Pimped My Ride - Footwell Lights

[Bainzy]

http://triumphspitfire.rickbaines.com/footwell-lights/




Not bad for £3.58 and 10 minutes with a soldering iron!  :)

The drivers side is close to how the shade of green looks in person.

[Fizzy]

thats mega. does it help to light the cabin in the absence of street lights ?

[Bainzy]

cheers guys, yeh it does make the cabin visible when you're in a pitch black environment. The footwells are very well lit, but the rest of the cabin gets a fair bit of light from them too. The only bit that remains dark is behind the seats, but you could probably fit one there too (a strip under the rear deck lip where the hood or hardtop bolts would be a good bet).

[bodders1]

I like the green glow. What are you using - subcritical plutonium?

[aar0sc]

I don't have any interior lights in my car.... can't help thinking they could be usefull!

[Bainzy]

Well, I did get the lights from this guy:



He mentioned something about them being weapons-grade but I took no notice at the time. Then he said "up and at them" and scarpered off.

[nickgt6II]

bodders1 wrote:

I like the green glow. What are you using - subcritical plutonium?

Could be a good bet for a Lex Luthor car in the next Superman film - a Spitfire with kryptonite defences - I'd pay to see that. :)

[gfiandy]

Another example using LED lights as my MK 3 still has a dynamo and can't spare much power for extra lights. Sorry about rubbish quality from phone camera.

[bluespit]

Strip lights ordered

8)

[rotoflex]

If you'd like a color of LED light that comes closer to matching the incandescent instrument, ignition, & footwell lights, see if the LED lights are offered in Yellow.  Most yellow LED lights are closer in color temperature to incandescents than LED "white" lights.  

The LED "white" lights have a much higher color temperature than incandescents & when seen alongside incandescents, the LED "white" lights look blue.

Given the applications in which LED lighting is used, I'm pretty sure the reason Yellow is offered is specifically to be a closer match to incandescent lights.  I've used the yellow LEDs as replacement in equipment instrumentation lighting & seen it spec'd in aisle lighting to match the incandescent lighting in historic theaters.

[molten]

Nice one Rick
What did you use and ant tips?

As my glove boxes are out (as id g/box tunnnel cover), I might do this myself.

Cheers Fella

PS: Hope you have theme tune from X Files playing in background ;)

Scott

[Bainzy]

Haha perhaps I should load it on the CD player. If you click the link at the top of the first post, there's a writeup with a link to what I used and where I wired it into.

I guess a tip would be think carefully about making sure the lights themselves aren't actually visible when you're sat in the car, before sticking them down, and be careful with polarity as it's hard to tell which is which. The strips have + and - markings at the end, the wires are very thin as well so keep them out of harms way.

I might order some yellow ones then to try with other projects. The 'warm white' ones looked pretty good in Martin Wood's Spitfire (I got the idea from him):

[rotoflex]

"Warm white" is likely a lower color temperature than what they're selling as "white".
In other words, "warm white" is moving towards red and stopping a bit into yellow, and "white" is probably sort of blue.
I personally think that the reason people buy bulbs that are bluer and labeled "bright white" is because they see the glare from the blue & mistake it for higher light output.

You'll find it easier to read and otherwise perceive a sharper image as the lighting moves more toward yellow than blue.

The wavelengths of blue light scatter in our atmosphere:  that's why the sky is blue & why blue headlights yield more scattered glare than useable light than same-wattage lights of lower color temperature.

It's far easier to read programs in theaters with general lighting at 2800 K or lower color temperature than if the lights are 3000 K or higher.
Some places put in megawatts of new auditorium lighting and decide they want higher than 3000K, and complain "There's no way to get enough light in here!"
It's just to much glare to read programs easily.

[Bainzy]

I think yellow light is more aesthetically pleasing too as it gives a 'warm' look to it. Sometimes with my film photography I'll use +200k filters, or even leave daylight-balanced film unfiltered in a tungsten environment.

[bond]

Wow......................i like  :) their now on my shopping list for Stoneleigh.