"SHO" Dash Emblem Light

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Dr.Evil

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This is a guide to make your own LED backlit SHO dash emblem. This is for a GEN1, GenII may be slightly different.

What it does:
It takes your stock emblem and puts a nice low glow through it at night, and the light is amplified when the 3950 RPM mark comes around.

Tools/Parts required:
18 Super-Bright LED lights, your choice of color (I used red)
Small pieces of perf. board
soldering iron
Dremel Multipro
Air powered body saw
510 OHM 1/4 W resistor
47 OHM 2W resistor
2N3904 Transistor (Or equiv)
Diffuser Plastic (your choice of color)
GENII SHO Dash Emblem
Ground wire
+12 wire
Secondary sense wire

1. Once you have the supplies, take the LED's and grind off the lens on the top of it. Just make it flat. This helps make the light more uniform by removing the lens.

ledgrounddown.jpg


2. Take your dash emblem (I recommend getting a spare) and cut off the tabs on back that hold it in place. Paint it to match your interior with plastic spray paint. You might be able to skip this step with GENII.

paintedemblem.jpg


3. using a body saw, cut out the dash behind where the emblem mounts. The goal with this step is to clear out any material that will interfer with the light once done. When you mock it up, you should see straight through it and see no dash. A low speed body saw worked great on this step.

4. Get some defuser plastic from a local plastic supply store. Get the same color as your LEDs. I used one red and one white, to help make the light more uniform. Cut it to size and superglue it the back of the emblem.

diffusermaterial.jpg


5. Cut some perf board to roughly the same size as the emblem. The closer the better. Also cut a small piece for the botom.

6. Now comes the fun part. This is the hardest step. Using the schematic, wire up LEDs, resistors and transistor to the perf board. We used two sections to ease the mounting of it once in the car. Before you get too far, verify that all of the LEDs work.
SHOSchematic.jpg

doneboard1.jpg


7. Time to mount it. I extended the black plastic piece that did not get cut out (on the bottom) and zip tied it in place. Be creative, just make sure it is far enough away for uniform lighting.

ledsbehinddash.jpg


7. Run your wires. Find a suitable ground, a switched power supply (only has power with key on) and run the last wire to the GREEN wire comming off the secondary activator.

secondarysplice.jpg


8. Glue or snap back inplace the emblem, centering it as best as possiable. The GENII emblem is a little shorter than the GENI, so there will be small gaps on both sides.

gluedemblem.jpg


9. Give it a try. if you did it correctly, it should flash when you turn the key on, the go off until the secondarys are activated.

10. SHOw it off to your friends. Enjoy!

Night vid:
Right click, save as
Day Vid to follow.
 

AutoSHO

No SHO = Mo $$$
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On the Gen 2, you are supposed to have airflow coming through that vented panel, as the temp sensor for the EATC is behind there - So using the colored film to disperse light could impair your climate control.
 

SHOoff.

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Dr.Evil said:
Tools/Parts required:
18 Super-Bright LED lights, your choice of color (I used red)
Small pieces of perf. board
soldering iron
Dremel Multipro
Air powered body saw
510 OHM 1/4 W resistor
47 OHM 2W resistor
2N3904 Transistor (Or equiv)
Diffuser Plastic (your choice of color)
GENII SHO Dash Emblem
Ground wire
+12 wire
Secondary sense wire
What? No duct tape?

Sounds cool I think I'll try this.
 

blacklabel

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Dr. Evil, any chance that you still have the pictures and could post them? I know it is an old thread. It sounds like a really cool idea that I might want to try.
 

Dr.Evil

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sorry guys, I will re-host the pics when I get a chance...might be a few days though. just hang in there :)
 

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