Blue Push Start Button

Huck

Hey guys! So I had this idea that I wanted to make an all black push button with a white back-lit Z in the middle of it, so that when you started the car all you would see at night would be this white LED lit Z. So I bought a start button off of one the the guys here on the forum. He let me know that the one I was buying was from a G37, but that it should work just the same.

EDIT: the next portion of this is the second part or my experiment and how it came out. So the bottom half might seem repetitive.

The idea is simple. I wanted a backlit Z. So make a stencil in the shape of the Nissan Z logo, get it the right size, then put it on the button and spray everything else flat black.

I ground the "start/stop" on the button with a dremel tool. At first I tried using some 400 grit sandpaper but it didn't seem to make a dent in it, the clearcoat is pretty thick from the factory so I pulled out my air compressor and grinder and went very gently. Afterwards I glued some 800 grit sandpaper to one of the dremel heads and lightly smoothed it out.

Finding the Z logo was easy, I resized it in MSpaint. I had to resize it a few different times to get it right. I printed it on card stock which is a little thicker than average paper and easier to work with.



I used a razor blade to cut the shape of the Z out, but it was a little bit bulky and I messed up one of the corners slightly. I'm going to be redoing this with an awl I bought because I want the lines to be perfect. I look at this every day and if it's not perfect it's just gonna bother me.



Using a little bit of Elmer's glue I stuck the Z onto the button, making sure that it was level with the words on the top of the button. Then I took some more of the paper and shoved it in the sides so that I didn't paint the black plastic housing.
*NOTE* later on I played around with it some more and figured out that you can take the start button part completely out of the housing. This is a better way to do it since you need to paint the sides of the button as well as the top. Otherwise at night you will see a ring of light around the outside edge of the button and the housing as seen below...



This was the first try, as you can see I didn't do the greatest job and accidentally touched the button, getting some black specks on it. I took some paint thinner and wiped the whole thing off to start again.



Here I did a better job. This is four coats of flat black primer. You can see that some of the edges still aren't perfect, somehow the edges didn't stick down completely all the way around.



After that I took some clear coat and sprayed 6 or 7 very light coats. I didn't want it to be shiny and glossy, I wanted to stay with the flat/matte look, so I would do a very light spray and then let it dry. In this picture there is a reflection so you can't see the Z very well, but in person it's perfectly visible.



After that you're pretty much done, let it dry for a bit and then put it all back together. Your finished product should look something like this...







The end! If you found this helpful, maybe hit that rep button for me

If something didn't make sense it may be because I wrote this up on my iPhone while carrying on two conversation at the same time








Here it is


So I started taking it apart by prying the tabs on either side of it up and over the little plastic bump so that I could get the back out...


Here it is with the back taken out


Now if you look at the LED in the very middle of this one, there is a little rubber cover that goes over the LED and makes it that dull orange color that you see at night. Go ahead and gently pry that cover off, there's nothing holding it on like glue or anything. The one in this pic won't look the same as your G37 button because this is actually my 370Z button, but everything is located in exactly the same place.


...And that's all there is to it! Pop it back in the housing, and put the whole button back in your dash. Here's the end results!



The second picture is a more accurate representation of the brightness of the LED, it's not super bright to where it will distract you at night, but I still think I might order some LEDs and try something a tad bit brighter, and possibly red in color. Hope you like this!

PS - I don't know if every G37 button is like this. I looked at my 370Z button and it didn't have a color, the dull orange color is the actual color of the LED. I read a post somewhere else where a guy said that his wife's G37 button was blue without him changing it, it just came from the factory like that. I haven't seen any others that come like this, so I'm not really sure what the deal is. Maybe someone else can chime in with some insight into this matter.

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sixpax

...pretty cool.

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370ZilverZ

I have the same thing. Just change out the LED's inside it. Several color combinations to be had to give you a custom look. Personally, I just hate the orage displays in the Z.



I am changing out the LED's on my door sill Z's now.

Attached Images

DDX719 2.jpg (192.7 KB, 1102 views)

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370ZilverZ Journal

BMW Z4

Huck

I suck at soldering so I'm going to have to practice, I want to change out my LEDs as well, I want a red setup for my interior.


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=28.354448,-80.686390
Sent from my iPhizzle using magic and new fangled science stuff

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Dark Sarcasm

thats much blue-er than the button in my wifes G. Hers is more dull than that.
Yours looks good!

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wax

370ZilverZ

I'll do a color change for $25 on the start/stop switch for you.

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370ZilverZ Journal

BMW Z4

ohioZboy

Zilver, where did you get those LEDs from? i was thinking about doing all blue interior and i really like that blue you got

MattP725

I don't get it... your first line said you were making a black button with white Z logo? What the heck happened to that??? I was psyched!

Huck

I actually ended up doing it, I'll have to update this thread tomorrow sometime if I can. I ended up staying with the blue (for now at least, I have a million projects building up) but I made the Z. I actually want to redo it, just to get it perfect. I have a much better idea of what to do now


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new-fangled science stuff

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XwChriswX

I want red LED's as well, but it's not easy to have your interior ripped out of a DD to be LED swapped.

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Bonnie - Stage 2, Audio build coming this fall!
R.I.P. Abby 3/29/10 - 3/30/14

Huck

meh, just do one thing at a time, like you A/C panel then put it back. Digitonium's DIY is amazing, so if you're experienced in soldering it won't take you too long. The only one that's really involved is the instrument cluster. And the triple gauge pods are hard to get apart without breaking.


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new-fangled science stuff

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JARblue

Huck, can you clarify about the LED on the 370Z OEM start button? Is the LED itself colored or does it just have the orange cap to change the color? I am very interested to see the final button with the Z

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Huck

It's weird, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it, but my 370z start button had a dull orange colored LED in it, no rubber cover over it. I purchased a G37 start button to play with and experiment on, and it had a blue LED with an orange river cap over it that gave it the same color as my stock 370Z one. I'll update the first post in just a bit to show the steps I took to color mine and how it came out.


Sent from my iPizzle using magic and new-fangled science stuff

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JARblue

Thanks dood

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JARblue

Thanks again, that answered every question I had! I will rep as soon as mine reset tomorrow and then again once I do the mod - I'm picking up an extra OEM start/stop button this weekend

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