And just so everyone knows, this modification is not for the faint of heart. You will need patience, persistence, and the right tools (especially the heat gun or you'll never get this apart). And did I mention patience? Beer won't help, but it might dull the frustration if you try this.
Here is a parts list: 4 blue LEDs; 4 green LEDs; 4 red LEDs (although it should probably be 8 in order to get the proper pattern); 4 replacement pushbutton fasteners; a handful of stake-ons; electrical tape or heat-shrink; and, some double-sided tape or silicon.
Tools required: a heat gun (a must); a soldering iron and flux; a thin flat-bladed screwdriver; wire strippers; Philips screwdriver (cross pattern); a fine file; a drill and a bit to match the size of the LEDs; needle-nose pliers; and enough patience (or liquor) to see this one through.
So... the thread was what makes the D E L I C A glow on the rear of some vans? Well, it turns out it's a fibre optic setup taking advantage of the poor qualities of low-grade fibre optic line. Good fibre optics doesn't allow for any 'leakage' out the side of the fibre, thereby ensuring most of the signal gets from one end to the other. Because this application relies on leakage, we get illumination. I didn't take any pictures while apart of it illuminated, but you can see from the first image the fibre optics (the white bar), the filter (a piece of green plastic which gives it the eerie glowing colour), and the lens with the letters in it.
- The light bar off the back of the van
- In order.jpg (21.63 KiB) Viewed 3377 times
In order to disassemble the lens from the bar (the grey thing at the top of the image), I used a heat gun to melt the glue which is holding this all together (this one took a while to figure out). And when I say "holding it together" I mean it is nasty glue that is really sticky stuff and there is a bucket of it in there (I think the Japanese fella who came up with this assembly design is probably laughing with a contented sense of schadenfreude to know that I tried to take this damned thing apart just for the heck of it). Constant heating from both sides, careful not to over-heat and start melting/warping the plastic lens, and prying with the screwdriver is what worked it apart. The fibre optic threads are under the lens, taped together in a flat arrangement and screwed down with a bar to hold them in place.
After removing the fibre optics and the green lens, re-attach the lens to the bar, heating the glue and pressing it back into the slots. Once I figured out how to disassemble this it was W A Y easier to put it back together. If you don't feel you can drill the holes in the light bar without drilling through the lens, do the next step first and then put this back together.
Now comes the fiddley part: measure the letters in order to place the LEDs where you want them. I only had to re-drill one hole, but I put two LEDs in the middle of the letters, blue-over-green (don't quite know why the two colours but I think it looks good just the same) and then red ones for the 'C A'. I was going to put white LEDs as Bruce suggested, but I think those would have been too bright. Drill the holes in the light bar at the appropriate place, bend the leads of the LEDs at 90 degrees so the leads lie flat in the light bar and run the leads through to big hole at the end where the lamp used to be. Hold the wires in place with the double-sided tape. Also, file the ends off the LEDs in order to give a better dispersion pattern for the light - as produced, the shape of the LED projects the light in a beam (which is not what you want here), so filing off the end until it is completely perpendicular to the sides gives a better pattern. See picture for final assemble details of one side.
- LEDs glued into place
- Completed wiring.jpg (25.68 KiB) Viewed 3376 times
When it was all said and done, it took me nearly 5 hours to do this, with very little damage (I warped the plastic lens, but it's not noticeable once all put back together), and the only thing I would change is more LEDs (four each at the corners of the letters) in the 'C' and 'A' in order to give better definition. Because the LEDs are right next to the lens, they don't spread the light around all that much inside the light bar, instead projecting most of it outwards. Especially in the 'A' this is a problem because of their closeness, the 'A' is not lit up the way I would like. But you judge for yourselves.
Reassembled...
- Unlit.jpg (21.5 KiB) Viewed 3377 times
- Lit.jpg (19.52 KiB) Viewed 3377 times
- Lit at night.jpg (16.5 KiB) Viewed 3377 times
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