cleared, relit, & painted switches

[Cmnky16]

well i finally got around to clearing my window and lock switches. I put blue leds behind them and painted them with Testor's translucent blue paint. I am very pleased with the turn out. I am not done with the lock switch yet. I am holding off on the other 3 doors as i don't have any more blue leds. http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/5/web/293000-293999/293038_134_full.jpg http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/5/web/293000-293999/293038_135_full.jpg http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/5/web/293000-293999/293038_136_full.jpg http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/5/web/293000-293999/293038_137_full.jpg

[TA^Guy]

Look awesome. Nice work.

[Cmnky16]

thanks, they are very bright.

[Gigante]

niec job it looks sweet

[Xidion]

good job man, what im going to be doing with mine

[Cmnky16]

i'm trying to figure out a way to dim them without sacraficing color. They are extremely bright.

[T3rry]

Originally posted by Cmnky16
i'm trying to figure out a way to dim them without sacraficing color. They are extremely bright.


howd you change the led's? get some pictures of the process when/if you do the passengers side

[Peyman]

wow thats some crazy shizzle...good job

[Cmnky16]

about he leds, i just removed a clear plastic thing that transferred the light from the senter to each switch. then i put an led and resistor under each switch.

[magyver]

looks sweet man, you can always sand the led and that will take away some of the spotlight effect, but wont loose color..

see, that testers paint is the sheot! yeah yeah

[golfinggoalie]

where do you get paint like that?

[magyver]

any hobby store, not a craft store, but a rc/train/model/ that kind of hobby store, and its made my testors, they have like 4 translucent colors...

[VanishingImage]

your lucky,power windows,i have the manual windows:mad: But nice job:D

[T3rry]

i am in the process of painting mine white but leavign the led red, i have a red/white scheme, waiting for the paint to dry, i will try to get some pics up tonight

[RamAirGAGT]

Looks awesome. I assume you used clear coat?

[rpnp]

i have a question....

what do u use to get ur switches clear? sand paper?

anywayz they look really nice...

[2K GRAND]

To clear the switches you can use fingernail polish remover, soak the switches (for a short time, about a minute) then peel away the paint. very easy to do

[Gamebay11]

Cool I think I will try this Summer, but with red. If I do it good I will post pics.

[the mitchell]

looks sweet man.

[Gamebay11]

I wanted to know if you could tell me exactly what i would need to get, i wanna do red ones and went to my radioshacks(2) and they had 2 packs for $1.19. Could you also tell me where to buy if you know of cheaper ones.

[Cmnky16]

ebay will be cheaper if you need 20+. Radio shack will obviously be faster. The lights are already red though. you also need 1 440ohm resitor for each led.

[ladiesmanga]

How do I pop out the switches to clear them? Do I have to take off the whole panel, or can I just pull the individual switches out? I want them red, so I don't need to put any LED's in there, I just need to clear the switches.

[Bouchie11982]

wow tose look relaly good Cmnky..wanna do mine :D

[Gamebay11]

I checked out mine yesterday cuz I wanted to see what I had to work with and they are part of a removable relay, and then you can take em off. It took me like 2 minutes, very easy to get off.

[Cmnky16]

Originally posted by Bouchie11982
wow tose look relaly good Cmnky..wanna do mine :D

yours aren't clearable. they are different and are not lit.

[97grandamchick]

could you please explain howyou painted them? i cleared my switches a few weeks back, and i want to paint them red...do you use clear coat? how many coats of the translucent color and then clear coat if you even use clear coat?

[Cmnky16]

I followed the instructions on the paint. Paint in thin coats to desired color.

[SC/TGrandAm]

if you want to dim the leds down quite a bit just get a larger resistor and wire it in.

If you all want instructions on doing it i think Seth (Iceman) posted a How To on this here and he for sure has one posted on grandamgt.com in the How To section.

[Cmnky16]

Originally posted by SC/TGrandAm
if you want to dim the leds down quite a bit just get a larger resistor and wire it in.

If you all want instructions on doing it i think Seth (Iceman) posted a How To on this here and he for sure has one posted on grandamgt.com in the How To section.
wouldn't that reduce the wattage, resulting in a green color?

[1996gase]

i love the look of those, i just got done clearing mine, and i've gotta get around to getting paint for them...(school+baseball+volleyball=no time for my baby).... but i think i'm going to paint the inside of the switches white, like the same white that's on the tips of the switches and then the outside transparent red. i thought that way they would look better in the daytime and not as blinding at night.

[magyver]

Originally posted by Cmnky16
wouldn't that reduce the wattage, resulting in a green color?

no man, leds are a true color no matter what...wether bright or dim they wont change colors...just the intensity, i can use my factory dimmer to dim my door led's, and my guages stay lit, otherwise, for less bright, you can sand the top of the led to make it disperse more resulting in a larger area of light and not as bright...

[sunXet_RELOADED]

Cmnky16, what is a 440 OHM resistor, as mentioned at the top of the page?

[sunXet_RELOADED]

also, what would happen if i were to clear it, say paint it green, but keep the old LED? What type of color would that make?

[1996gase]

how much does that paint cost?

[nod_nod_nod]

you can get leds on ebay really cheap, about 10 cents a peice

[gold dragon]

do you think it would look good if i painted the switches gold

[greenguy]

i am in the process of clearing mine as well...i have the LED in and i hooked it up to the existing circuit..so it dims like normal. kind of tricky, but i got it done. How's that for "creative" Magyver?! lol

[greenguy]

Originally posted by sunXet_RELOADED
also, what would happen if i were to clear it, say paint it green, but keep the old LED? What type of color would that make?

You would have to take the unit apart completely and take the red rubber sleeve off of the existing bulb. The bulb itself is clear, that sleeve is where the color is comming from.

[mthegodfather]

Looks very sweet dude.

[magyver]

Originally posted by sunXet_RELOADED
Cmnky16, what is a 440 OHM resistor, as mentioned at the top of the page?

id say do not attempt this w/ a question like that, you gotta have a basic understanding to mess w/ Voltage...

[highflyer]

magyver's right.....get some knowledge before attempting....
Couple of points:

- Testors paint is generally cheap (talking little bottles) for no more than a couple bucks, if that.
- I buy my LEDs from SuperBrightLEDs.com, I think they have the best selection of color and intensity/viewing angle for price, although you won't find them for $.10 a piece....still cheap though.

[tommyortom]

ok so this can be done on the current gen Grand AMs...like on my 2000 SE....all i want to do is clear it and put it back in...so it will just glow all red right?

[magyver]

more orange and not very bright

[jds_truck]

i might just have to try this thanks for idea but i will deffinetly have to go red since i bvought like a hundred red leds

[tommyortom]

do you paint the outside of the switch, or is it possible to paint the inside

[magyver]

its possible, you can paint whatever side you want