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Exterior & Interior 350Z Body modification, interior styling and lighting
View Poll Results: Modding a car with interior lighting is:
Super cool! Go for it!
3
33.33%
Tacky. Your Z already looks cool enough.
3
33.33%
Relatively easy and worth the effort.
4
44.44%
A bigger job than you know. Have fun screwing up your car idiot.
0
0%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 9. You may not vote on this poll

Super simple interior light mod

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Old Jun 3, 2013 | 04:05 PM
  #1  
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TracyE
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Default Super simple interior light mod

I want to install some indirect lighting in the cabin of my 2006 350Z. The plan is to tuck away some color-controlled LED lighting strips here and there (under dash, under seats, etc.) I am thinking that I can zip tie, glue, tuck away the various pieces quite easily. The part I know nothing about is the power.

Can someone please explain how I can tie in to the power system of the car to get the required 12V DC Input Voltage for the lights? I want them to come on when I turn on the fog lights and/or headlights.

I would appreciate any assistance with this. Please be specific about how and where to get that voltage, or if this is even possible. I have never done any electrical work on my car and am a little nervous about screwing something up.

Here are the lights I am planning to use:



Amazon.com: Lemonbest® 16.4FT SMD 5050 Waterproof 300LEDs RGB Flexible LED Strip Light Lamp Kit + 44Key IR Remote Controller: Home Improvement Amazon.com: Lemonbest® 16.4FT SMD 5050 Waterproof 300LEDs RGB Flexible LED Strip Light Lamp Kit + 44Key IR Remote Controller: Home Improvement
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Old Jun 3, 2013 | 04:14 PM
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Don't do it Tracy.
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Old Jun 3, 2013 | 05:20 PM
  #3  
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I found an installation video here that recommends splicing right into the headlight power switch wire (around 3:40). Good idea?

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Old Jun 3, 2013 | 06:00 PM
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I did mine like this - very OEM looking:

https://my350z.com/forum/body-interi...different.html
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Old Jun 3, 2013 | 06:37 PM
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Originally Posted by dcains
I did mine like this - very OEM looking:

https://my350z.com/forum/body-interi...different.html
Nice work! I really like the idea of the lights dimming with the dome lights. It's a tough choice between that and having them mirror the state of the headlights.

Is there anyway to achieve both?
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Old Jun 4, 2013 | 07:46 AM
  #6  
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roughly how much lighting, what kind, and where are you thinking of putting light?

interior accent lighting can be nice, or horrible, depending on execution.
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Old Jun 4, 2013 | 09:43 AM
  #7  
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If it mirrors the state of the headlights that means they will be on when you are driving... no? That is a terrible idea.
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Old Jun 4, 2013 | 12:10 PM
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Tacky as hell. Why would you need more lights? Is the dome light not sufficient enough?
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Old Jun 4, 2013 | 01:00 PM
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I put two 12" waterproof amber strips in drivers/passanger foot well and hooked them up to my subwoofer amp. People usually think it's "cool" It cost me about $10 from eBay and you can not see them from a seating position
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Old Jun 4, 2013 | 01:14 PM
  #10  
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Thanks for all the comments guys.

DCJordon, I am not looking for more light per say, just some splashes of cool color.

Ambushphoot, I am thinking that some subtle interior lights would be cool while driving. Nothing too bright or garish. The dashboard, controls and ***** are lit while driving. This can work if not taken to an extreme.

BBS350z, I am now considering three different mods:

1. Orange almost-always-on dome accents, so the dome panels glow softly like the dashboard items do when headlights are on. Like the project on this page.

2. Footwell lighting (orange) that comes on only when door is opened like dcains

3. Footwell and cabin lighting that is on when headlights are on. These would be the color changing ones from my first post.

I ordered about $50 worth of LEDs and stuff from Amazon last night. This will be my weekend project.

Last edited by TracyE; Jun 4, 2013 at 01:15 PM.
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