Color matched illuminated bowtie attempt/ process

DeepBlue17 · September 14, 2017

So I love having all my parts body color but also really like the illuminated bowtie. I already had a billet bowtie insert that's paint matched I installed a few weeks back. Decided to make the leap and get the illuminated bowtie in hopes of removing the gold insert and installing my painted one. Also wanted to see if it was possible to change the color of the lighting to blue.

So when I got home last night I decided to go ahead and attempt to remove the gold plastic insert. It took quite a bit of work to do but I was able to manage it by drilling a few holes in the middle of it so I could get underneath it and pry without damaging the edge of the Plexiglass.

After getting it off and removing as much of the double sided tape as possible I couldn't see the led's until I actually used a battery to power it up but unfortunately there is a whole circuit board with 4 side firing led's soldered onto it. So swapping to blue is a no go.

Now I just need to get my painted one out without scratching it and get it installed hopefully Saturday.

Below are the pics I took of the process etc. I will post completed pics sometime this weekend after its complete.

I know some other people were curious about this so I decided to be the guinea pig.

cbrsilv15 · September 14, 2017

Awesome job on the pics! I always wondered what the leds looked like. What about cutting it open from behind to get the led Board out? The leds should be able to be desoldered and put some different colored ones, or add more to make it brighter.

DeepBlue17 · September 14, 2017

Awesome job on the pics! I always wondered what the leds looked like. What about cutting it open from behind to get the led Board out? The leds should be able to be desoldered and put some different colored ones, or add more to make it brighter.

So basically this thing is 3 different pieces. You have the insert, the plexiglass part and then the black plastic backing which has the mounting tabs etc. To access the led board you would have to seperate the plexi from the black plastic which i'm sure can be done however the back of the plexi has a chrome paint which is responsible for dispersing the light and making it brighter. I'm not confident you could seperate those pieces without damaging that paint and fixing that would be a real pain. If you look at the pics there are what look like 2 mounting points where the board is screwed to or in some other way mounted to the plexi.

Justin101714 · September 15, 2017

Any pics of this thing installed?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DeepBlue17 · September 15, 2017

Any pics of this thing installed?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Haven't installed it yet. Just disassembled. Hopefully Saturday.

pgamboa · September 15, 2017

Very nice detailed work here that I can appreciate. Can wait to see the final product installed.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

cbrsilv15 · September 15, 2017

What does the back of it look like? Something like what I'm talking about would probably require a dremel and cut off wheel to get it open. Wouldn't be hard to seal back up, and especially because it'd be on the backside.

DeepBlue17 · September 15, 2017

What does the back of it look like? Something like what I'm talking about would probably require a dremel and cut off wheel to get it open. Wouldn't be hard to seal back up, and especially because it'd be on the backside.

Is definitely a possibility. Almost think it would be easier to get a few stand alone leds and drill holes and glue them in rather than try and modify factory chip board. Here's a pic of the back. The pink dot is a mesh vent for heat and moisture you can see where it corresponds to the groove on the front under the plexi.

cbrsilv15 · September 15, 2017

The only thing with that is the led placement. They have to be shining towards the outside edge of the bow tie to light up evenly without some hotspots.

I wish I could just find that outer chrome light up shell from GM. Lol.

pgamboa · September 15, 2017

Makes me want to open mine to remove the resistors to get it to light up brighter

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DeepBlue17 · September 16, 2017

Decided to order some individual led's today. Ordered a set of blue and a set of white. Figured since I came this far why turn back now. Will post more info and pics when they get here.

cbrsilv15 · October 8, 2017

Decided to order some individual led's today. Ordered a set of blue and a set of white. Figured since I came this far why turn back now. Will post more info and pics when they get here.

Any progress on this?

pgamboa · October 8, 2017

Any progress on this?

Crazy! I was just thinking about this and going to ask as well.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DeepBlue17 · October 9, 2017

Any progress on this?

Crazy! I was just thinking about this and going to ask as well.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry. I have the stuff and got it tested but haven't finalized it. I planned to over the weekend but was installing a new tankless water heater thanks to my old unit taking a shit on me unexpectedly.

I ended up cutting out the old led chip board and am wiring up 6 high power blue leds to go in its place. The original leds I ordered were not bright enough so I got the ones with the most Lumens output that i could find on Superbrightleds.com. They are 4 lumens as opposed to the .8 lumens of the first ones I ordered.

I will attempt to get this finished up this week and post more pics.

pgamboa · October 9, 2017

Sorry. I have the stuff and got it tested but haven't finalized it. I planned to over the weekend but was installing a new tankless water heater thanks to my old unit taking a shit on me unexpectedly.

I ended up cutting out the old led chip board and am wiring up 6 high power blue leds to go in its place. The original leds I ordered were not bright enough so I got the ones with the most Lumens output that i could find on Superbrightleds.com. They are 4 lumens as opposed to the .8 lumens of the first ones I ordered.

I will attempt to get this finished up this week and post more pics.

I suspect this is going to be bright as heck. Would you happen to have the old LEDs from the bow tie? Any plans for them? I’m looking for similar interior lighting for some ambient light.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk