some duck tape, a piece of chewing gum, a spring from a pen, and a paper clip

 

I'm in for constant white or blue with red when brakes on. I only browsed the thread since it was so long, but I assume there will be no lights on if the cars lights arent turned on, right?

 

Don't feel bad, Dave...neither Jeff nor rue got it right The 10% is still up for grabs. I have a feeling very few, if any, will get this, but once I tell you you'll say "That's too simple, I want the 10% for myself."



esss: At the moment, red is the only option for brakes (although you could leave the brake connection disabled), but you can dial in whatever other color you want for full-time operation. The most logical connection for power will be to the headlight-switched power block, but I will also include directions on hooking it up for activation strictly with a switch.

 

Hey MacGyver Im new to these boards being as I just recently got my S2000 but I am very intrested in your mod I read the whole thread and I saw that you said that a tinted screen wouldnt work now how about if a design was cut into the tint would it still be to dim? See one of my sponsers/friend owns a shop and he does the best coustm tint jobs on the east coast or anywhere as far as we know and he can do anything from tribal windows to american flags that cut up into flames in the next few days he will have a website up and you will be able to see waht Im talking about either way.. if lets say the S2000 was etched into the glass would cutting the tint around it allow enough lit to emit or is this a dead end regardless. Becuase from the looks of the picture the outer edge of the glass ligts up also and T.J. could tint right to the rim a so it would give it a angel eye effect.

Thanks for your time
Carlos R.

 

Carlos,

The issue with the tinted windscreens is one of depth of tint, not necessarily the tint itself. With the LEDs at full power, you can hardly see the light hit the bottom of the etching. It doesn't seem so dark when looking through the screen because you're only looking through 1/4" of it, but turn it on edge and look again...you won't see anything but black.

Is this solvable? Probably. I would want to try it first, but I believe a clear etched screen with tinting applied to the face would work without issue. It might look slightly off since one side has a tinted look and the other has a bit more gloss to it during the daytime, but it may be a minor issue. Removing the tinting from the screen material itself will allow the light to flow through without issue.

Hmmm, I forgot about the UV LEDs have sitting around...I need to play with those.

Oh, and for those of you who are gluttons for punishment, I have posted a pdf of my thesis...click on my resume from the home page and click the thesis title under EDUCATION.

 

MacGyver,

I'm thinking that Carlos is suggesting a clear windscreen that has been tinted (like tint film). I see his point in thinking that the light would pass (almost fiber-optic-like) up through the clear windscreen just fine and reach the etched/edged portions of the windscreen (where the tint film does not exist).

You're experience is with a truly "tint-thru-and-thru" windscreen...whereas Carlos might be suggesting a clear windscreen that has a film tint applied to it.

Is it worth making this distinction [for Carlos' sake]?

- Dave

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MacGyver
[B].....

Hmmm, I forgot about the UV LEDs

 

Didn't you just buy some key badges?




Dave: That's why I mentioned a clear screen with tint on the face...to allow the light to shine through the screen up to the etching. I'm not sure which way would look more funky...etching the screen and then covering the entire face with a sheet of tint, or covering it first and THEN etching it. The first method might look odd around the edges of the etching since the tint can't lie completely flat against the bottom of the etching. The second method might look odd since the etching itself is of a different color (cloudy/clear) than the rest of the tinted screen. Either way, though, I believe the etching would clearly show up lit.

 

Somebody ask me why I'm smiling...ga'head, ask me...

Ah, screw it...the parts came in! Well, most of them, anyway...enough to start putting together a low-power prototype.

And what everyone has been waiting for...a PRICE...sort of. I totaled everything together last night, looked at the amount of time it will take me to modify the mechanism and make each one, and came up with a ballpark figure of $150. I'll admit, this is more than I had hoped for, so I expect to lose a few potential customers due to that, but I can't justify lowering the price.

Being true to form, I gladly open my books to everyone so they can see exactly where their money is going (I have always tried to make my info free and my circuits cheap). When considering the high-brightness LEDs, control components, wires/connectors, case, PC board etching, etc. etc. (even in bulk), I'm looking at roughly $60 in parts.

"But Cripes, Dan...that's $90 profit on each one of these you make!", you say. Yes...and no. The soldering and wiring of the LEDs alone is some seriously delicate work, as well as cutting of the screens and mechanisms. So when you consider the number of hours involved in a single screen, I'm managing to pay myself not much more than the 16-year old working at McDonald's down the street Because of the work involved, I no longer look at this project as a profit maker, but merely a project that will prevent my bank account from dropping as fast while I'm out of work.

I do not know how fast I can crank these out, but most of the work will proceed during the weekends and at night (much to Merri's chagrin). I will look into locals who can etch the screen with whatever pattern you want for a small fee, so maybe I can work out a bulk deal with whoever to keep the cost low. Production has NOT YET STARTED, but I'm hoping the next couple of weeks will show a working prototype, which means I can order parts in bulk. I will probably do these in sets of 5 since I can't afford to be left holding the bag with a bunch of expensive parts.

 

the key badge was two weeks ago and forget about this week, as i just ordered some calaiper decals ( )

J/K bud - let me know if you need an OEM screen to start on (feel free to rip mine off at Saturday's Tech day - G-s2k will have my car)

I'll gladly pay cash in advance to help you offset some of your expenses if that will help-