This weekend, I did my cupholder LEDs, climate control lights (red) and groundwire kit. I went to a local store (____ing awesome parts store) and got what I needed. My cupholder lights cost me about 7 dollars, the red bulb covers were 40 cents, and the ground wires cost me 5 bucks with eyelets. :D

The ground wire kit is made of 10 gauge wire. I thought 4 gauge was a bit overkill...

I notice, after the car warms up, the engine idles 100-200 RPMs lower than before. Also, the throttle response is better...

The cupholder LEDs were easy to install. I drilled the LED holes on the side of the cupholder (like the factory install kit) so the light would still shine if a can was in place. Also, it shines better (no one will be viewing from the front of the cupholders). I soldered the resister to each LED then connected them in series (could've used one resistor for both, but BLAH!). I connected the negative to one of the bolts on the shifter, and connected the positive to the green wire on the blue plug next to the shifter. I just taped the wire to the plug. I didn't want to tap the wire. The LEDs turn on when the running lights or headlights are on. I installed a switch in the little removable panel under the e-brake so I can turn them if I don't have anything in the cupholders.



The climate controls were easy to install as well. The bulb covers were a little too big for the small propietary bulbs Toyota uses, but they held in place once the components were reinstalled. There are 2 bulbs and 2 small LEDs (for the AC and Defroster buttons).


Here is the whole center area

 

dood give me more info on the groundwire stuff you did more pics if you got them too... it all looks good

 

Ground wires....I'll take more pics tomorrow (using a friend's camera). I made 5 ground wires. (didn't measure them ). I'll take pictures of all the areas I connected them...

 

awesome cant wait

 

If this helps, here is how they were connected...

chassis to battery > battery to head > head to coil pack > head to chassis

 

How'd you change the color on the dash to red? More specifically, how do you take off the dash?

 

Pull off the A/C *****. Remove the two screws. Get a small flat screwdriver or the like and insert at bottom of console between the silver and the dash. Pry both corners up until you can get your fingers on them and then pull outward. Pull the bottom out and angle up, pull out the top. There are three elec. connectors attached for climate control, unplug them. To get to the bulbs, you gotta take the screws out of the back of the AC controls on the console piece.

 

Madd Props to Mikochu on this DIY. Installing your own ground kit wasn't DIY enough, you made the kit a DIY too. I'm feeling this. Not to be too much of a pain, but some shots of the connection points would be killer..

 

dude, i love the climate control change.

you mentioned colored caps to go on the bulbs, could you tell me where i could score a set?
thanks.

 

Here are the pics of the groundwires. I went back to the part store and bought more eyelets. I'll probably put add a couple more wires (transmission, etc).

Here is a pic of the bulb covers, 10 gauge wire, and eyelets..and a quarter.


First, the bulb covers are bigger than the bulbs in the climate control area. I used 4 bulb covers for the whole control panel. 2 in each of the green LED areas and 2 in the main light source area. With the main light source area, take the white plastic off the panel (watch out for the spring, metal piece, etc) and cover the bulbs. Put the metal piece and spring back in place and put the assembly back together (making sure the bulb covers don't fall out of place). There are two light domes that you can check to see if the bulbs are still in place.

Okay, with the ground wire. I should've measured each wire for your benefit, but I forgot. You have to measure the wire to each connection and cut, then strip, and crimp the eyelets. Anyway, to the routing we go!

-chassis to battery

Sure there's one already there. I doubled up on it just to look cool

-battery to head > head to coil pack

From the battery, I connected a ground wire to the head. Then from the head to the coilpack. I didn't have any tools on me, so I can't show you the connection to the coilpack, but I fastened the connection to one of the sparkplug covers' bolts.

-head to chassis

Also from the head, I connected the ground wire to the other side of the chassis.

The finishe product looks like this:


Hope this helps out someone...

 

Thanks for the pics!!!

What store did you get the bulb covers from???

 

Great job man

 

I bought them at a general surplus store called Skycraft (www.skycraftsurplus.com). I went there today to pick up more eyelets. I should've looked for more of those covers. I saw 1 in the little bin (was showing a friend that I got them from that bin...). Next time I go there, I can check for some more. They go for 10 cents a piece, but the place is a bit far *hint hint*.

*damn it, I just took apart the climate control assembly to put in my home fabbed clicky noise maker for the fan **** (lost the oem clicky noise maker when I first took it apart). I should've taken some pics...

 

Thanks for the connection point pictures and your dash looke pretty cool...
Good going with making your own grounding kit!

 

Very nice to see someone actually making something themself!

George

 

bulb condoms

http://www.trucknvans.com/bulbs/bulbcover.htm

 

their smallest ones are 194 and 168... those are the size of the bulb in the easy bake oven (xA)...

the bulb covers I used seemed like they were used for 5mm LEDs...

 

I added more ground wire to my car. Adding these to the existing wires I installed over the weekend seemed to help tremendously. I noticed much more low end torque than before. Here are some pictures. Also, you can't tell (because it's still in the picture), but I took out the redundant red ground where the stock ground cable was...







Zip-tie where needed. I zip-tied afterwards (had to get some zipties...)

Also, I ended up going to the part store again, today. I have a few (4) sets of red bulb covers if anyone wants them...

 

so really, did your ground wires do anything to help your car, noticable power difference, mpg, idle/

 

I feel more torque at low rpms. The throttle seems much more responsive (doesn't feel like I'm driving a golf cart anymore), and it idles 100-200 rpms lower than before. I mistakenly took the negative connector off the battery, so my trip meters reset. I won't be able to tell mileage until I fill up again. For 7 bucks, it was a steal!