Side Badge SIGNAL INDICATOR DIY for 08+ WRX's!

[rfj880]

WARNING! PICTURE HEAVY!


*all photos taken with a galaxy s3*
WARNING: this mod isn't for the weak, but rather the fearless DIY-er! if you can figure out how each part fits in, it shouldnt be too hard

Here is finally a DIY!
First off, the supplies you will need!
-A dremel-(i already had one, they were a lot cheaper when i bought mine)- Amazon.com: Dremel 4000-2/30 120-Volt Variable Speed Rotary Tool Kit: Home Improvement

-Reinforced Dremel Discs - Amazon.com: Dremel 426 Fiberglass Reinforced Cut-Off Wheels 1- 1/4" Dia., .045" Thick, 5 Pack: Home Improvement

-Two "Straight Black" - Red LED's from here-> 12V Tiny SMD LED Modules : Super Bright Surface Mount SMT LEDs
(If one of your LED's comes broken, this company is very reputable and has amazing customer service and will replace it for free)

-Some 16 gauge copper wire (i just picked up a pack of 3 separate colors from radio shack. you only need maybe 6ft of each) - Amazon.com: Coleman Cable 18-100-16 Primary Wire, 18-Gauge 100-Feet Bulk Spool, Red: Home Improvement

-A light diffuser(this can be any transparent plastic. i went to the super market and found this bottle for 2 dollars) - Marvel MM12R Mystery Oil - 16 oz. : Amazon.com : Automotive

-3M automotive tape(to reattach the badges) - Amazon.com: 3M Scotch Exterior Mounting Tape, 1-Inch by 60-Inch: Home Improvement

-A fuse tap(i didnt use these, i sortof just jabbed a small sheet of metal into the fuse as i couldnt find any fuse taps at radio shack) - Pico 0956pt Mini Fused Circuit 16 Awg 10a : Amazon.com : Home Improvement

(what i ended up using, looked more like this) - 25 Fuse Taps For ATM Mini-Blade Fuses : Amazon.com : Home Improvement

- A soldering Iron + Lead free solder(might be optional depending on if you decide to buy heat shrinks or not) - Amazon.com: J&L 60 Watts Soldering Iron, UL listed: Home Improvement

-A blow dryer for heat shrinks

-A glue gun and glue sticks

-An X-Acto Knife

-A few nuts and bolts for attaching a ground cable for the LEDs

Optional:
-Heatshrink(i didnt use this but it would have made things A LOT easier as far as connecting wires) - Amazon.com: Anytime Tools 48 pc HEAT SHRINK TUBING WRAP SLEEVES ASSORTED SIZES: Home Improvement

Most of this stuff i have lying around my house or in the garage from previous projects.
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Now that the supplies are out of the way, time for pictures!


first, to make it easier to remove the side panel, you could remove the bottom button under your side skirt. you can do this with two flathead screwdrivers. You than would pull down/towards you, the sideskirt revealing the bottom pins holding in the side panel.
IF YOU PLAN ON PAINTING THE SIDE BADGES, ITS EASIER TO DO IT NOW THAN LATER!


i didnt actually pull off the side skirts to do this, i just removed the side panel by pulling the fender side first as shown below


i than opened the door to help remove the other side, than i pulled up to pull the whole side panel out. try wiggling it a bit before pulling it out as it is held in by the side skirt. if you pull away the side skirt instead(unlike i did) it will be much easier to remove the side panel




here you can see the LED and the red light diffuser. i cut this from the Red plastic bottle i bought for like 2 dollars at the supermarket. i emptied the bottle out and washed it than cut it to get rid of the oil residue. (these are the same side(drivers) just taken at different angles)

Im sorry this DIY is done after the fact, but ill try my best to explain this part.
1- i pulled off the side badge by using a blowdryer to loosen it up. just dont pull to hard to crack the side badge it should come off easy with heat applied.

2- once side badge was removed, i measured how wide the WRX letters are on the side badge, and cut with a dremel the ACTUAL SIDE PANEL(not the side badge) (where the grey 3M tape residue would have been.)

3- on the side badge, i used a dremel sanding bit to sand down the inside of the WRX area until i started to see a coppery shimmery look. This part you must be careful as its easy to actually sand thru the whole WRX symbol and damage the delicate pieces such as the thin pieces in the R The point is to just sand deep enough so you can use an X acto knife from the front to cut out the letters.

4- once i got down to a thin enough section on each letter, i cut each part out with an X Acto knife. GO SLOW and take you time on this, as its really easy to mess this up if you get frustrated and go too fast.

5- once you have the WRX cut out, you can glue up the Red Plastic to the back, just try to glue the edges, so the glue doesn't show thru on the other side. i than cut the black part under (where the LED is mounted) at a slight angle so when i hot glued the LED to the side panel just below where the Red plastic sits, it is reflected toward the white paint, than reflects off the car and shines outward thru the plastic. if you have a different color car it wont matter cause these lights are BRIGHT and theres a red diffuser anyway so its fine. the point is just to not have LED dots in the diffuser(red plastic piece)


this is what it looks like once all thats done.


i didnt have any electrical tape, but i used masking tape to try and keep the wires partially dry or having water run down them. i ran the black wires thru the hole that is behind that tape. it is easier to attach atleast 2 feet of Red and Black wire, via soldering them or heatshrink with a blow dryer, before running them inside the car. i soldered them than taped over them than ran the wires inside.


This is a picture of the rubber grommet between the doors. i removed the grommet and fed the wires thru. i soon found out that i cannot easily put the grommet back on, so its best to find a way to just remove a slight piece of the grommet or cut a slit with an xacto knife. You can also run it to the right and up of the side badge by the fender, there is a rubber grommet there also which is easier to cut a slit into, but you need to pull back the fender liner above the wheel to access it.


if you routed the wires thru the door grommet, they will pop thru to the left (i think) of the white plastic piece in the left wall of the footwell as shown in this picture. if you did it thru the fender grommet, it will be comming thru the rubber piece to the right of the white plastic hole for the door. if you have any trouble routing wires, taping them to a wire clothes hanger and running the clothes hanger to get it thru is always a simple solution


(please excuse my fuse box, its a mess. this is from the lack of fuse taps i actually have, and just used make shift pieces of metal as taps instead one day ill fix it up so its clean )

ok now you need to tap into fuse 16 for the power(red) wire. this will activate the side LED's when the headlights are turned on. remember you need to attach a power(red) wire from the passenger side as well so dont be so fast to solder or heat shrink the fuse tap wire so fast. (i promise if you use a fuse tap it will not look this messy at all haha. besides its mostly from the two gauges i have, and a logging cable i made for an AEM AFR gauge.)


as for the ground, hopefully you can see in this picture, behind the curly red wire, there is a bolt and nut screwed into there, and the black wire is wrapped around it. just tighten it down and that will be your ground. remember that both ground wires(driver and passenger LEDS) have to go to this.


this is under the steering column, i routed the wires from the passenger side thru the center by the radio and under the steering column.

[rfj880]

i removed his plastic piece that runs in the middle(the whole piece with the hoonigan sticker im talking about)


when you take off the side panel on the passenger side there is a screw that holds on this middle piece, you can pretty much rip it off once that screw is out. i used this to help me route the power wire. The ground i just routed thru the door again with the power wire and bolted it to the metal behind the side panel on the passenger side( this is a picture of the drivers side, but its similar on the passenger side. in this case it would be the phillps screw on the right of that big white sticker)



this picture shows where the wires will pop thru if routed thru the door grommet on passenger side.

the next steps!You than just have to bolt the ground on the passenger side the same way you did on the drivers side, but ground it to a hole in the metal dash using a nut and bolt on the passenger side. Run the red power wire thru the dash, stering column to get to the fuse #16 fuse tap you already have.

hook up the 2 power wires to fuse #16 and assemble the LED the same way you did on the drivers side, and with the ground andpower hooked up, see if it all works out before you put it all back together!

Here it is done!



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