S4 LED Taillights Finished - Worlds First?

[My5ABaby]

Here's the project I've been working on that will debut at DGRR. Pictures is only the stop lights lit up, but I also did the turn signals. I'll get a picture of those later.

Due to the auto exposure the third brake light doesn't show well but it's two rows of 8 LEDs.

My next task, if possible, is to get rid of the reflector and put it somewhere else (reverse light area).

The second picture I messed with in Photoshop to show the individual LEDs more clearly.





Partial picture of the wiring. I spliced in probably 20 wires into the existing harness.

[My5ABaby]

Also, there are ~60 LEDs per section (excluding the 3rd brake light of course).


--- Post also reserved for more pictures ---

[vex]

That's pretty cool, did you do the boards yourself?

[My5ABaby]

Originally Posted by vex

That's pretty cool, did you do the boards yourself?

Basically everything is custom. The only thing that could be considered premade are the PWM (Pulse Width Modulators) seen in the third picture (green things with all the wires run to it). The circuit boards for those were made/designed by someone else and I installed all the parts onto them. Otherwise, every LED, wire, resistor, etc. was installed by me onto blank circuit boards.

To avoid confusion, the PWM are used for dimming. They turn on and off the LEDs numerous times per second which is unnoticable to the naked eye, but does create a dimming effect. I use them for the running lights.

Here's one of the boards pre-cutting.

[RoughRex]

Nice work, Can't wait to see how they look in person

[My5ABaby]

Originally Posted by RoughRex

Nice work, Can't wait to see how they look in person

It took quite a bit of time. I'd say I put in at least 60 hours on the project. I won't even talk about cost... They're basically untested so hopefully nothing will go wrong (at least until after DGRR).

[vex]

Looks pretty cool, I may have to keep my S4 Tails so I can do that sometime.

[Herblenny]

WOW! Pretty cool! You need to show us what it takes to do them I thought about doing this for my FD.. Some day..

[My5ABaby]

Originally Posted by Herblenny

WOW! Pretty cool! You need to show us what it takes to do them I thought about doing this for my FD.. Some day..

Thanks.

I'm contemplating on offering a retrofit service. However, I'll likely not do it and, if not, will try to do a write up. It would be for an S4, but the process will be similar for other models.

Originally Posted by N.RotaryTech

Imagine that in S5 tail lights. :drool:

I have seen several S5 retros, but no S4. All of the S5 I have seen do a single circle of roughly 20 LEDs.

[PercentSevenC]

That, my friend, looks sick.

I actually prefer the S4 tails, and this looks like a great way to "modernize" them.

[N.RotaryTech]

Imagine that in S5 tail lights. :drool:

[Boostmaniac]

Originally Posted by N.RotaryTech

Imagine that in S5 tail lights. :drool:

+1

[My5ABaby]

Originally Posted by N.RotaryTech

Imagine that in S5 tail lights. :drool:

Are you meaning LEDs in general or my 3 line design with the non-diffused plastic?

[N.RotaryTech]

Originally Posted by My5ABaby

Are you meaning LEDs in general or my 3 line design with the non-diffused plastic?

LED's in general I guess.
Phoenix has a great idea about the rotor shapes.

I would go with any pattern of lines or circles just as long as it still resembles S5 circle lights.

[My5ABaby]

Originally Posted by N.RotaryTech

LED's in general I guess.
Phoenix has a great idea about the rotor shapes.

I would go with any pattern of lines or circles just as long as it still resembles S5 circle lights.

Here's some S5 tails done with LEDs. Like I said, everyone basically does the same thing.

http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.ph...LED%2A+tail%2A

I personally have a good idea that will probably be my next project. Considering I don't particularly like the S5 lights, I'll probably sell them after modifying. For now it's a secret though.

Originally Posted by DJMOJO

not a huge fan of s4 lights myself BUT i must give props on creativity and workmanship, the only thing i have to say is i really hope you end up cleaning up the rats nest of wires but other than that it looks clean! good job!

I've already cleaned it up some by putting both PWMs into a Radio Shack enclosure. In general though there's only so much I can do. I could, and likely will wrap them once I make sure everything is working correctly. But until then, you can't tell they're there with the carpet up.