I had to to take my bumper off anyway, so I figured it would be a good time to do my LED DRL project. I have seen others do this with good success and it looked like fun. NSX purists may not want to see this...
I started out by taking the turn signals out of the front bumper. I boiled some water, filled up my sink and put the signal case in. After sitting for a minute or two I gently used a flat head screwdriver to pry off the clear lens. Sorry, no pics. Then you just have to reach in there and squeeze the amber housing and the actual blinker housing should come right out.
Next I used a dremel to grind down the divider between the blinker section and the parking lights. I also used the dremel to sand down the extra glue around the edge of the housing. You can see the area that I removed.
I removed this section so I can put LEDs over the entire length of the housing. I wanted my LEDs to be bright and easily visible during the day, so I opted for some 3W power LEDs. These LEDs can get very hot, so I bought some individual heat sinks for each LED. I used some Hi-Temp silicon to glue the back of each individual heat sink to make a panel.
Because I only glued the back seam, it allows me to bend the heat sink panel when dry so I can fit the shape of the housing exactly.
I put some thermal compound between each LED and heatsink, hoping this would transfer the heat more efficiently. I used a little epoxy to fix the LED to the heatsink.
I bought some LED lenses that fit over the top of each LED, which make each LED look larger then it really is. I have not decided if I will use these for sure or not, but they are removable so its all good.
Fortunately the heatsink fits nicely in the turn signal housing, almost exactly in fact. Below are some mock up pics with the housing and bumper.
Of course I am not done wiring them yet, I should have time to finish this week. I am going to drive each LED individually with their own constant current source. I tested one LED out and it was very very bright. Hopefully these LEDs are not too bright for the road. Anyway, more to come later...
I started out by taking the turn signals out of the front bumper. I boiled some water, filled up my sink and put the signal case in. After sitting for a minute or two I gently used a flat head screwdriver to pry off the clear lens. Sorry, no pics. Then you just have to reach in there and squeeze the amber housing and the actual blinker housing should come right out.
Next I used a dremel to grind down the divider between the blinker section and the parking lights. I also used the dremel to sand down the extra glue around the edge of the housing. You can see the area that I removed.
I removed this section so I can put LEDs over the entire length of the housing. I wanted my LEDs to be bright and easily visible during the day, so I opted for some 3W power LEDs. These LEDs can get very hot, so I bought some individual heat sinks for each LED. I used some Hi-Temp silicon to glue the back of each individual heat sink to make a panel.
Because I only glued the back seam, it allows me to bend the heat sink panel when dry so I can fit the shape of the housing exactly.
I put some thermal compound between each LED and heatsink, hoping this would transfer the heat more efficiently. I used a little epoxy to fix the LED to the heatsink.
I bought some LED lenses that fit over the top of each LED, which make each LED look larger then it really is. I have not decided if I will use these for sure or not, but they are removable so its all good.
Fortunately the heatsink fits nicely in the turn signal housing, almost exactly in fact. Below are some mock up pics with the housing and bumper.
Of course I am not done wiring them yet, I should have time to finish this week. I am going to drive each LED individually with their own constant current source. I tested one LED out and it was very very bright. Hopefully these LEDs are not too bright for the road. Anyway, more to come later...
thats a slick job!!! Id get that in a heartbeat
