buttons on the center bezel are easy to do (if you want Blue........)
Remove the switch assebly from the bezel and Carefully pull the switch apart..........there are two tiny LEDs on either side that have a green rubber cover on them.......simply remove the rubble cover and the LEDs are blue under the covers.....

The front vent LEDs are done the same way as the rear vent ones...........drill mounting holes roughly 1.5" to 2" back from the vent grills and run the wires to a ground and the Cigarette lighter power wire via a switch.........becareful taking the driver and passenger side vents out...........the passenger side vent had little tabs that are easily broken, and the entire front dash face has to be removed to get to the drivers side vent...........

I didn't do these all at once...........I did them in stages........

**LSCto300C** · 10-10-2009, 01:55 AM

I checked out the website. Did you get the superflux 4-chip leds on the home page? I just ordered some more leds to light up the back seat footwells as well and figured I'd rush to get these while I've still got the itch

**SKULLBOY** · 10-10-2009, 02:11 AM

Originally Posted by LSCto300C

I checked out the website. Did you get the superflux 4-chip leds on the home page? I just ordered some more leds to light up the back seat footwells as well and figured I'd rush to get these while I've still got the itch

No......I bought the Super Bright LEDs..........I also buy the Flexible LED Strips...........If you buy the CCFL tubes, the inverters are the weak point. if you use the inverters inside the car and they have airflow around them, they work fine.

However if you use them outside and waterproof them as Oznium suggests, they will overheat and burn out.I have gone though about 8 inverters that I used outside that I waterproofed...........but to Oznium's credit, they have replaced them all no questions asked, and the customer service has been excellent.

For outside inverters, I use ones that Focuz Technologies (In Issaquah WA,) carry that are waterproof.......they run around $15.00 each.........the Oznium inverters are $4.99 each.......

**LSCto300C** · 10-10-2009, 03:56 AM

Yeah I've had bad luck with inverters in the past. Let's just say once upon a time my car had halos... now it doesn't lol. I think I went out on a limb putting the CCFL tube behind the grille

Anyway, I just bought the ten pack for starters of the super brights. Did you just use one of those little things per vent? And also, did you just glue the led in place or buy the little holders? I'm shocked to see all these little goodies are about a quarter a piece, so I'm kinda goin nuts lol. Cheapest mod to date

**SKULLBOY** · 10-10-2009, 07:39 AM

Originally Posted by LSCto300C

Yeah I've had bad luck with inverters in the past. Let's just say once upon a time my car had halos... now it doesn't lol. I think I went out on a limb putting the CCFL tube behind the grille

Anyway, I just bought the ten pack for starters of the super brights. Did you just use one of those little things per vent? And also, did you just glue the led in place or buy the little holders? I'm shocked to see all these little goodies are about a quarter a piece, so I'm kinda goin nuts lol. Cheapest mod to date

I didn't glue them in.........I drilled a hole the same size as the LED and it was a good,snug press fit.......this way if they do burn our they are easy to replace.............if you get the inverters I mentioned from Focuz-Tech, you won't have any issues.............but the inverter thing is why I switched to LED halos..........