DIY: Rear Fog-Lamp "Z" light
 

**** Completed Pictures to come later today ****

Inspired by Simota and http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...p-install.html, I decided to pull apart the black thing we get stock to see what I could do with it.

It turns out, the black fog-lamp we get in the US is actually a heavily smoked lens. Behind it is the normal fog lamp housing as well, so that makes this DIY pretty easy.

I had some leftover LED's from http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...-blackout.html, so I decided to wire up a string of 3 and put them in the housing and see how they lit it up. Turns out you could definitely see it in the dark, and you might be able to see it a little bit in the day time as well. Not like you can brake lights, but I just want something subtle down there.

Ok, here is the DIY

Step 1: Follow the directions Simota gave to remove the stock "lamp" http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...p-install.html

Step 2: bring the housing inside to work on, it's probably more comfortable inside (100 degrees here today)

Step 3: take a small flathead screwdriver and go around the lens and pop it off. Do this slowly, as it is super-glued to the housing. You will probably break it quite a bit around the edges, but as long as you don't crack the visible part of the lens its no big deal. you'll seal it again later with silicone.

Step 4: once the lens is off, decide what you want it to look like when it is lit up. I wanted the "Z" so I masked off a backwards Z on the inside part of the lamp and then painted the inside part of the housing with krylon fuzion (also leftover from my other DIY). Take your time with the masking and get it exactly how you want it before painting.

http://www.the370z.com/members/carav...9-100-0933.jpg

Step 5: LED time, wire up a set of 3 LED's, more details in my other DIY, but my wiring was: 12" long red wire -> LED -> 3" green wire -> LED -> 3" green wire -> LED -> 150ohm resistor -> 12" long black wire. Test your string with a 12v battery to ensure it is working.

Step 6: Time to mount the LED's. There is a flat circular part in the back bottom side of the housing that looks like it could be drilled out for any auto-type light to be installed. I just drilled 3 3/16th inch holes in that circle and pushed the LED's into the holes and hot glued them in. Tuck the wires as best as you can behind there, then test fit the housing backside over it and make sure you have optimal clearance.

http://www.the370z.com/members/carav...1-100-0937.jpg
http://www.the370z.com/members/carav...0-100-0936.jpg

Step 7: Once the paint has dried on your lens, remove the masking and then take a light bead of silicone and adhere it back to the housing exactly where it was. Your housing is now complete, and ready to re-install (after drying time of course)

LED's off, with flash
http://www.the370z.com/members/carav...4-100-0941.jpg

LED's on, with flash (is brighter than it looks)
http://www.the370z.com/members/carav...3-100-0940.jpg

LED's on, all lights and flash off
http://www.the370z.com/members/carav...2-100-0938.jpg

Step 8: Time to wire, you can get creative like Simota did with flashers and everything if you want, but I just did the easy route and tapped into the license plate light and ran the wire down the inside of the back bumper. I used solder and electrical tape, but connectors are just fine as well

http://www.the370z.com/members/carav...5-100-0943.jpg

Step 9: you should have wire hanging down behind the back bumper down below it so you can easily get to them, then on your housing 12 inches of wire to work with as well. Re-install your housing, make sure all of your wiring stays easily accessible. Those clips are a PITA, so take your time

http://www.the370z.com/members/carav...6-100-0944.jpg

Step 10: use some sort of connector between the housing wire and the license plate light wire and now you should have power anytime the parking lights are on. MAKE SURE YOU NEATLY TUCK THE WIRING. remember, your exhaust is right there and could easily melt wiring if you don't tuck it in there well enough, so this is important.

Now you are done, with a new light in the back!

Brilliant. Definitely gonna need to do this.

any on car shots? :P

during the day you can barely see it, probably won't show it in pictures. if it is off you can't tell anything was done, looks stock. You can always add more LED's, or use another kind of bulb in there to get a little more brightness.

At night it is subtle but noticeable. was pretty busy tonight so couldn't get pictures. hopefully tomorrow night

Neat idea.

haha thanks caravanshaka!!! i love the idea... i wanna mod my fog lamp to leds u think u can teach me how to do that?

Sorry I haven't responded here in a while, completely forgot about it :)

Simota, if you know the bulb number you can easily find a replacement on v-leds website that is just a quick plug-in

Also, I have found that the 3 LED's I have in there seem to be a little too dim to easily see the "Z" at night. It's definitely there, but very subtle as-is. I'm contemplating either adding 3 more LED's, or possibly making a plate behind the lens that I can put 9 LED's in a Z shape so it lights up really bright.

got it man... i actually ordered a set on ebay... like 2 days ago... hopefully it looks kool... like u can se the leds.. cuz honestly it already pretty dang bright with out it.. lol

Freggin Z store still hasnt sent me mine yet!

Looks great. Thanks for the write up

Did this !! (With small mod)
 

Ok, I liked this idea so much (Thanks Caravanshaka), I did the mod with a small change some may find useful. The only real change was to use a 194 lamp socket I got from O'reilly's, that I installed in the dummy lamp assembly. It allows you to change the light and use different ones (194 base) for brightness control.

The hardest part was making the socket hole in the lamp casing and modding the socket to fit the thickness of the plastic case (its made to plug into sheet metal).

The last pic is with a standard 194 incandesent lamp taken in the garage in daylight. I have some leds on order to try them also.

Looks awesome Jerry!!

I just did this mod using a 48 LED panel inside the dummy lens and housing, and I am quite please with the results. It is currently wired up to come on with the parking lights, though I plan to wire up a switch to the center console as well as flash it in reverse whenever I have time to figure it all out. I will definitely post if I do it. :tup:

Here are some a few things I did differently, and you can see a few more pics in my album here. I should have taken more :shakes head:

OP's Step 5. I used a 48 LED panel which came with adhesive on the back, so I mounted it to what is the ceiling inside the housing when the fog light is installed. This way you never see the LEDs unless you're practically lying on the ground.

OP's Step 6. I'm not sure if it's the flash, but my housing was much more gray than the OP's. I had some Rustoleum gloss white laying around, so I spray painted it with 2 coats for brighter reflection. I then ran the wiring through the tiny hole in the housing where it has the black cap on the outside. I decided to pry off the cap, run the wiring through the hole, and replace the cap over the wiring.

OP's Step 10. I ran the wiring between the metal and styrofoam of the rear bumper to keep it away from the exhaust.

http://www.the370z.com/attachments/l...i-img_0730.jpg[/SPOILER]

Where do you purchase one if these if you don't mind me asking

This is not a purchased item - it comes stock on US models. The fog light does not come standard with US models. Therefore, this empty housing and smoked cover is provided in place of the fog light. Caravanshaka and I pulled the cover off the housing (it is glued in place), and inserted some form of lighting in the empty housing, ran the wires out the back, and glued the cover plate back in place after spray painting the Z on it.