FR-S DRL Prototype (UPDATED - Installed!) [56k warning]
 

UPDATE 2: Installed!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...929_180501.jpg

More pictures of the faux-86 DRLs installed here! (Dropbox album)

@Guff
@DaJo
@boredom.is.me
@indesign
@DIM
@soundman98

================

UPDATED: Prototype, Mark I

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...929_155942.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...929_155950.jpg

This is a prototype I created today, something to test if this is a good idea.

I painted the bottom half of the chrome assembly satin black. I did not paint the high beams because I want to keep the shape of the remaining chrome part, like a sharp, sideways teardrop. I will also be replacing the projectors with better ones, but for now this will do.

Now that I can see where the LED strips will be, I think there is enough space to put in two LED strips, one white and one amber, and utilize a switchback circuit so that the amber will blink in tandem with the signal lights (the white strips turned off while the amber strips are on).

Thoughts? :D

========================

Well, another project of mine has officially started tonight. I want to add DRL strips to the FR-S headlights, but I don't want to just stick LED strips to the outside where it meets the fender because it will look cheap and effortless. No, I want to do something that looks OEM/JDM (86/Series 10 headlights) but even better.

• The LEDs should be as bright as the JDM, or brighter, and should point outwards.
• I want to use the strips as part of the turn signals. They should be white in normal mode and amber/yellow in blinker mode. Kinda like switchback bulbs. I might have to use two pairs of strips for this.
• I don't want to deviate too much from the chrome look, but I want to paint the bottom part of the chrome assembly satin black. This means precise application of painter's tape to mask off the other parts.
• Projector retrofits are not included for this run, although I am considering getting a Mini H1 6.0 and hacking the TRS adapters to fit them. But...
• Budget is tight.

LED choices:

I'm was fascinated by TRS's xB LED strip (they are super bright and you won't see much gaps between the LEDs unlike most strips), but they are out of my budget ($25/pair for 3", $50/pair for 6", $75/pair for 12").

Next, I tried SuperBrightLEDs High Power Flexible Light Strip. I have a pair from a discontinued project. They seem to be fairly bright and solidly built. Here are some initial pics:

White LEDs always look yellow when turned off:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...927_221437.jpg

They look way brighter than this shot, my camera is just crappy at low-light:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...927_221518.jpg

How I want it to be placed (ignore the black/red paint job, it's my prototype headlight piece with around 200 coats of paint):

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...927_232615.jpg

And this is how it will look like if I just stick the LEDs in the gap between the headlight and the bumper (which might actually work for waterproof, side-emmitting LED strips, but still....ugly):

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...927_233920.jpg

Now, I'm deciding on whether to order the strips in black/amber or in white/amber, but it depends on how I want to paint the chrome part.

Thoughts? :thumbup:

Not bad, looks pretty cool. Fairly OEM too! If the LEDs themselves were larger, it would probably look even better!

IMHO, these strips are too thin to look like OEM.
Also, I see too many of these LED strips done by people and they all end up having a couple or a few LED's in between that does not work properly after a while...
Leaving them with even bigger blind gaps.

These are just not reliable enough to be put inside a housing. (But even worse if left it stuck on the outside) Again... IMHO, which is only worth about 2 cents. ;)

A+ for effort though!

Oh, in the last pic, the strip looks thin because I wedged it there facing downwards toward the headlight.

I did that with some purple strips I had laying around. I later thought it was pretty ricey. I already have switchbacks, so I was just going to do turn signals.

I can post pics of the purple if anyone is interested.

great idea! however i think the appeal with jdm/10-series drl's is the actual housing the led strip is in, because it creates a mean eyebrow look whether the lights are on or off.

Yes, pics please! :D

I'm actually planning to have a metal base for the LED which will look like that eyebrow that you speak of. :)

The final goal was red, but you can see just how quickly this was becoming a bad idea. I personally think there would be too much white light from the headlight area if the strips are white.

Attachment 52510
Attachment 52511


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

Nice! I'll continue saving towards my 10-series lights fund until something more interesting arises. :thumbsup:

I see that you put the strips outside the headlight, and not facing forward (?). It's also nearer the top near the bottom.

I plan to put mine in the same spot as the 86/10, with the LEDs facing forward as to not highlight the projector housing. :party0030:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...927_232615.jpg

You are correct. It was not facing forward as it wasn't meant to. It does indeed highlight the housing. It is also further up for the reason that it can not be seen at all when not on.

Yeah, I tried the same:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...927_233920.jpg

But it just doesn't look right.

I'm also having second thoughts on including another strip to act as the signal light. Reason is, two strips might be too wide, and since they don't connect all the way to the sharp end of the headlight, it will look weird having that angle and space where the strips end.

Not to mention the wiring complexity.

Overall, I just want to keep it simple and clean.

Cool concept, but I agree with Guff. Some bigger LED's would make it look alot better.

would a plastic housing for the LED strip be a viable solution? That is, illuminating an 'eyebrow' housing.

you're already bixenon so you can cover up all of the high beam if needed right?

It is, but molding one would be a pain. I am giving another thought to the 2-strip style, which would take the place of the eyebrow. See my next post in a minute..

Yeah, I can black out the high beam reflectors too, but I didn't because I want to keep the sharp look. See my next post..

UPDATED: Prototype, Mark I

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...929_155942.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...929_155950.jpg

This is a prototype I created today, something to test if this is a good idea.

I painted the bottom half of the chrome assembly satin black. I did not paint the high beams because I want to keep the shape of the remaining chrome part, like a sharp, sideways teardrop. I will also be replacing the projectors with better ones, but for now this will do.

Now that I can see where the LED strips will be, I think there is enough space to put in two LED strips, one white and one amber, and utilize a switchback circuit so that the amber will blink in tandem with the signal lights (the white strips turned off while the amber strips are on).

Thoughts? :D

looks pretty good. that first version, the strip looked a little short..

...and boom!

Photos of the headllights installed!

Yeah, reason is there is a slight curve where the strip is mounted (near the sharp edge). If I try and bend the LED strip that way, it might break the connectors.

the area still looks thin where the light is coming out of, so that hurts the visual effect to some degree imo..

nah, the strips are pretty resilient with slight curves. the glue tends to let go over time on medium/sharp curves...

Planning to fix this on the new version by having the white strip below the amber one so that it shows more.

I was talking about bending the strips "sideways", see 3rd diagram:

http://d114hh0cykhyb0.cloudfront.net...s/FLS_bend.jpg

This actually looks pretty good now that it's on the car. Not bad! Still wish they were bigger LED's though!

yes, but the bend on the housings is less than 1/3 of what they're saying not to do..

Thanks! For bigger LEDs though I would have to actually solder individual LED modules together, but I've given it some thought.

I guess so. I'll give it a shot on my next version, I'll just run these first for a couple weeks and see how they will hold up. :thumbup:

Final product looks really good. My only suggestion would be do the standard DRL delete for the Amber turn-signals and let the LEDs play the role of DRL :) unless of course you need it to power the LEDs

definitely looking better and better. keep up the experimenting!

there's a local plastic shop here that does a lot of custom work. wondering if they can make a custom housing for those led strips.

http://www.tapplastics.com/product_applications

i'll probably find time to go in and get some ideas thrown around.

Tapa and the forum aren't getting along right now so I can't post pics, but I made a 46 5050 SMT dual color LED board for my domelight and a 40 (same but different color) for a friend. If you need help, let me know. I do my own custom design work.

Oh this isn't the final product :) It's just the prototype.

I have heard of them and have actually bought plastic polishes from them, which I used to finish off my candy red tail lights. I've also heard they will custom-cut plastic, but it might be easier for me to create the mount first in a metal sheet like how I did it now.

YES! I do a bit of soldering here and there, but I haven't done something really complicated like this switchback circuit I am talking about, so I will be bugging you once I started on the next version! :D Thanks!

What if I actually get them to make a set or two and send them to you to demo? :D

That will be awesome, but how will you provide the exact size to them? :)

#eyeballthemeasurements

i was thinkin you could provide the necessary measurements to accommodate your LED strips. i'll have to design them in sketchup, and make one out of chip board for mockup.

Ok, cool man, I will create the template in sheet metal first, then give you the measurements.

Looks like it's holding up well..

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...929_190435.jpg

i think you need a new sig pic ;)

Yeah, lol, I can't wait for the next revision.

I'm planning on cutting up squares of these:

http://d114hh0cykhyb0.cloudfront.net...ries-19759.jpg

...attaching them to a larger panel made of metal sheet (or plastic) and re-soldering them in "steps" formation, kinda like the LED modules here:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/..._headlamps.jpg

Then, I'll probably add amber LED strips on top the same size as the white I have now.

Finally, I'll lightly smoke the entire chrome assembly to get rid of too much glare, using this paint ([ame="http://www.amazon.com/Dupli-Color-MC206-Smoke-Metal-Anodized/product-reviews/B00295T4JW/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1"]MetalCast Chrome[/ame])

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31jpv4ZIaRL.jpg

...which is from the same family of paint I used in the candy red tail lights.

:iono:

i don't care for those at all...

how about some of these reflectors?
http://www.exledshop.com/d.i.y-parts...ector-1ea.html

they are a side-firing reflector very similar to the original reflector used by the design you're trying to copy.

otherwise, some osram point led's might be a good consideration as they can be mounted from below a circuit board, making for a very thin profile design. they should have output similar to the plcc2 led's that strip has..


another idea that's a bit more of a long shot-- look into remote phosphor panels
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...assorted-ideas

all white led's are actually blue led's with a red/green coating above them to create the rest of the white spectrum.. by using the separate pieces, you can do some interesting effects that lend to a really smooth output that normal led iterations can't do without a lot of acrylic diffusing work...

sign me up for your 2nd set. :D headlight swap with my stockers?