S13 combo light-turn signal flip

[Aiyeeeeeeee]

Well this is my first post so bear with me.

I painted the amber portion of my tail lamp red and decided to flip the blinker and combo light. I searched for anything on the forums related to this but was unable to find anything (hopefully i didn't miss anything)

Anyways, I went ahead and took pictures along the way and thought i'd post it.

Obviously, do this at your own risk...I am not liable for any damages that may be brought from doing this modification..

=====================================================What you'll need:Extra wire to cut various sizes (at least two colors preferred but not essential)Electrical tape or butt connectorsWire cuttersWire stripperPhilips head screw driver=====================================================

First, remove the lamp housings from the back of both left and right lights. (I will have pictures of doing one side since both sides are identical in proceedure)





Now lets first concentrate on the housing with two bulbs:

Unscrew both bulbs from their holders...

The combo light socket (gold) will have two wires running to it Green/White (low light illumination) and Green/Yellow (bright illumination).

The signal light socket (silver) will have only a green wire going to it.

Using an exacto knife splice a section off the insulation on the green wire to the signal light (I will explain why later)

Close up

Now the gold socket (combo lamp)...

If you notice...it has two wires running to it Green/White (low light illumination) and Green/Yellow (bright illumination) but unfortunately the wires are too short to run to the opposite holder. Cut both wires in the middle (it's easier to extend the wires this way) and also cut two pieces of wire (about 7 inches)

Now reconnect the the wires you cut with the new length of wires you cut (obviously match up the wires Green/White to Green/White and Green/Yellow to Green/Yellow) And tape them up with electrical tape (you can also use butt connectors if you wanna do it cleaner).

Now, go and measure out one decent length of wire (enough to go from the two bulb housing to the one bulb housing - about 2 feet is more than enough)

Remember the single green wire we cut the insulation off of? Well take the 2 feet of wire and connect it to the green wire...



Run that wire (in my case it's red) through the open area of the housing where the wiring harness is located



Now screw everything back in and tidy up...Dont forget the ground wires!!

Now put the housing aside and grab the one bulb housing...

Note: i took the socket off the housing for display purposes and it is not necessary to remove (though it makes it easier to do the following)

The socket on this housing will also have two wires running to it Green/Yellow (bright) Green/White(Low). Cut them both off (I would cut in the middle in the event you wanna go back to normal tail lights)

Cap off the wires that are coming from the harness attached to the housing with electrical tape.

On the socket end, cap off only the Green/White wire and remove a small amount of insulation on the Green/Yellow wire

Now we go to the back of the car...

put the two bulb housing back where it belongs

Take the wire you fed through the two-bulb housing and run it behind the interior of the trunk to where the one bulb housing goes.

Run that wire through the open part where the harness is attached to the one bulb housing.

Connect that wire to the Green/Yellow wire.

now snap the housing back on and reconnect the wiring harnesses and you're set!

Sample pictures:

Parking lamp (shop light on)

Parking Lamp (no light in garage)

Brake light (Shop light on)

Brake light (No light in garage)

Video of blinker lights:

Hazardshttp://s99.photobucket.com/alb...4.flv

Left Turn signalhttp://s99.photobucket.com/alb...6.flv

Right Turn signalhttp://s99.photobucket.com/alb...7.flv

Well there you have it...obviously the once amber part shows up still...nothing a couple more coats of clear red paint won't fix...

One other thing...if you happen to decide to paint the amber on the tail lamp red...i'd definately not sand it down first as it makes the paint dull when sprayed on...just make sure the surface is VERY clean before you spray paint...it'll be shiny as the top portion that's already red...

Hope this was useful and worthy of a first post...Let me know if I should change anything...constructive criticism is always welcome...thanks!!

Mike
Modified by Aiyeeeeeeee at 12:42 PM 6/24/2007

[newfengshui]

you're going to get rear-ended soon.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Well It's original I wouldn't do it but good job.

[Aiyeeeeeeee]

Yea, brighter would be good...I'm thinking of ways to make the bottom light brighter...

[eds13]

never seen it like that before, normally people will ditch the bottom one and make so its just the top that shines. good job tho!

[keith0486]

has any one ever tried making the whole tail light light up and black in the same way?

[Aiyeeeeeeee]

has any one ever tried making the whole tail light light up and black in the same way?

I contemplated that while doing this and figured that it is possible to do if you are able to get your hands on two extra Two-filiment bulb sockets...I'm gonna hit a pick and pull and hope I get lucky...If I do i'll post it up

[keith0486]

i think that wouldn't look to bad if done right as if it was just one light lighting up and not 2 different lights lighting up if that makes any sense