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Hey everyone! I'm psyched about this one....I just finished my lighter ring and it WHOOPS ass! I recommend this to anyone who wants their lighter ring to be bright blue and look good. I will post pics in a day or 2 when I get batteries for my camera...sorry. O.K. here's what I did. I went to NAPA and got a universal illuminated cigarette lighter assembly(under $9.00)...here's a link if you want to get it online(no local NAPA's)
http://www.napaonline.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/NAPAonline/search_results_product_detail.d2w/report?prrfnbr=15625496&prmenbr=5806
This assembly comes with a light blue/green ring instead of the more common orange one. I got some info from the blue lED posts I've read...and for this project you will need 1 2600mcd 5mm. Blue LED from Radio Shack(part no. 276-316, $3.99) 1 330 Ohm 1/2 watt resistor(part no. 271-1113, $0.99 pack of 5), a soldering iron(under $8.00), and some thin rosin-core solder($3 or $4) I also used some red heat shrink tube from NAPA and some small flatnose copper alligator clips as heat sinks when soldering.(don't want to burn up $4 over and over)
Well, I took the drivers side panel off of the console, and unplugged the white and black clips, and twisted out the little bulb that plugs into the lighter assembly. Then I unscrewed the big nut off of the assy. and removed it. I then slid the orange plastic piece off and threw it away(the plastic piece.) You will be re-using your existing assembly. First push your tabs back in if they aren't grabbing like they used to. You have to file down the little notch on the outer chromed piece that stck down through the orange plastic piece because the green one doesn't have a slot in it. Then slide the green ring onto the body, place it back in its hole(gentle pressure should pop it back in.) Replace the backing from under the console, and screw the big nut back on. make sure that the backings light socket is facing you. The black clip clips to the tab on the assembly the farthest away from you, and the white one clips onto the very bottom of the assembly. Here's where you have to be creative. The little bulb that sits in the socket that plugs into the bottom of the assembly is white. This doesn't produce a great color with the blueish green ring. I DON'T RECOMMEND THIS PART(do what you will with the LED part) I wanted to keep the socket incase they made a plug-in LED/bulb that size in the future and I could remove the bulb/LED and the resistor and take it back to normal....But this is what I did. I cut the wires coming from the bulb about 3 inches back. I then took the little bulb and socket over to my workbench....and...with the bulb in the socket I busted the bulb so that the bottom was still in the socket ant the prongs of the element were sticking out. I pulled off the very thin copper element between the prongs, and carefully(safety glasses!)crushed(with needle nose pliers) the little white glass bead holding the 2 prongs together.
I cut both of the legs of the LED about 1/4 of an inch away from the head. I then clipped 1 little heat sink to each prong on the led against the head. Then I carefully(this part sucked) soldered the prongs from the bulb to the legs on the LED.(keep the LED/bulb out) I stripped the ends of the wires to the socket and then the ones from the harness where I had cut it. Next, I soldered one side of the resistor to the green wire attached to the light socket.(use heat sink on resistor leg)Then, I slid a piece of shrink tube onto one of the black wires, twisted the black wires back together,soldered them, and heated the shrink tube until I was happy. .....THEN...(BE CAREFUL NOT TO SCREW UP INTERIOR WITH MELTED SOLDER...YOU WILL BE SOLDERING IN THE CAR IN THIS NEXT STEP...COVER THE AREA IN OLD T-SHIRTS OR SOMETHING...JUST IN CASE.) I slid a long piece of heat shrink tube over the green wire from the harness...and had to solder the other end of the resistor to the green wire from the harness.(use heat sink on resistor leg) Then I slid the shrink tube over the resistor and solderd ends and heated it until everything was covered. NOW! THE FUN PART...PAY ATTENTION! Look closely at the LED...See how inside the LED the legs turn into a big flat piece, and a small flat piece? The small flat piece is the side that plugs in where the green wire connects to the socket. WOAH! Look at that awesome glow. I actually set the bulb/LED in the socket lightly and pressed it in at the base with a small pick so I didn't screw up the little prongs I had soldered together. Now! set your new LED/Bulb into the socket, give it a little turn to secure it in there, and turn your headlights on to see the awesome glow!!!(you may need the key to be in the accessory position...but I'm not sure. It looks even better with the lighter out! Put the side of your console back on and you're done. DESPITE WHAT YOU MAY THINK...THIS COMES OUT BLUE...NOT TURQUOISE, GREEN OR BLUE-GREEN...BECAUSE OF THE LED..IT IS BRIGHT BLUE!
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