hey all
as some of you might have guessed - i have a bit of a thing for lights on cars and them having special functions - call it a fetish if you will :P

aaaaaannyhow, my lastest idea (that il prolly never get around to doing...):

late last night was down at the beach chatting with some mates and this guy in a 07 Rx-8 (uber noice in deep blue :D )

i noticed that on at least the passenger exterior mirror, there was a little light that came on when the car was unlocked, and off when it was locked again, which shone down onto the ground.
basically - i want that!!

i was thinking of just using a couple of LED's on either side mirror, and 'tapping' into the footwell lighting on both sides - as (in my kl at least) these will always come on when you unlock the car (as with the rear curtosy lights in the back) even when the main light is turned 'off'.'

was thinking there because the footwell lights always come on when the car is unlocked - i thought of using the red door lights for ease of wires and the like but the red door lights dont come on until you open the corresponding door...

has anyone done this sorta trick to thier car yet - if so wanna share how it was done?

if no one has done it/thought of it yet - and they suddenly start appearing on AMC cars - I CLAIM THE IDEA! lol

i have little knowledge of things like electronics and the like so if anyone could work out how to do it and tell me what to buy then i should be right!!! lol!!!

ideas / thoughts / opionions?

cheers

It's doable, personally I wouldn't bother :P

You'll need a donor set of mirrors to cut up... Don't want to damage your existing ones do you.

Shouldn't be too hard, piggyback off the footwell light wiring on either side, run the wires through to your mirrors, use a cold cathode light... Don't know where you'd fit the inverter.

LED's wont be nearly bright enough.

It's doable, personally I wouldn't bother :P

You'll need a donor set of mirrors to cut up... Don't want to damage your existing ones do you.

Shouldn't be too hard, piggyback off the footwell light wiring on either side, run the wires through to your mirrors, use a cold cathode light... Don't know where you'd fit the inverter.

LED's wont be nearly bright enough.

true, never thought about the mirrors getting hacked up.. thats gunna add to the cost of it all quite a lot...

im not aiming for mega lighting, just a nice little - but prolly useless touch to help getting into the car at night/ finding the car... even tho the interior light allready comes on when u unlock it...

might be able to fit the inverter lower down in the door, or up in the foot well maybe?

what about under the side skirt? you could always put them there? or if you are fery good with a drill then in the side strip? OR in the black part of the side mirrors, i agree with lucifer, LEDS wont be strong enough, but cathodes may not either?? i suggest if you have some perspex lieing around, cut out a 15 mm x 40 mm rectangle, and the same size out of the black surround of your mirrors, plastic glue it in place and then use a small bulb inside that area. obviously piggy backed from your footwell lights. Just my suggestion.

Shibbs

what about under the side skirt? you could always put them there? or if you are fery good with a drill then in the side strip? OR in the black part of the side mirrors, i agree with lucifer, LEDS wont be strong enough, but cathodes may not either?? i suggest if you have some perspex lieing around, cut out a 15 mm x 40 mm rectangle, and the same size out of the black surround of your mirrors, plastic glue it in place and then use a small bulb inside that area. obviously piggy backed from your footwell lights. Just my suggestion.

Shibbs

never thought abt the side skirt.

tho - at the risk of sounding ricey. i would prolly use white neonz - just small ones and rin em up to the footwell lights...
tho that might be illegal in some states (qld too i think?)

maybe just a little too ricy tho...
might give it a go, and see how it looks, never know

only illeagal while in motion i thought, and anyways you wont have your door open while driving, and also you arent driving a VL commonhore :P lol.

see the Gas_Hed thread, i personally think thats a much better idea and i'm going to do it myself, difference is lights operate when you open the door, but a better idea i reckon.

Also if the lights are on the mirrors, when you open the door the lights will be in front of the door anyway so you wont be able to see any puddles etc that are actually below the doorspace anyway.

Or I may be completely wrong.

Gas_heds idea (http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52486&highlight=courtesy) seems to be the best way

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/gerard48/th_DSC00311_800x600.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/gerard48/DSC00311_800x600.jpg)

yep, my rx8 had them lights too.. and if you get up under the mirror.. you will see that they are even a triangular shape like a rotor, just like everything on the car..

i remember when i first noticed them and thought WTF!! that pretty cool..

if you get the right LED they will be bright enough. i sell single LED headlights for bikes and they are plenty bright enough. i use 1 as a keyring light (and a torch). even just last night i was using it to see where i was walking.

i reckon u could do that mod have a look at an 07 (the new shape) pajero exceed (im goin off memory here) im sure they have the lights in the bottom of he mirrors as well as an led indicator stripe in the housing,possibly could retro fit them they arent big lights but strong enough to highlight the ground!!!

just use a couple of these.
Hella part no 95968080.
here is the link to the site. (http://db.hella.com.au/cgi-bin/catalogue.pl?flcmd=preview&flmaint=2309)

Gas_heds idea (http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52486&highlight=courtesy) seems to be the best way

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/gerard48/th_DSC00311_800x600.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/gerard48/DSC00311_800x600.jpg)

yeah i saw that idea, and originally thought of doing the same thing.
my door cards need a little cutting to make it work, as there are no pre-marked cutouts for it to go in, and i dont want to hack up my door trims (only more expensive mirrors it seems?! lol)

im not after mega night time lighting - just enough to light up the ground a little bit better - in case of puddles and mud and stuff where ya gotta stand to be able to get into the car.

when i get to brisbane (be there at the end of this week), il go hunting for the bits i need to do it and give it a go.

if / when i get it all good, il post pics :)