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Mirror LED Retrofit 3 and Front Turn Signal LED Retrofit 3, Page Updated July 27, 2008

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Project Completed in March 2008

On this page, I describe how I put new LEDs into my K6 style mirrors and into my universal LED blinker lights for the front turn signals. Scroll down for the turn signal modification.

I liked these mirrors a lot, so I got them lol. They came with blue and amber LEDs, of course, but that would never do for me...

I started by taking off the lens cover. This was really easy because the cover has one screw holding it in place, and then it comes off. Much easier than my first mirrors.

Then, I took out the entire LED board and cut the wires out. The board just screws on with three screws (see above picture). Again, removing the LEDs was much easier than my first mirrors.

Since I was going to have them painted blue like my car, I sanded the mirrors and primered them.

At this point, I painted the mirror surrounds black, like the rest of my window trim.

I found some super flux LEDs that are 5 times brighter than the ones I had been using (the 5-chip kind), so I got those. Get them here.

I decided to just glue the LEDs to the mirror lens. But, since the lens has ripples in it (see above pics), the LEDs were out of focus. So, I sanded down 30 LEDs (6 more than I ended up using) so they were flat on top instead of round. This way, the light source would be close enough to the lens that the ripples would have no effect on the light pattern.

I glued all of the white LEDs to the lens and wired them up together (3 LEDs in a series). Each LED takes 3.4 volts and 100 mA. Three of these in series is 10.2 volts and 100 mA. I did not put any resistors in the mirrors because I was going to use 1 huge power resistor for all of the LEDs (in the mirrors and front turn signals). I have the resistors located under the hood with my blinking mechanism. The wires that go out the side power the yellow LEDs facing the rear.

I realized that the clear lens let too much show. It was pretty ugly being able to see all of the wires and glue behind the lens, so I sanded the outside of the lens with fine sandpaper to make it cloudy. It actually worked! The wires are mostly hidden, but the light still comes out fine.

Here it is at night. It is in parking light mode, so it is very dim compared to how bright it gets when I signal. The front turn signals blink the same way in this 1157 bulb way.

Here, you can see the six 2 volt yellow LEDs I wired together in series and just glued to the edge of the mirror. It works very well, and it is kind of arrow shaped. These LEDs are also the 5-chip kind, so they are really bright (5 times brighter than normal LEDs). I got them from besthongkong.com. They are definitely the best LEDs for this application.

Here it is lit. These only turn on with the turn signal, so they don't turn on with the parking light.

Keep reading...

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So, I needed some custom turn signals for my front bumper, since my new bumper had no place for my old ones. I got these fixtures from autolumination.com.

As you can see in this picture, the lights are brighter than my old LED turn signals, probably because lots of LEDs have burned out in them. But, after installing the lights, I realized that they would not be bright enough.

So, I just took off the back of the light with a screwdriver, and the old LED board just came out. Then I glued my new super bright 5-chip superflux LEDs in the openings. I did not have to sand these LEDs flat, so the light is still focused. You can see that the LEDs are reflected in the chrome, so they are even brighter.

Here is the back. I wired each set of 3 LEDs together in series (just like in the mirrors), and I soldered the wires on.

Then, I installed the lights with screws.

Here, you can see how much brighter the new LEDs are. New ones are on the right obviously.

Keep reading....

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I used this power wave modulator to power my LEDs. It takes the input voltage and limits it to 12 volts. It also has a marker input, which it dims by flickering the light. So, the turn signal power wires to the S/T inputs, and the parking light wires to the MARKER input. The outputs go to the turn signals and mirrors. I don't know everything about how it works, but it does.

I wired the thing here with all of my other chaotic wires. You can see some huge power resistors coming out of it to limit the current going to the LEDs. I have 4.7 ohms of resistance going to each front turn signal and 5 ohms of resistance going to each mirror. Overall, I need 2 ohms of resistance, but I didn't have some 2 ohm resistors sitting around lol. That will have to come later.

Anyways, onto pictures (the turn signal is on bright):

Parking light (dim).

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Don't forget that if you have any help, advice, comments, criticisms, or questions about my car and future mods, please sign my Guest book!

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Table of Contents

My Corolla Today
Page 1: Current Exterior
Page 2: Current Interior
Page 3: Current Engine
Page 4: Current Audio

Corolla Time Lines
Page 5: Phase Time Line
Page 6: Detailed Time Line

Other Stuff
Page 7: Photoshop
Page 8: Look at this page before you buy replacement LED bulbs
Page 9: Details on my current and future mods
Page 10: For Sale!

DIYs and Project Write-ups
Page 11: Bumper light LED retrofit 1
Page 12: Third Brake light LED retrofit
Page 13: Diablo Mirror LED replacement
Page 14: Taillight LED Retrofit 1
Page 15: High Beam DRL Mod
Page 16: Bumper Light LED Retrofit 2, PLUS detailed description of how I do LED mods
Page 17: Painting preparation (details on my fenders, grille, trunk, and Bondo)
Page 18: Side marker LED retrofit and installation
Page 19: HID fog lights and headlights
Page 20: Interior painting, modifications, and exterior trim painting
Page 21: Installing Halo/LED/Projector headlights
Page 22: Mirror cover LED replacement
Page 23: Installing a new stereo and speakers
Page 24: Body kit installation, front end conversion, and other body work for round 2
Page 25: Retrofitting LEDs into my third mirrors and front turn signals
Page 26: Putting interior LEDs behind the dash and in all the buttons and all over the interior
Page 27: LED tail light retrofit 2 and baking your lights in the oven to remove the lens