Going to start this thread for members to post up what they did each day to there zed. I will start with getting my MOT this morning. So what did you do today on your 300?:cool3:

My young apprentice soo getting sacked tonight.

 

Ever time I do a job on my car,this little fella is never far away:)

Ever time I do a job on my car,this little fella is never far away:)

 

Now c'mon.....there must be a joke in there somewhere, pussy, back seat, legless, etc, :laugh:.

Now c'mon.....there must be a joke in there somewhere, pussy, back seat, legless, etc, :laugh:.

 

Lol, I hadn't even noticed the three legs?!

OK, not sure what the forums rules are about this one but I'm sure someone will jump on me quick enough if there's an issue, hope I'm not treading on any toes either, but ive been chatting to the supplier I got the LED bulbs from and asked if he will do a good deal for DIY LED dash kits for the 300zx.

He has agreed to do a kit and I am negotiating currently to get a really good price on a kit that put together specifically for our cars.

I just wanted to know how much interest there would be for a good quality cheap led upgrade kit for the club members cars.

 

Show of hands please..

 

Oh and I best add this, I am not making anything from the sales of these kits, the price you would pay is the price I pay for them.

 

If you're interested, pm me and I can give you the price as soon as it is fixed.

 

Just remember you cant get an off the shelf led for the wiper symbol and the hazard switch, also remember light colours like red and white, will illuminate the dash clocks fine pretty evenly, blue and darker colours you need to add a strip or more to eliminate the black spots, also there would be no complete kit without the need to solder to change the on/off leds from amber :thumbup1:

Just remember you cant get an off the shelf led for the wiper symbol and the hazard switch, also remember light colours like red and white, will illuminate the dash clocks fine pretty evenly, blue and darker colours you need to add a strip or more to eliminate the black spots, also there would be no complete kit without the need to solder to change the on/off leds from amber :thumbup1:

 

This is very true groover! But the hazard switch I'm not changing as the standard colour for this is the red that's in it anyway. As for the windscreen wiper one, I'm still working on that. The actual orange switch lights for on and off I've left mine as orange. The kits I'm trying to put together are simply the dials and pod switches backlighting.

I'll be testing the blue and purple dial LEDs but the ones I'm getting are super bright SMD chips which have 5 chips per bulb and are very bright.. I'll post the photos of the other colours when I've received them.

Lol, I hadn't even noticed the three legs?!

 

You can't judge if that's the types of girls he prefers

You can't judge if that's the types of girls he prefers

 

Any girl with three legs is probably from Thailand... Although wherever she's from, if there's three legs, probably worth giving a wide berth unless you like that sort of thing! Lol

Any girl with three legs is probably from Thailand... Although wherever she's from, if there's three legs, probably worth giving a wide berth unless you like that sort of thing! Lol

 

Any girl with 3 legs more than likely has parents that were also brother and sister

Any girl with 3 legs more than likely has parents that were also brother and sister

 

Lmao! You're a bad bad man Charles!

Lol, I hadn't even noticed the three legs?!

 

you lot leave my tripod alone,he's funny though he can't run in a straight line anymore,so when I open the front door and shout him he runs on a slight angle the full length of the garden then hits the wall...never making the door..lol

This is very true groover! But the hazard switch I'm not changing as the standard colour for this is the red that's in it anyway. As for the windscreen wiper one, I'm still working on that. The actual orange switch lights for on and off I've left mine as orange. The kits I'm trying to put together are simply the dials and pod switches backlighting.

I'll be testing the blue and purple dial LEDs but the ones I'm getting are super bright SMD chips which have 5 chips per bulb and are very bright.. I'll post the photos of the other colours when I've received them.

 

Having done many dozen of pods and dashes the smd 5led are the wrong orientation for the light diffusers behind the dials, so now I use an led strip around the inside of the binnacle and a single smd 501 bulb to light the needles. The single led is short enough to stay below the leg of the diffuser and the strip offers an even light with no bright or dead spots.

i used to use 5way LEDs (before smd) but proved unreliable in the long run.

Having done many dozen of pods and dashes the smd 5led are the wrong orientation for the light diffusers behind the dials, so now I use an led strip around the inside of the binnacle and a single smd 501 bulb to light the needles. The single led is short enough to stay below the leg of the diffuser and the strip offers an even light with no bright or dead spots.

i used to use 5way LEDs (before smd) but proved unreliable in the long run.

 

Does anyone have a how-to for installing the led strips behind the clocks? Mondo did the same and his look awesome.

Does anyone have a how-to for installing the led strips behind the clocks? Mondo did the same and his look awesome.

 

I did a how to in the tech section to show where to wire in strip, it's easier to take all the dials out of the binnacle to fit the strip, also check the fit of each dial for interference before fixing in permanently

Does anyone have a how-to for installing the led strips behind the clocks? Mondo did the same and his look awesome.

 

Remove gauge cluster from dash.

Remove all gauges from cluster.

Glue LED strips all over the cluster housing, taking care not to cover any gauge mounting holes.

Connect two wires to relevant points for illumination.

Refit gauges.

Refit cluster.

Enjoy!

 

:biggrin:

Thanks guys :D

 

Mondo, could you show me a link to some similar led strip lighting to what you used? :biggrin:

Thanks guys :D

 

Mondo, could you show me a link to some similar led strip lighting to what you used? :biggrin:

 

I use non waterproof, as the rubber coating adds too much depth for the dials when fitted around the very top edge of the binnacle, here is an example

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5M-10M-15M-3528-5050-RGB-White-SMD-Light-LED-Strip-12V-LED-Strip-24-44Key-IR-/141337949868?var=&hash=item20e865f6ac:m:mvQPp3Z91ljQl0j2U88ywcg

 

Ive also used the smaller smd led strips 0603, remember the most important thing is to get a good even coverage with no visible light source, ie nicely blended throughout the view of the dials.

Its surprising exactly how bright leds can be face on, so i mount them around the binnacle facing in across the under neath of the dial faces. Even then you may want to dim the dash slightly at night :thumbup1:

 

You can take power from the two bottom prongs/bolts on the soon to be unused feed for the front facing bulbs, which will kill the effect, so just remove them. As you look at the dash, the left bolt/prong is the positive. You will see what i mean when you take it apart :thumbup:

 

NB they are self adhesive, but i also use hot glue around certain bends of the dash, so they never accidently come away and end up where they shouldnt

I use non waterproof, as the rubber coating adds too much depth for the dials when fitted around the very top edge of the binnacle, here is an example

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5M-10M-15M-3528-5050-RGB-White-SMD-Light-LED-Strip-12V-LED-Strip-24-44Key-IR-/141337949868?var=&hash=item20e865f6ac:m:mvQPp3Z91ljQl0j2U88ywcg

 

Ive also used the smaller smd led strips 0603, remember the most important thing is to get a good even coverage with no visible light source, ie nicely blended throughout the view of the dials.

Its surprising exactly how bright leds can be face on, so i mount them around the binnacle facing in across the under neath of the dial faces. Even then you may want to dim the dash slightly at night :thumbup1:

 

You can take power from the two bottom prongs/bolts on the soon to be unused feed for the front facing bulbs, which will kill the effect, so just remove them. As you look at the dash, the left bolt/prong is the positive. You will see what i mean when you take it apart :thumbup:

 

NB they are self adhesive, but i also use hot glue around certain bends of the dash, so they never accidently come away and end up where they shouldnt

 

The smd light strips are very good I have to admit, I used a lot of them when I litup my old nissan xtrail and they done a superb job. I had them as Drl's, indicators, tail lights and underlighting.. They do a good job. The only downside I ever had with them is that sometimes they just wouldn't take the vibration, but i guess it depends where they're being used and also the quality of the smd's aswell. Theres a flood of low quality ones out there as I found when the so called waterproof versions had corroded the terminals to green within a few weeks. I managed to find a supplier based in burton on trent that done excellent quality light strips, both waterproof and standard at a decent price.

Searolf LED was the shop name if I remember correctly..

 

Anyhow, the bulbs I've installed in my own dash do work very well and are simple to fit directly in to the original circuit. Maybe when my hands are capable of more delicate operations, I may attempt the smd strips in the binnacles but for now, I only allow my sausage fingers to touch things I know they won't break! Lol.. I have a feeling the process of pulling the clocks apart to do the strips runs more the risk for me to end up without a dash!

For delicate jobs like that, I'd rather pass it on to yourself who knows what they're doing..

The smd light strips are very good I have to admit, I used a lot of them when I litup my old nissan xtrail and they done a superb job. I had them as Drl's, indicators, tail lights and underlighting.. They do a good job. The only downside I ever had with them is that sometimes they just wouldn't take the vibration, but i guess it depends where they're being used and also the quality of the smd's aswell. Theres a flood of low quality ones out there as I found when the so called waterproof versions had corroded the terminals to green within a few weeks. I managed to find a supplier based in burton on trent that done excellent quality light strips, both waterproof and standard at a decent price.

Searolf LED was the shop name if I remember correctly..

 

Anyhow, the bulbs I've installed in my own dash do work very well and are simple to fit directly in to the original circuit. Maybe when my hands are capable of more delicate operations, I may attempt the smd strips in the binnacles but for now, I only allow my sausage fingers to touch things I know they won't break! Lol.. I have a feeling the process of pulling the clocks apart to do the strips runs more the risk for me to end up without a dash!

For delicate jobs like that, I'd rather pass it on to yourself who knows what they're doing..

 

Its not that hard lol, but easier once youve done a few i guess, when i started doing pods and dashes i was always experimenting with the best leds to use and positions and effects etc,,, mine looked like the starship enterprise inside lol, but soon learnt that subtlety was key for the best effect. Its really easy to go over the top, and fun at first, but after alot of night driving you soon realise that its more a distraction than an upgrade.

Its always good to have a go yourself, plus you learn more about your car and have the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

 

I offered to do a few in the early days to help those who couldnt or wouldnt lol and went from there, recently done a few and can go many months with none to do, for me its therapeutic and i enjoy it, but its a hobby, one of many lol

 

If you ever want any advice or a how to on any of the dash or pod stuff, PM anytime, but most importantly enjoy :thumbup:

Took the Z for a three day trip, Tuesday, Wednesday & today! Approximately 600Kms

Today I've just come back from Creswell in Derbyshire via Nottingham!

Tuesday off to Harby in Leicester to visit sister!

Wednesday off to Creswell stopped at Belvoir Castle for photo

Today, Creswell to Nottingham to see Mark at Automodz & what a warm welcome I got from Mark & his two so Sons!

Really nice to meet face to face! Tea was good too Mark!

Then back to Folkestone!

Z in a dirty state so a clean up tomorrow if weather is kind!

The Zed ran faultless throughout with miles & smiles!

Took the Z for a three day trip, Tuesday, Wednesday & today! Approximately 600Kms

Today I've just come back from Creswell in Derbyshire via Nottingham!

Tuesday off to Harby in Leicester to visit sister!

Wednesday off to Creswell stopped at Belvoir Castle for photo

 

Today, Creswell to Nottingham to see Mark at Automodz & what a warm welcome I got from Mark & his two so Sons!

Really nice to meet face to face! Tea was good too Mark!

Then back to Folkestone!

Z in a dirty state so a clean up tomorrow if weather is kind!

The Zed ran faultless throughout with miles & smiles!

Looked like fun. :)

Didn't do anything to the zed today but did collect my freshly painted rear bumper (with stonechip removed) and twinz rear diffuser, a busy weekend ahead :yes:

I gave my white TT an extra Zap in it's veins by gettin a new exide battery £55.00 from euro carparts.

Didn't do anything to the zed today but did collect my freshly painted rear bumper (with stonechip removed) and twinz rear diffuser, a busy weekend ahead :yes:

 

Looking forward to seeing this matey... Or am I? [emoji848][emoji45][emoji1]

I gave my white TT an extra Zap in it's veins by gettin a new exide battery £55.00 from euro carparts.

 

Damn - the very same folks charged me £68 for the very same thing a couple of weeks ago.......:surrender: