You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our community, at no cost, you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is free, fast and simple, so please join our community today!
I've been having a good number of people ask me how to do the led door handles. A couple of days ago I put blue leds in place of the whites ones I had. I am very please with the results. I will try to talk through most of the process here. Feel free to ask questions!
1. Materials
Surface mount LEDs - PLCC package
Plenty of 20-24 gauge wire. Anywhere in between.
Soldering Iron
Solder
30 Gauge wire
Resistors (depending on what color leds you use, the resistor value will change)
5 Minute epoxy
Solid epoxy found at Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, or any car shop (pepboys etc.)
Drill with bits
Dremel with different attachments
Work light (if working at night )
Wire splices
2. Remove door handles.
Very simple, pop out the 2 black rubber pieces
Use a 10mm socket and remove 2 bolts.
Pull the handle out a ways, and unbolt the lock (driver side only)
3. Prepare door handles.
Start out with a relatively small drill bit
Start working your way up to where you can fit the led in. (Some people might choose to use 3mm leds instead of the surface mount, like I have. But with the surface mount, this has allowed me to have a fully smooth handle on both sides.)
After you have all 3 holes drilled, take out the dremel with the cutting disk. Dremel a channel in the handle to run the wires. Be careful not to dremel all the way through! (Attachment 1,2,3)
4. Preparing LEDs
As you can see on each led, there are 2 leads. Each led you need to very carefully bend out from the bottom just a tiny bit.
Strip the 30 gauge wire about 2 inches.
Run the wire through the led lead, and press the lead back towards the led. (Attachment 4,5)
Solder the wire to the lead. (Attachment 1,2)
Make 6 leds with wire leads about 5 inches long each side. (Attachment 3)
6. Place leds in the handle.
Place the leds with the leds in the handle. Make sure you pay VERY close attention to polarity markings, and make sure all leds are facing the correct way, each polarity must go the same way (all positives up the handle, or all down). If you look very closely on the led, there is a corner that has been chamfered. The marks the negative, or "cathode." If you are using the 3mm leds, or leds with leads, the long lead is always the positive. This is pretty much an industry standard.
Make sure that the led sits flush, or even below the handle, INTO the channel. (Attachment 4,5)
7. Using solid epoxy
Cut off about a half inch of epoxy from the roll, and mush it together. Don't stop until you get one consistent color. You will have about 3 minutes before the epoxy starts to set, and become hard.
Place the solid epoxy over the leds, but make sure the leads are free. (Attachment 1)
Also, check the alignment, and make sure that the leds are straight and facing straight up. (Attachment 2)
Do this for all 6 leds, checking and rechecking the alignment.
8. Attaching the leads.
At this point, you should have a good feel for how fragile the 30 gauge wire is. What you want to do now is cut the leads. You should get the length by laying the lead down and cutting the where it touches the next led.
VERY IMPORTANT!
Leave the leads that are on the ends of the handle long. We will drill out holes in the handle to run the wires later on.
After the leads are cut, strip each one about halfway to the next led.
Twist the leads together, and then solder. (Attachment 3,4)
9. Fill the rest of channel with solid epoxy.
Pretty self explanatory. (Attachment 5)
10. Coat channel with liquid 5 minute epoxy.
Once again, self explanatory. I would suggest using a paper plate to mix it on, and once again mix until uniform color is achieved. The reason of coating the solid epoxy is because the liquid epoxy fills in any pores the solid could have, and ensures waterproof door handles! The best applicator I found is a Q-tip.
11. Fill drill holes with liquid epoxy.
Mix another small batch up, so you have plenty of working time. What I would recommend doing in placing a small amount of epoxy on the end of the Q-tip, and then let it drip into the hole. You want to place just enough epoxy to not overfill it, but a little less than full, so that it makes as flat of a surface as possible. You want it to continue the handle contour. Do this for all 6 leds.
NOTE: Selection of epoxy is important. Almost every place that sells 5 minute epoxy, sells a clear drying epoxy. GET THE CLEAR DRYING! You don't want your leds to turn on with a yellow tint.
12. Drill holes to run wires.
We want to drill a hole through both of the hinge pieces of the handle. This is the best picture I have, but its where the red circles are. You want to drill straight down in the back of the handle. (Attachment 1,2,3) After you drill the holes, fish the wires from the end leds through the holes as shown.
13. Take both door panels off.
I won't go into detail about this since there are plenty of threads online.
14. Running wires. Here is a great write up for this procedure!
Where that write up ends at the speakers is where I will continue. We need to get the wire TO the handles. I chose this plastic piece at where to do just that. Drill a hole just big enough to get the wire through, and feed it out of the door. (Attachment 4,5)
15. Connecting wires to the handles.
Here is an important thing we need to include, a resistor. You need to have the specs for what your leds are supposed to run at. Here is a great website for easy resistance calculations. Just remember that when the car is running, the voltage is around 14.4 volts. So, in the supply voltage, put in 14.4, and then the number of leds would be 3 in a series. Then input your current and voltage specs for each led, and it will tell you the correct resistors to use. For this project, simple 1/8 watt resistors from Radio Shack will do. The resistor can go inline on the negative or positive side. After the resistor is inline, I would suggest using heatshrink to wrap everything up. Electrical tape is ok, but for how cheap heatshrink is, use it. It adds peace of mind.
16. Finding the power source.
After you button everything back up on the doors and get the handles installed, we need to find power for our door handles. I wired mine to turn on with the dome lights. It only seemed fitting. When you walk up to the car and unlock it, they come on. It is VERY eyecatching. I drew my power from the pink and purple wire in the A pillar. Pull out the door rubber around the A pillar, and pop that thing off. You will see the wires I'm talking about. DON'T USE THE BLACK. I honestly don't remember which wire is positive or negative, but test them out. If you leds don't come on, you probably have it backwards. Simply splice into these 2 wires, and then run the wire down, and place the door seal back in place.
To get the wire from the passenger side, I simply snaked the wire up in the dash, behind the stereo, and then over to the driver side wires. I wouldn't worry about putting in a fuse or anything, since these leds use about 20 milliamps a piece.
If there is anything missing, please point it out and I will add it! I hope you guys enjoy this write up and go try it out. Any clarification, feel free to ask!
End results. Please forgive the shotty photography! While I was doing the door handles, I added 2 interior neons to add footwell lighting. They are wired just like the dome lights.
F**cking sweet Acree. I've always been a fan of your work. Let me know when you start producing those bumper ones again. The last time we spoke, I didn't have enough money at the time.
16. Finding the power source.
I drew my power from the pink and purple wire in the A pillar. Pull out the door rubber around the A pillar, and pop that thing off. You will see the wires I'm talking about. DON'T USE THE BLACK. I honestly don't remember which wire is positive or negative, but test them out.
-Acree
Just tapped the dome map lights today to wire up some footwell lighting. I can state that the pink wire is positive and the purple wire is negative.
DIY LED Door Handles - Full Walk Through
)
It adds peace of mind. 
Do you by chance have any close-up pics of the door handle in daylight?
