"Led's on a Budget"

                                                                      Low  Cost Tinted Side Marker and LED Install

 

If you have ever been to a car show that extended into the evening hours you may have noticed the eye catching after market illumination of LED lighting. Light Emitting Diodes have made a very big splash in the automotive world. These technological wonders offer price effective, low energy, multi-colored bright light. LED's last virtually forever and their use is limited only by your imagination.

A very nice place to use LED's are on the side marker lights on your Corvette. After market LED side markers are very expensive. A low cost solution is to make your own utilizing your existing side markers. The only expense in this budget install are the LED's.   The best, and cheapest LED's can be found in the auto accessory isle in any of the Mart stores. The LED's come in pre wired strips with 3M automotive grade tape backing. The LED's can be had in six to twelve inch lengths. The come packaged two strips to a box. We used the red six inch LED's. They run about thirteen dollars for a set of two LED strips.

Remove the LED's from the packaging and cut the excess wiring leaving about a 12 inch length of wire for each strip.  Go to the car and remove the top screw from each outward rear brake light using a T-15 torx socket.  Remove the rear passenger and driver side lights.



Reach into the rear fender cavity and feel for the side marker light retainer tabs. Squeeze the tab that is shaped like a triangle and push outward at the same time. The side marker will pop out after a little pushing and twisting. Pull out the weather pack connector that powers the rear marker. Tape the power lead to the rear panel to prevent it from falling into the wheel well cavity.

           

Place the marker on a clean surface. Using the LED as a template trace the outline of the LED strip on the back of the marker assembly. A fine tip black Sharpie works well for the tracing the outline.

Using a Dremel tool and a fine cutting wheel carefully cut out the outline on the marker.  Do this very slowly and make sure you only cut into the back of the marker about a sixteenth of and inch. You do not want to cut into the reflector itself, just the gray plastic backing.

       


Remove the cut backing material and sand off any excess plastic. Place the LED strip into the new opening and check or a tight fit. You may have to remove more material to get the LED strip to seat into the opening.

   

Seal the led strip into the marker using some clear RTV sealant. Let the assembly dry over night. Repeat this procedure for the other rear marker.

After the sealant had dried test the LED by energizing the lead wires. The wire with the white stripe is positive. You can use any 12v source, the LED's come with a 12v battery pack and small switch that can be used to test the lights.

A very cool mod is to black out the side markers. The best product for this is Rust-oleum Lens Tint. This stuff costs about ten dollars a can and is stocked by most automotive stores. 

    
Take the side markers to a location out of your garage to do the tinting. If you tint the lens's in the garage the fine paint mist will find its way onto every thing you own, including your car. The only way to get this gritty stuff off your car is with a clay bar and a lot of elbow grease.

Pace the markers on a flat surface. Clean the front of the markers with some rubbing alcohol. Hold the can about 12 inches from the marker while spraying. For a blacked out look three coats of tint will be necessary. Let the tint dry for about an hour between coats.Do not apply more than three coats of tint as the light may not be able to shine through. After painting allow the tint to dry over night.

         


Splice the LED wire with the white stripe into the brown marker power lead wire, splice the black LED wire with the black marker power lead wire. Using push in wire splicers make the job a snap. Wrap the splices with electrical tape and pop the assemblies back into the fender. Repeat this procedure fro the remaining marker lamps. 

To gain access to the front markers turn the wheels to one side and remove the screws that secure the inner fender liner. Pull the fender liner away from the car and reach into the front fender cavity to access the front marker assemblies.

The finished product will give you the same results as the high priced after market kits at a fraction of the cost. 

The Vette Nuts