Adding a 2019+ style illuminated GMC emblem to my 17

Jim85IROC · February 5, 2021

I really like how the illuminated GMC emblems for the front grill look for the 2019+ models, but since GM doesn't offer it for the 16-19 style, I decided to try making my own. Right now I only have the "C" because I wanted to see how well it worked.

I picked up a spare emblem on Ebay, and removed the red inserts:

I bought some 1/4" Plexi and cut out a piece that matched the "C":

I soldered up some segments of an LED light strip:

I put it into the chrome emblem, stuck the plexi over it, then put the red emblem over it. I brought it out to my truck and tried it out after it got dark:

Here it is with a darker exposure, which is a bit more realistic:

I'm not completely thrilled with how it looks, so I think I'm going to experiment a bit more. What I don't really like is that because the plexi is exactly the same size as the red emblems, the light shines out to the sides more than forward. I think I need to try a different approach by using a thinner piece of plexi and making it larger than the red emblem, then blacking out the sides of it so that it only shines forward. I've got some 1/8" plexi so I think tomorrow I'm going to give that a try.

Overall though, I think this looks promising!

Snowcamo · February 5, 2021

NICE!!! Good job and intuitively well done.

VanguardK2 · February 5, 2021

1- I have a chevy, not a GMC.....
2- I already have an illuminated bowtie....

3- I'm following this cause of how amazing this looks and the workman ship you've put into it so far.

Keep it up man, that looks AMAZING

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dieselfan1 · February 6, 2021

I like it. What's the size difference between the two years?

Can't make a 2019 version work on a 2017? Just asking out loud I'm a Chevy guy.

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After re reading your post I think your idea will work.

Jim85IROC · February 6, 2021

Today I made version 2. This one is thinner and sits on top of the chrome. This one looks much better when lit up. I'm going to make V3 the same way but narrower.

Jim85IROC · February 7, 2021

More progress! Today I got the other letters cut, I got the lights all soldered up and installed into the chrome. I used shoe goo to seal up all of the openings in the plastic and cover the soldered connections. I used my silver paint pen on the edges of the plexi and was going to sand and coat them with matte clear but the nozzle broke when I popped the cap off, so that'll need to wait.

Plexi cut:

Soldering the LEDs together:

Installed:

They work!

sharkeysierra · February 8, 2021

That looks awesome!!!!

DCazares · February 8, 2021

Nice!

Jim85IROC · February 9, 2021

All 3 plexi pieces are cut and painted with matte clear. For now they're just sitting in position for a photo op. Next step is to glue things together.

frosty350 · February 10, 2021

21 hours ago, Jim85IROC said:

All 3 plexi pieces are cut and painted with matte clear. For now they're just sitting in position for a photo op. Next step is to glue things together.

I am probably not the only thinking how much? I’ll take one set.

boettcher40 · February 10, 2021

14 hours ago, frosty350 said:

I am probably not the only thinking how much? I’ll take one set.

No kidding, these are insanely cool! Following for details, nice work OP!

Diver6 · February 10, 2021

I don't know why somebody doesn't manufacture these! I see lots of Chevy ones and ford ones lit up around here but nothing available for GMC. I'm sure they would sell a lot of them!

sharkeysierra · February 10, 2021

18 minutes ago, Diver6 said:

I don't know why somebody doesn't manufacture these! I see lots of Chevy ones and ford ones lit up around here but nothing available for GMC. I'm sure they would sell a lot of them!

Because people are cheap.. they expect something like this to be less than $50 dollars with a lifetime warranty even if the consumer messes up on the installation. And they want it before they order it knowing full well it’s hand made and OP probably has a life. I am not even going to mention install instructions....