This could be one of the coolest projects ever for the Mustang. Very anxiously awaiting the writeup, no pressure.

 

Deric, that looks so cool!!!! I can't wait for the write up.

 

Added how-to to first post

 

Mods, please make sticky!

Need to take it to the next level and use three color LEDs so you can make your own "my-color" for the whole dash!!

Here is a quick movie of my MAME control panel showing the 3-color LEDs in action! (Groovy Game Gear hardware)
http://www.shortbuskids.org/users/sh...ture%20007.avi

 

Wow - Deric I'll say this - you are out of your friggin' mind! Obivously this isn't a project to tackle if you're squeamish, have a short attention span, or shaky hands My car sits in the garage for a month at a time, every other month (I drive a company vehicle every other month) so that would be a good time to tackle something like this. I'm digging the blue too

 

Man, that looks great. I wish I had the patience to do that.. how many hours did it take you to complete everything, from disassembly to resoldering to reassembly?

 

Phase II will be a DIY ambient controlled by my CarPC. There are a few alternates out there for those not doing the CarPC thing.

Phase III involves making an overlay circuit that doesn't interefere with the switch operation that allows me to use the RGB LEDs. This will require me to make a harness for the LEDs but the only area I'm leary of is the steering wheel. I'm still scratching my head on this one a bit but I've talked to a few homebrew circuit board builders and they think its possible.

Originally I thought it was about 2.5 hours but I took apart the radio again last night for pics and would estimate 3.5 hours total if I just hammered it out. Once you start going it goes by quick.

I still have one lock switch left and a few LEDs on the radio (had to order more since I had a few bad LEDs). I'm waiting on an acrylic shop to get my replacement Radio lens done as well since the original is green.

 

hey just one question, where did you buy the LED lights from because ive looked an cant find them

 

Deric, one word on this mod buddy....AMAZING!!!! If you lived closer to me, I would pay you whatever you wanted to do this for my car!!! I have the new D3 Nav, and those buttons match the MyColor, but the HVAC, cruise, Info & T/C, headlight, and window switches bore me to death in that murky green. That blue on teh Info buttons and HVAC switches are OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! Keep up the good work.

 

Hey Deric,

Why did you remove the display from the radio? Are you changing the color of that too?

 

I got them from ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=320168063663

They are 600mcd which is probably too bright since they are brighter than the Mycolor blue. 200 - 300mcd would probably be better.

Here's a shot to show the difference in output.



Thanks - It's really not that hard to do. The hardest part is getting the door lock switch out of the handle assembly. If I were to do it over again I would heat the surrounding area with a hair dryer or low watt heat gun before I depressed the tabs.

Yes I am awaiting a blue replacement from an acrylic shop

 

Sweet.. I'll have to do this some day, hopefully it won't take longer than a weekend (what takes you/others 2.5 hours will typically take me a weekend).

 

I was looking at the Red LEDs on Ebay, but they all have a 1300 mcd. Does this mean that they will be very bright and will be a lot brighter than the stock ones? Does the mcd value vary between the colors? I guess I could buy some of them and try them since they aren't that expensive.

 

Depends on the recommended viewing angle. Some have the beam concentrated and come with a very high mcd rating. If you want one closer to stock I would not get the high brightness kind.

 

ok i just ordered to packs of them so they should be here soon. all i need now is a 15 watt soldering iron and sucker an then ill be starting this. I cant wait.

 

Deric, you are the man!

I love what you have done, but this phase 3 you're talking about would be the ultimate for this mod. When do you think you'll have this figured out? Is it possible to have it tied in to the mycolor selection, or will it have a separate button?

Cheers

 

I definately wanna see pics when you're all done!

 

Great write-up!

I don't hand out too many of these..

 

^ Haha That's great.

I just bought ten of these red LEDs. I want to test them first to make sure they're close to the brightness of the MyColor.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/10-Pi...QQcmdZViewItem

They even have a picture of them installed in the Shaker.

 

Wow is all I can think of to say. That is cool but, too much(work-wise) for me to tackle. I have no patience when it comes to these kinds of things. Thumbs up to you though!