Install how-to and review of part of the kits I'm working with Matt, owner of LEDdomelight.com, to come up with to offer you guys! Stay tuned!!!

I have the dome light coming soon, working on a few things...

Alright, so, this is what we start with. Test vehicle is a 1995 240sx base model (which, for the trunk, means nothing, as the SE model is no different in the trunk. ) I enjoy nearly every aspect of my car, I love it, but there was always something left to be had when I'd open the trunk or door at night or in low-light areas. What can we do about that? Well I have the answer... LEDdomelight.com lighting upgrade kits! Matt approach myself and some of the other guys at NOPI Nationals in Atlanta this year with a new product, and it just so happens that this is something i've been looking for for a long time, but never found something that really piqued my interest, until now. He showed me these lighting upgrades and I had to try it for myself, so I want to share it with you now, cuz this rocks! Let's see what it has to offer!

Elapsed Install Time: 10-15 mins if you take your time or less.

SPECIAL NOTE: All pictures are raw, unedited in any way other than a simple resize.

STAY TUNED, AS THIS WILL AMAZE YOU!

Here's what we began with, a blue-tinted incandescent 194 5 watt wedge bulb:

A closer look:

(I don't want you to brighten your monitor because I want you to see the change this upgrade has made)

A pic of the open trunk with all garage lights off, if you look closely around the center of the screen, based on your computer's brightness settings, you may be able to slightly make out the white letters on top of my battery box, this will hold true for the next few pics:

A picture looking at the bulb lit and it's lighting effects on the surrounding area:

Showing the lighting effects of the incandescent bulb:

Again, if you look close you'll see the white FULL RACE sticker on top of the battery box:

One more of the incandescent bulb:

OK, here's the important pics, pay attention, these are taken outside of the trunk, pointing at the trunk, WITH an extended exposure to gather what light it can. (If you want to know how long the exposure is, it's a 7.2mp Sony P200 point and shoot on night setting, so there's no way to tell, as it's automatic.)

SPECIAL NOTE: These pics are all taken in my garage, with the door shut for total darkness. I have two incandescent bulbs on the garage door motor, and I have two dual-bulb florescent lights hung from the ceiling in front of the cars. Both lights are towards the back of the garage, and when the trunk is opened on the car, casts a shadow over the trunk area, shielding it from the light. You may find this trivial and hilarious, but if I'm going to the trouble to show you how dramatic a simple lighting upgrade can be, I want there to be no questions.

This picture was taken of the trunk, with only the 194 5watt wedge bulb lighting it, with NO garage lights on:

This picture is again taken with just the 194 bulb, with the dual incandescent garage lights on:

And this was once again taken with the 194 bulb, with both the incandescent AND florescent garage lights on:

Now that you've seen and agree how much the stock lighting SUCKS, let's try something different

Here's the removed 194 wedge bulb:

And here's a comparison of the wedge bulb to what we are replacing it with; a universal 12 LED setup utilizing 12 white, even spread, flat-top high end Luxor LEDs, all mounted on a high quality circuit board. This setup uses ONLY half of a watt of power, and due to the flat top, even spread lighting effects, creates NO hot spots of light and emits NO HEAT! Cool huh!

Again

Let's keep going...

Here's the receptacle that we have to use. The reason a 'universal' kit was used is due to the lighting receptacle and it's placement in the trunk, it doesn't leave a lot of options...

Now you need to look around the area and figure out the best way to mount the light to distribute the light evenly throughout the trunk, just get an idea, DON'T MOUNT IT YET!

It's now time to plug the light into the 194 bulb receptacle adaptor (there are 2 other forms of adaptors in this kit.)

After you plug in the light into the adaptor, we need to test to see which side of the adaptor has the right polarity, so touch the bulb to the receptacle, if nothing happens, the adaptor is 180 degrees backwards, meaning the polarity is wrong:

If that's the case, NO WORRIES, just flip it and try it again! BINGO!

Alright, now pull it back out, and figure exactly how you want to mount it. You only have a small amount of wire and though you could extend the wires and mount it anywhere, I didn't wan to.

There are 3 different thicknesses of double-sided, adhesive strips provided with the kit, I used the medium thickness. Peel back ONE side of the strips and place them on the back of the light board:

Peel back the last cover of the double-sided adhesive and be careful not to stick it to anything and contaminate it. Now plug in the light, making sure it's lit up with the right polarity. You can now stick the light in it's final resting place. BE CAREFUL NOT TO PRESS ON THE LEDS THEMSELVES: only use soft but firm pressure around the edges of the circuit board!

As you can see, it's BRIGHT. Here's a picture taken with the camera USING the flash:

One more without flash:

Now it's time to see the fruits of your efforts! Remember those important pics from above? Here's the same shot, taken outside the trunk, with NO garage lights on, and the same settings on the camera:

Taken in the trunk to see the light and it's effects. Due to the even-spread light effect, there's less shadows:

Another:

Here's the last picture, taken like the other important ones, with ALL garage lights on, the ambient lighting really has no effect on the trunk anymore, as everything is lit from the LEDs!

The effect this upgrade has is even greater in person, the pictures don't do it justice, and there are a number of members on this board that will agree.

Passenger compartment lighting coming soon, i'm waiting on a few things

-Dan

I'm not sure, that will be up to Matt, i'm just the guy helping figure out sizes and the best versions of stuff to include in a kit, making sure it's good enough for me, so it's good enough for you

I'll keep you guys posted

-Dan

My dome light is already done, it was done before the trunk, but again, i'm waiting on some stuff to do a writeup. Since i'm a base model, I don't have map lights, but DO NOT WORRY SUNROOF OWNERS! I'm taking care of you guys too!

-Dan

Good writeup

Quote, originally posted by audtatious »

I need to go ahead and do my dome light and post up the differences as well. It's still sitting on my desk Good writeup

I have pics of the differences of my car with the dome light, i'm just waiting on pics of some different products and wanted to cover those with a sunroof/maplights at the same time.

-Dan

Dr. Nenenenpapples Hype Squad #1

Email at: ArcherV20@Gmail.com

I do not work for them, so no, I can't. As far as I know, they are only dealing with dome lights for the time being, and i'm working with them to create an interior lighting package for 240 owners.

bboyp1ng and ArcherV20: I will do both asap! Be patient!

-Dan

and Dan, bump for such a thorough write up!!!

I may consider this. I would REALLY consider Hood lights for my 95 240. Sucks to work under the hood in dim lit situations.

And on the site, what's the diff between the Frontlamp and the Room lamp?

Quote, originally posted by DjTravisSW »

Focus Auto Sales huh? No offense, but are you guys still selling ****ed up cars at rip off prices? lol

Recent study shows that 92% of all teenagers converted to emo/punk etc. Put this in your sig if you're one of the 8% who stayed gangsta as shlt.

Alright, since you guys can't wait, i'll snap a pic tonite.

-Dan

No, they're definately more expensive than that. You have to pay for premium materials and craftsmanship, and this is definately premium quality!

-Dan

ohh, not really familiar with them so whatever. I will still buy it

With the diffuser cover on, lights off:

Diffuser cover off, lights off:

Another view of the circuit board, cover off/ lights off:

Diffuser cover off, lights on:

Diffuser cover on, lights on:

That's good enough to hold you over until I get a seperate thread setup for it

-Dan

-Dan

DISCLAIMER: I take no responsibility in any damage/harm/death/missing limbs that may result from following the above advice.

all dome lights are the same for the 240s

-Dan

There's no need for high/low, it's a freakin domelight... the only time it needs to be on is when the door's open and when you need to see something at night... and the first one is debatable

-Dan

-Dan

Quote, originally posted by zenkii »

lol hid everywhere...nice

FYI .. those are not HIDs ... theyre LEDs..