I've spent some time over the last couple weeks getting to know my car. I bought my Insight back in March, and have fallen in love ever since!!!
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Day Video
Night Video
Project Photos
- NOTE: Look at how dirty my ERG plate was, with only premium gas and at 135,000. If your intake manifold hasn't been cleaned, CLEAN IT!!!!!! Seriously, my ERG plate was nearly clogged.
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I'll outline and discuss some things I've done to improve upon my car.
In the last two weeks, I have:
Placed order for BetterBattery
Fix plastic under panel, which was hanging down
Installed VentVisors
Replaced Trunk Festoon with Red LED
Custom Dome Light - Red LED strip above cargo area
Replace film in dash with red gel
Replace dash lights with red LEDs
Soldered new tactile switches for +/-, trip & mph buttons
RESET THE MAINTENANCE LIGHT WHOOOO HOOO!!!
Replaced in-cabin Air Filter
Installed Footwell Lights - RED LED
Custom made Red LED skull shift knob
After market petals - Red/Black
New Floor Mats
Install Black Door Trim
Ran Radio & Shift Knob to RED LED Toggle Switch
Replaced Dome/Map lights with Red & UV bulbs
Cleaned ERG plate, replaced with all new gaskets
Fix leaking doors
Order BetterBattery
Install LED strips under doors
Replace license plate bulb with blue LED wedge
To Do after I get my new battery:
HID Lamps
LED Exterior Lights
Mount 6.5" subwoofers behind the seats in factory housing - Power by class D amp
Install component speakers, perhaps some tweeters
Some notes:
None of my 4
"trip" buttons were functional. Now, they ALL are! I highly recommend replacing them all at once if you decide to do it at all.
Colored Gel for your Dash - Wow, be very careful here. After you take your cluster apart, you must pull a ribbon on the board to get to the display. A blue piece of plastic comes out with it. When you put the cluster back together, be sure to use that little piece of plastic to help wedge and guide the ribbon terminals back into their individual slots. I learned the hard way, trial and error. Yes, i took everything apart and put it back together again... including the steering column.
In addition to the gel, I cut out a semi-transparent piece of plastic from a 3-ring binder. I was looking for a piece of plastic that would diffuse the light such that you don't have three large bright spots behind the instrument cluster. Something like a milk jug. What I used certainly helped, but I should have used 2-3 layers. Also, I would suggest anyone who tackles this to replace the standard wedge bulbs in the dash itself. This can be done with LEDs that do not emit light from the end, but from the sides. Keep in mind you want to get into the display cluster once because of that damn ribbon. Make sure you have everything ready before you start.
New Dome Light - I took a strip of thick paperboard, cut it such and punched holes so that it would run between the two brads above the trunk. To this paperboard, I glued a strip left over red gel to give it a cool affect. I then affixed the LED strip to the paperboard and secured it back to the roof using the factory upholstery brads. The wires are run from the hole nearest the trunk light, under the upholstery to the dome light itself.
Instrument Gauge Lights - I'm not totally upgraded, but what you can't see in my video is that the climate control area now lights up RED. It is so VERY cool. I ordered the wrong bulbs for the other replacements, so my dash isn't totally done yet. I bought 5mm instead of 4mm.
TIPS - The turn-style bulbs in the dash are 3mm and 4mm. Don't bother trying to replace the "film" on the temperature gauge, it is glued into the dash itself. The very bright LEDs that are more expensive are overkill. Also, the lights for the window switches are component and part of the circuit board. Better know what you are doing to tackle those.
Shift Knob - I ordered the resin knob off of eBay, and it was described as a custom made piece undrilled. It is a clear, transparent skull with red flames on its face. I fabricated a piece of steel pipe, drilled two holes in it (one each for + & - cables) on the side. Using one of my unused 5mm red LED instrument bulbs, I wired it into the center of said steel pipe. The wires I ran from under the footwell, under the console and up through the shifter boot. Then, I affixed the steel piece to the threaded shifter. Then, I prepped the shifter knob and used a good deal of JB Weld to plaster that bad boy on. I should get paid for things like this...
Here, I have taken out the factory "gel" and replaced it with a layer of opaque plastic under a layer of red gel.
Ruin this, and you have earned yourself a new cluster and a massive migraine. My suggestion is to wear a headlamp for plenty of light as you maneuver these metal strips into their channels. Flashbacks of Happy Gilmore yelling at you to, "GET IN THE HOLE," may impede progress.
I used a pair of needle-nosed pliers to gently get the dome light connectors to back out of their receivers. Then, just wrapped the exposed end of the new wire around the hot end. Call her done!
NOTE The wire to which I spliced leads to the switch. Both wires are brown on the dome light, so it can be confusing.
Note how my wire has been run from the hole in the upholstery, along the rubber seal on the trunk, down to the trunk bulb.
KEY: Between the trunk rubber seal and the dome light, you can separate the upholstery from the plastic housing to which it is glued. Simply gouge your finger or a screw driver to separate the carpet enough so you can maneuver the wire down to the hole in the trunk.
Custom Instrument Gauge Colors, Dome Light and other mods
