Well we've waited and waited and now we finally have a solution. I now have a complete set up of blue in the car (instruments, hvac, stereo, TT, boost gauge, turn signals, brights indicator, and rear defrost!
Here is a little how-to for you all, remember, do at your own risk...
Tools needed:
Soldering Iron
Thin Copper Wire (used strands from speaker wire)
4 - 5mm LEDs, 8000 mcd is the brightest I found (Bought from ebay, link's dead, but the seller's id is "ubiditnow")
Sandpaper
4 - 330-Ohm Resistors (1/2 Watt, 5% tolerance [RadioShack part no. 271-1113])
Needle Nose Pliers
Small Flathead Screwdriver
1. Remove the HVAC controls, vents, screws, and trim. Should look like this:
Also remove the two screws holding the white HVAC panel in.
2. Remove the sockets of the bulbs from the HVAC panel. This can be done by turning the socket and taking it out the back. The center one proves to be difficult and using pliers to hold back the stop for the climate control can be helpful.
3. Then unwind and straighten the wire leads under the bulb (take notice of their pattern). You should be able to lift the stock bulb out of the socket now.
4. Take the 5 mm LED and frost the top and sides of the bulb. This is done by sanding it down basically until it turns from clear to a frosted color. This will refract the light some and increase the viewing angle of the LED.
5. Place the LED through the socket and bend the shorter lead around the base (negative). Take the longer lead (positive) and solder one of the resistors to it. Once done solder some copper wire to the other side and then wrap that around the base of the bulb. It should not be complete and look similar to this (mind you this was my first of four and by the end they were looking much better).
6. Complete steps 3,4, and 5 again for the remaining two bulbs. When putting them back test to make sure they work. If they don't work, then turn the socket 180 degrees (LEDs are directional).
7. Remove the rear defrost and cigarette lighter panel by removing two screws. Remove the rear defrost portion from the rest of the panel by loosening two clips (screwdriver helps). Then remove the bulb socket from the one side of the "defrost box" portion.
The arrow on the right is what the socket looks like (longer than the HVAC sockets)
8. Again make the resitor/wiring combination with the LED in the socket. Be sure to led the bulb sit about a 1/4 of an inch above the top of the socket. This enables you to angle the bulb to one side.
9. Carefully insert socket and LED back into "defrost box" portion and clip back into the panel. Make sure that this LED works and if not, try switching 180 degrees.
10. Put everything back together and you're good to go!
HVAC close-up:
How to: LED Blue HVAC
Linear Mode
