USA are a thery strange place..

 

Looks great but thats a lot of money to dump on lights you prob dont use much or do you drive around in reverse lol

 

He sure uses his blinker alot though.

 

haha, yeah especially since everytime i turn it on i'm thinking "yeah that's right, look at it, people behind me look at it!"

 

that is just plan sic man..that would make all the chicks wet..

 

oh sorry man, i missed your post earlier. i believe the only thing you would for that is a simple relay. it would let the brake light operate normally as long as there was no power coming from the turn signal wires. as soon as the turn signal wire sent power to the relay, it would cut power to the brake light, causing them to turn off (NOT the running light circuit, but the brake light circuit. this is important because if you use the wrong circuit, everytime it blinks it would turn off the tail light completely, BAD!). then when the turn signal wire stop sending power, the brake light would brighten up again. that should work. fairly simple.

 

Is there enough power comming to the reverse lights to light 6+ stars?

 

easily. you're only drawing about 2 amps to each side with 6 3watt stars. i guarantee the bulbs uses more than that

 

Where is the best place to buy the stars, resistors, relays, and board? I know I have seen the boards at Radio Shack.

 

boards = radio shack
drivers = www.taskled.com
relay = autozone/pepboys
stars = probably from me. i have an account set up with future electronics and can them for around 9 bucks a peice. if you can find em cheaper on the net, awesome.

 

Acree, you've really created something that is so eye catching, totally unique to the 350Z, and certainly quite functional!

Your work is absolutely AWESOME!!

 

All right, I finally put together a parts list. This is a run down of all of the parts you need to make the sequential circuit, and nothing more. It is always a good idea to order a few spares. I ordered all parts from Mouser.com if I did not find them at the local radioshack.

Parts from Mouser

Quantity-------------Description------------Part Number
2--------------------555 Timer-------------512-LM555CN
2--------------------Decade Counter-------511-M74HC4017
36-------------------SCR------------------511-P0102DA
2--------------------Volatage Regulator----511-L4940V10
2--------------------1uF Capacitor---------80-C430C105M5U5TA
2--------------------10uF Capacitor--------80-T350G106K035AT

Parts from RadioShack
Misc soldering equipment (iron, braid, stand, 60/40 solder, etc)
About 4 packs of Breadboard PCB - perferated
Pack of 1/8th Watt Resistors - They have a huge assorted package for around 6 bucks. It's a steal and will come in handy. The specific resistors you will need for this project are 2 330 ohm 1/8th watt, and 2 22k ohm 1/8th watt resistors.

Parts - Other
Actual LEDs I ordered straight from Future Electronics. The Lumileds part number for them is HPWT-ML00-D4000.
The backup lights require 3 3 watt stars and a driver from Task Led. The driver is CC5W configured for 1000mA.


I will hopefully get around to drawing up a circuit diagram sometime soon for this project. Sorry about the delay in the write up.

 

Just an update for you guys, if you were interested in buying a set of these. I plan on having a group buy in May. The price will be around $425 if I can get 5 people interested. The new signals will retain the STOCK reverse light. I am still able to do that conversion, but it will raise the price considerably. Depending on the interest shown, the price could change.

 

Wow thats amazing it makes the Z so much better like a really high end car, who knew something so small for example turn signals and reverse lights can make such a difference. When ready i would like to see the prices for this project.

 

I would like to see the diagram when you get it wrote up, awsome work by the way.

 

i would be intrested especially if the price changes!

 

Jeez That is amazing. Are you an electrician by any chance?

 

That price is as low as a set of these will ever go. Sorry man. They cost too much to make and way too much of my own time goes in to them.



Hah, not even close. I am currently a freshman attending Texas A&M. I'm going for an Electrical Engineering degree.

 

Subscribing, would like to get the stock reverse lights converted as well.

 

I was thinking about doing this but I'm not sure this approach would work. It would work when you have your foot on the brakes. But if your foot is not on the brakes then you would only get the "driving light brightness" of the tails blinking, and if your lights are off then you would get no blinking (because the tail lights wouldn't be on). I think you would need a more complicated setup with multiple relays etc. Anybody?