Ok so I havent done this yet but once I can source all the bits. I'm going to do this. Big thanks for the guidance of Darkk and Craig who without their help I wouldn't have figured this out. Most of this has been ripped from their guide so big thanks to them.
So if you have purchased the OEM Valeo rear lights then you will have noticed that the inner lights (the two on the hatch) are not LED's. There is a hole for them but nothing else meaning you have to put up with the standard bulbs. This how to allows you to modify these inner lights to create something special!
Like this:
"Ok so here goes.....the parts/tools you will need:
626 nm red leds X 20ea.
120 ohm resistors ¼ watt X 8ea. Solid core wire,#18 gauge
A couple of feet of misc. heat shrink tubing
Hot glue gun
Hot air gun
Electrical tape
Masking tape
Tube clear silicone sealer
Soldering iron
Solder Wire cutters
Pair needle nose pliers
One medium flat tip screw driver
One pair Valeo LED inner backup light assemblies
AND some giant knackers to have the bravery to open them up
First pry open the housing. I used a medium sized flat tip screwdriver. Slide the tip between the lens and the back housing. “DO NOT” turn the screw driver like you are removing a screw. Pry it like you are opening a can of paint. Be gentle pry very slowly until you hear soft cracking. This will be the lens cracking loose from the housing. I went around several times.
When the lens comes loose, separate the inner chrome housing from the main housing. On the rear you will see 3 pinch tabs sticking thru the main housing. Squeeze and push hard. Pain in the ass time. When it separates, mark the inner so you know the direction when it goes back in.
Not much to it is there?
Looking at the back of the inner chrome housing. You can see there are two long pointed legs. These legs stick thru two holes in the main housing to align things for assembly. Next, flip the chrome housing over so you are looking at the back. There are 20 small flat pads that you are going to drill out for the leds. Drill a small hole first then a larger hole for the 5mm leds. At this point you are going to realize that you just drilled thru those two pointed long legs. Just trim them off. You are going to use the holes they were in to run your led wires out of. Several of the holes are going to need to be leveled off to be the same height as all the rest.
Now set the leds in the holes you just drilled. You will need to bend one leg back and one forward. You are going to solder 5 leds together negative leg to positive leg alternating.
You are going to make 4 sets of 5 led lights to a string with one resistor on each string.
This is what each string will look like out of the housing.
This is in the housing. Be careful not to scratch the front of the housing. When this is done, you will start grouping the strings together by soldering on wire extensions. You will connect all the negative terminals together and the ends of all the resistors. The wire MUST be wrapped very close to the sides. There is very little room to work with here. I ran the positive on the outsides and the negative as a bare wire on the inside edge of the edge. I secured everything with touches of hot glue to keep things in line.
Here is what the finished product looks like.
Notice the two lead wires are close together. You can just barely see the inner bare negative wire on the inner part of the lens. Next, I would suggest you insulate the main housing where the leds are going to touch when the housings are put back together. I used electrical tape. Trim it to the same width as the flat back area of the main housing and apply it there or, you could also just tape the back of the new lamp assembly over the bare led terminals instead.
Now push the inner chrome assembly back into the main housing. Be sure to line things up. This will take a little time, things are very snug. You may have to separate it and try more than once.
Here is the inner led housing installed into the main housing
Install the lens, then use silicone sealant to seal it up.
Here it is all assembled and lit up at 12 volts. To wire into your car, it’s just two wires. One negative and one positive.
Extra info:
The Skyline effect will only operate correctly if the user is already wired and coded for AMBER Operation.
The outer Ring of the fender mounted Tails is lit, and the center section is dark, BYTE 09 = Hex 00, or 0% power, and it goes to 100% Power when the brakes are applied. The Center Section, Brake Light as a Tail Light is PIN 4 of the Tail Light Connector, Black/Red on the Driver’s side, and Black/Violet on the Passenger side.
If you double tap onto these wires, and you want the trunk mounted LEDs to light up as Tail Lights, then the Center Ring will have to stay at HEX 0A, or 10% power which will kill the Skyline Tail Light effect.
For the SkyLine effect
The desired choice is to tap into the Outer Ring of Red LEDs on the fender mounted tails, PIN 2 of the Tail Light connector, Gray/Black* on the Driver’s side, and Gray/Yellow* on the Passenger side. Combine this suggestion with a code of HEX 00 for BYTE 09, and the outer ring of RED LEDs on the fender mounted LEDs will light up as driving Lights, and the “ghost” ring of your modified tails will light up giving you the O\o----o/O look that defines the SkyLine Tail."
I need to work out what all this means but if your like me your now saying wow that looks cool but can I do it.......
Enjoy all
Working:
Personally I prefer them with only the outside as indicators and the inner ring always on or as brake lights.
