DIY: Illuminated Side Sills (LED Overlays from Supercomputers)
06-05-2011, 02:58 PM
#1
University of Tennessee
Thread Starter
DIY: Illuminated Side Sills (LED Overlays from Supercomputers)
This is my first real contribution to the forum. Let me first say that I relied a lot on the DIY from here, http://www.sbadesign.com/acurazine/sills/. The only difference is that these LED overlays do not require those resistor things. Thanks to the person who created that link and all the others that have posted tips. 
So this is what I did. I'm sure there are many other ways to do it, but this is the novice way to wire your side sills.
Items needed:
Needle nose pliers.
Electrical tape.
Double sided tape.
Flathead screwdriver.
Razor or cutting tool.
Scissors.
Flashlight.
First thing you do is remove the lining by just pulling it off gently and than start with the trim. I used a flat head screw driver and gently popped out each piece of trim. First start with the piece where the fuse box and hood latch is.
Second is the trim piece that goes along the driver/front passenger seat.
This pic shows the clips that are underneath the trim that you have to pop out to remove it.
After removing this piece, go ahead and remove the side sill and put it to the side. Just put your finger underneath and pull up. It pops right out.
Next trim piece is the B-pillar? piece. The one next to the seat belt. You may need to move the seat forward to make it easier.
Remove the rear lining but just pulling it off gently.
Now the rear trim piece is next. Part of it is snug with the seat, so be careful there.
You can put those pieces to the side now.
The last piece of trim will not need to be removed. Just pry it open like so to see inside.
This will be where we will connect the rear black wire. More on that later.
Go ahead a remove the rear side sill. Again, just put your finger underneath and pull up.
Ok, now that we have the trim removed, we can start with the wiring. I started with the front black wire. I connected it to the front door switch. The one that turns the light on when the door is open, and off when it closes. So this is the bottom of the B-pillar?
Pinch this area of the foam insert where my hand is.
Pull it out to reveal the inside of the switch. You may need a flashlight to see it.
Inside, the switch has a connector that you can disconnect. This will make it much easier to splice the wires.
Ok, so I pulled out the wire from inside. Only one in there.
No we use the red clips that were provided. The door switch wire will go on the outside, and the front black wire(from the harness provided) will go on the inside as pictured. This black wire we used should go to the front black clip.
No closed the clip tightly. You will need to get some pliers to unsure that the metal piece splices the wires inside. If your lights do not light up later, it may be due to the metal piece not splicing the wires. Just give it a real good hard squeeze.
Now we are ready for the rear black wire. (Note: that one of my wire harnesses, there were two separate black wires. One where the black harnes line was connected to the black clip. I just cut it out. So each black clip on the harness should only have one black wire connected to it.)
Ok, go to the rear switch and pull the connector out just like we did in the front.
Make sure you pull it out in between the seat and the lining. I made the mistake of not doing this and had to rewire it. Ok, you just have to use the red clip and do the same as the front. Double check and squeeze tight.
Ok, at this point we have wired both black wires. The only one left is the red wire. Go to the front seat and look at the wire loom running along the floor. Open it up.
On the driver's side, I used the gray with blue stripe wire (pictured below). On the passenger side, I used the red and white stripe (thanks dc5k20z1 for pointing this out). Connect with another clip. Squeeze tight.
Now all the wires should be spliced. At this point, I hooked the side sills up to make sure they work. Just connect the black clips together. They should light up when the door is open. Make sure you test the front and rear. If they don't light up, check the red clips again. If that doesn't work, it might be a bad sill.
(Note: make sure to place the overlay on first before you remove the tape to make sure it fits properly. This is important for the rears as they have a bend in them. Once you are sure of fitment, remove the red tape and place them on.) So we are now ready to connect the overlay to the side sill. I added some double sided tape to make sure it would stick. Some people use clamps, but the tape seemed to hold well. Be mindful of the wire coming from the light. You should line it out to the corner that is closest to the inside of the car.
There is a little divet on the door, put some tape down and run the wire over it. Then tape the wire down.
At this point, we are almost done with this side. All you have to do is hide the excess wires and place the trim pieces back on. Repeat on the other side and now you will be done. I hope this helps someone out. Again, I have to say thanks to everyone that has put out info on this. Without it, I could not have done this.
When I was done, I found this spring. No idea where it came from. Anyone know?
That's it, overall difficulty level is a 6/10. I will add some night shots as soon as it gets dark and I can take some good pics. I hope
So this is what I did. I'm sure there are many other ways to do it, but this is the novice way to wire your side sills.
Items needed:
Needle nose pliers.
Electrical tape.
Double sided tape.
Flathead screwdriver.
Razor or cutting tool.
Scissors.
Flashlight.
First thing you do is remove the lining by just pulling it off gently and than start with the trim. I used a flat head screw driver and gently popped out each piece of trim. First start with the piece where the fuse box and hood latch is.
Second is the trim piece that goes along the driver/front passenger seat.
This pic shows the clips that are underneath the trim that you have to pop out to remove it.
After removing this piece, go ahead and remove the side sill and put it to the side. Just put your finger underneath and pull up. It pops right out.
Next trim piece is the B-pillar? piece. The one next to the seat belt. You may need to move the seat forward to make it easier.
Remove the rear lining but just pulling it off gently.
Now the rear trim piece is next. Part of it is snug with the seat, so be careful there.
You can put those pieces to the side now.
The last piece of trim will not need to be removed. Just pry it open like so to see inside.
This will be where we will connect the rear black wire. More on that later.
Go ahead a remove the rear side sill. Again, just put your finger underneath and pull up.
Ok, now that we have the trim removed, we can start with the wiring. I started with the front black wire. I connected it to the front door switch. The one that turns the light on when the door is open, and off when it closes. So this is the bottom of the B-pillar?
Pinch this area of the foam insert where my hand is.
Pull it out to reveal the inside of the switch. You may need a flashlight to see it.
Inside, the switch has a connector that you can disconnect. This will make it much easier to splice the wires.
Ok, so I pulled out the wire from inside. Only one in there.
No we use the red clips that were provided. The door switch wire will go on the outside, and the front black wire(from the harness provided) will go on the inside as pictured. This black wire we used should go to the front black clip.
No closed the clip tightly. You will need to get some pliers to unsure that the metal piece splices the wires inside. If your lights do not light up later, it may be due to the metal piece not splicing the wires. Just give it a real good hard squeeze.
Now we are ready for the rear black wire. (Note: that one of my wire harnesses, there were two separate black wires. One where the black harnes line was connected to the black clip. I just cut it out. So each black clip on the harness should only have one black wire connected to it.)
Ok, go to the rear switch and pull the connector out just like we did in the front.
Make sure you pull it out in between the seat and the lining. I made the mistake of not doing this and had to rewire it. Ok, you just have to use the red clip and do the same as the front. Double check and squeeze tight.
Ok, at this point we have wired both black wires. The only one left is the red wire. Go to the front seat and look at the wire loom running along the floor. Open it up.
On the driver's side, I used the gray with blue stripe wire (pictured below). On the passenger side, I used the red and white stripe (thanks dc5k20z1 for pointing this out). Connect with another clip. Squeeze tight.
Now all the wires should be spliced. At this point, I hooked the side sills up to make sure they work. Just connect the black clips together. They should light up when the door is open. Make sure you test the front and rear. If they don't light up, check the red clips again. If that doesn't work, it might be a bad sill.
(Note: make sure to place the overlay on first before you remove the tape to make sure it fits properly. This is important for the rears as they have a bend in them. Once you are sure of fitment, remove the red tape and place them on.) So we are now ready to connect the overlay to the side sill. I added some double sided tape to make sure it would stick. Some people use clamps, but the tape seemed to hold well. Be mindful of the wire coming from the light. You should line it out to the corner that is closest to the inside of the car.
There is a little divet on the door, put some tape down and run the wire over it. Then tape the wire down.
At this point, we are almost done with this side. All you have to do is hide the excess wires and place the trim pieces back on. Repeat on the other side and now you will be done. I hope this helps someone out. Again, I have to say thanks to everyone that has put out info on this. Without it, I could not have done this.
When I was done, I found this spring. No idea where it came from. Anyone know?
That's it, overall difficulty level is a 6/10. I will add some night shots as soon as it gets dark and I can take some good pics. I hope
Last edited by Bladehopper82; 06-05-2011 at 03:12 PM.
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06-05-2011, 03:32 PM
#2
University of Tennessee
Thread Starter
Mods. I was just looking at the Modification part. So I guess this should be in the Electronics portion. Please move. Thanks.
06-05-2011, 07:30 PM
#5
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Thanks for the DIY. I can't wait to instal mine, just waiting for the missing harness. Did you have two different types of harnesses? Do you have ny pics of the harness that you modified?
06-05-2011, 07:40 PM
#6
University of Tennessee
Thread Starter
This is a pic. Not my harness but you can see the difference.
In this pic, you can see that one of the black clips (on the left) has two black wires going into it. I cut one of the black wires from it.
This is how it should look, each black clip has one black wire. And there should be two separate black wires that will connect to the door switch wire. In this pic, the top left black clip will go in the rear. The bottom right black clip will go in the front.
Hope that helps. If you have any questions, just ask.
In this pic, you can see that one of the black clips (on the left) has two black wires going into it. I cut one of the black wires from it.
This is how it should look, each black clip has one black wire. And there should be two separate black wires that will connect to the door switch wire. In this pic, the top left black clip will go in the rear. The bottom right black clip will go in the front.
Hope that helps. If you have any questions, just ask.
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06-05-2011, 08:38 PM
#8
Race Director
iTrader: (8)
Don't have illuminated door sills yet but read the DIY lol
Nice DIY!
Nice DIY!
06-05-2011, 08:43 PM
#9
University of Tennessee
Thread Starter
Thanks for the compliments. Here's a couple of night shots. My sills are blue, but the pics look more white. They look great in person. Worth every penny! Sorry for the crappy pics. The background lite up more than the letters in the photos. But in person, the letters are brighter and the background is very dim.
06-05-2011, 09:07 PM
#11
University of Tennessee
Thread Starter
06-05-2011, 09:44 PM
#14
takin care of Business in
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You beat me to it....killer good work....i didnt use the crimps coz they dont work for me 
I used a knife to cut the insulation slide it over and solder my wire....i took some shots will put em up so we can have all in 1 thread....
awesome DIY dude !!!
I used a knife to cut the insulation slide it over and solder my wire....i took some shots will put em up so we can have all in 1 thread....
awesome DIY dude !!!
06-06-2011, 11:02 AM
#16
Mile High
Awesome job dude, I (and I am sure many others) appreciate you going through the time to write this up.
I will be using your instructions tonight, when I install mine!
I will be using your instructions tonight, when I install mine!
06-06-2011, 03:02 PM
#17
University of Tennessee
Thread Starter
06-06-2011, 08:49 PM
#19
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Well done Bladehopper!
.
.
06-07-2011, 04:39 PM
#22
Unless you want to go custom for 600 a set this is what they are going to be for this generation. Once the second batch we have sells out that will be it. We are not going to continue making these.
06-07-2011, 06:33 PM
#23
Ok, at this point we have wired both black wires. The only one left is the red wire. Go to the front seat and look at the wire loom running along the floor. Open it up.
On the driver's side, I used the gray with blue stripe wire (pictured below). On the passenger side, I used the red and white stripe (thanks dc5k20z1 for pointing this out). Connect with another clip. Squeeze tight.
I'm at this step.. Don't seem to find a Gray Wire with Blue Strips...on the driver side.. its not Blue wire with gray strips, is it?
On the driver's side, I used the gray with blue stripe wire (pictured below). On the passenger side, I used the red and white stripe (thanks dc5k20z1 for pointing this out). Connect with another clip. Squeeze tight.
I'm at this step.. Don't seem to find a Gray Wire with Blue Strips...on the driver side.. its not Blue wire with gray strips, is it?
06-07-2011, 06:42 PM
#24
University of Tennessee
Thread Starter
Here are a couple of pics. It should be gray with blue stripes. Both gray and blue are solid lines. I had to dig to the bottom of my wire loom to find it.
06-07-2011, 07:36 PM
#26
University of Tennessee
Thread Starter
Hmm, Not being able to see it, when mine didn't light up, after I squeezed the clips extra hard they lite up. Make sure the door light is on as it is on at the same time the sills are. Other than that, check the white clip that goes to the door switch. Make sure it is plugged in tight.
06-07-2011, 07:44 PM
#27
Hmm, Not being able to see it, when mine didn't light up, after I squeezed the clips extra hard they lite up. Make sure the door light is on as it is on at the same time the sills are. Other than that, check the white clip that goes to the door switch. Make sure it is plugged in tight.
what i'm trying to say is, i want the sills to light up but without having to have my interior lights turn on when i open the door.
06-07-2011, 07:48 PM
#28
University of Tennessee
Thread Starter
does this mean these sills will only light up if i have my switch (the light switch near the sunroof button) turned to the door mode? i usually always have that switch flipped to the left, so no lights inside my interior turns on when the door opens.
what i'm trying to say is, i want the sills to light up but without having to have my interior lights turn on when i open the door.
what i'm trying to say is, i want the sills to light up but without having to have my interior lights turn on when i open the door.
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Bladehopper82 (06-07-2011)
06-08-2011, 12:11 PM
#32
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i ended up opening the switch to see the color of the wire....and it had 1 silver mark across it....the green that I had wired to had 2 silver marks across it....i got the 2nd green with 1 silver mark and bingo, there was light
06-08-2011, 09:42 PM
#36
i had the same problem at first too. i completely removed the trim pieces for driver front and rear and proceeded to splice into the green wires (door jam wires for the black ground wire from the harness). i did that for the front door and rear door.
than i finally got to the 12v power source. so i had both my grounds, and a 12v source. i plugged in a sill to test. no light. went to the rear and tried to plug it in to test. still no light. i'm thinking wtf.
so i pull out the black wires that i spliced (the black wires should be spliced into the door jam wires using the red crimpers provided). i pulled it out and looked at it. it seemed like it did splice it all the way, but i took some pliers anyways and SQUEEZED THE FUCK out of the metal thing on the crimper to make damn sure it came into contact with the wire.
i did that for the rear, and plugged it back into the door jam.
than i removed the switch for the front driver door and again, took some pliers and squeezed the hell out of the red crimper once again to make sure the black wire from the harness was getting spliced into the green door jam wire.
tested the sill and BAM it works. sometimes you just gotta squeeze the shit out of it... using hands wont work.
and on the other side, for some reason the front passenger wouldn't work, but my passenger rear would work. i immediately unplugged the door jam switch for the front and again got pliers and squeezed real hard and voila, the front passenger worked.
than i finally got to the 12v power source. so i had both my grounds, and a 12v source. i plugged in a sill to test. no light. went to the rear and tried to plug it in to test. still no light. i'm thinking wtf.
so i pull out the black wires that i spliced (the black wires should be spliced into the door jam wires using the red crimpers provided). i pulled it out and looked at it. it seemed like it did splice it all the way, but i took some pliers anyways and SQUEEZED THE FUCK out of the metal thing on the crimper to make damn sure it came into contact with the wire.
i did that for the rear, and plugged it back into the door jam.
than i removed the switch for the front driver door and again, took some pliers and squeezed the hell out of the red crimper once again to make sure the black wire from the harness was getting spliced into the green door jam wire.
tested the sill and BAM it works. sometimes you just gotta squeeze the shit out of it... using hands wont work.
and on the other side, for some reason the front passenger wouldn't work, but my passenger rear would work. i immediately unplugged the door jam switch for the front and again got pliers and squeezed real hard and voila, the front passenger worked.
06-08-2011, 09:49 PM
#37
i tried doing the passenger side first. i noticed that there were 2 red and white stripe wires. i tried both (but which one is the correct one?). i think i'm going to go buy some different wire taps tomorrow... kinda like the ones in sbadesign diy
06-08-2011, 09:59 PM
#38
your supposed to be looking for a
WHITE WIRE w/ a small red stripe.
so when you look at the wire, the majority of the wire should be colored WHITE. and to see the red you might have to roll it in your fingers to reveal the red striping. if the wire you are looking at is mostly red you are looking at the WRONG wire.
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con5tant (06-08-2011)
06-08-2011, 10:11 PM
#40
ohhh. yea i wiretapped that wire first and it didn't work so i thought that was the wrong one. i just tried it again and still didn't work. i crushed the shit out of the wiretaps too. think i'm just gonna go buy some better wiretaps tomorrow