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Illuminated Emblems DIY Style (Pics inside)

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by jmrmotorhead, Dec 4, 2012.

  1. jmrmotorhead

    jmrmotorhead Junior Member

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    Did some up with white today! Still looks blue because of the blue background, but its a cooler blue, looks real nice. I wonder what the red would look like on the blue background....
    Rear:
    2012-12-08_12-25-45_637.jpg
    Front:
    2012-12-08_12-05-30_589.jpg

    Matt
     
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  2. John C

    John C New Member

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    Love the look of the white. Hope it's not still blue enough in the front to attract official attention. I didn't think of the fact that the blue in the emblem would still be noticeable. I ordered some EL wire to do this, white for the front and red for the back - guess I'll find out how it looks! Eventually, anyway... not sure I'll have a free day to attempt this until after the new year.
     
  3. jmrmotorhead

    jmrmotorhead Junior Member

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    I really don't think it will attract any attention, unless your already driving recklessly. I have passed a number of cops, and haven't even seen them look. From what I've read they are less inclined to spot you if its an indirect light, as apposed to a blue forward facing led (hideous blue windshield nozzles....). These are merely a glow so I have my doubts they will stop anyone just for that. We can hope!

    Post some pictures when you get it done up John, cant wait to see these on other cars!
    Matt
     
  4. Electric Charge

    Electric Charge Active Member

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    How difficult is it to remove the trim in the rear? Definitely want to try this myself, but haven't found any good pics which show what's involved with removing this piece.
     
  5. jmrmotorhead

    jmrmotorhead Junior Member

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    EC-
    Well, I've done my fair share of pulling trim off of cars.. my last car was a '95 neon...let me tell you that thing was held together with plastic fasteners!

    The inside panel must be removed first, this is done by starting with the hatch open, and working your fingers under the bottom area where it contacts the painted hatch. Once your fingers are inside, and probably all cut up, pull the panel off, while working around the edges. Mine came off with a ton of force, but somehow none of the clips stayed in the hatch. They stayed where they were supposed to, in the plastic cover. However if they do pop out of the plastic, you must remove them from the metal hatch and reinstall on the panel before reinstalling the cover.

    Next are four that hold on the outside trim, I believe they are 10 mm, could be wrong though. I had to use needle nose pliers on the two by the access button, as I didn't have a deep socket of the correct size. Once loose they thread off easy by hand.

    Once all four nuts are removed, unplug the button, and the plate light harness's. Place a bunched up towel over the latch on the floor, and close the hatch nearly all the way. The towel will keep you from accidentally locking yourself out, remember the button is unplugged...

    While the panel is in place, not how the rubber weather seal is positioned along the top of the trim panel. It attached to the rear window seal, and is overlapping the panel. This will be important to replicate when reinstalling the trim later.

    Now the fun part! Grasp the rear plastic trim (the whole piece that runs horizontally above the plate, and houses the emblem) on the right side where it meets the metal body. CAREFULLY pry this away from the hatch JUST until you hear the plastic clips pop out. This will be loud, scary, and you will think you broke it. As long as you stop when it unclips, nothing should break.

    Now work your way from right to left, grasping the trim on the bottom, and popping off each clip as you come to it. You can open the hatch to reference where they are, its best to pry from as close as possible to avoid any chance of breaking the trim panel.

    Once all the clips are removed, it should come right off. The emblem can now be unclipped and removed.

    While you can remove the emblem with the credit card trick, unless you take the rear panels off as described above, you wont have access to the wiring or to the plate light module where I run my wires through.

    Let me know if I can be of any more help!
    Matt
     
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  6. Electric Charge

    Electric Charge Active Member

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    wow, excellent writeup, thanks for the details. I guess I should order one of those pry tools, and avoid the cut fingers I usually have from prying my cars apart.
     
  7. jmrmotorhead

    jmrmotorhead Junior Member

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    No problem! A pry tool would help, or use a wash cloth to protect your hands. I personally like doing it with my hands so I can tell exactly how much pressure I'm using, and where.
     
  8. sfv41901

    sfv41901 Masta S

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    Haha........I recognize those emblems
     
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  9. jmrmotorhead

    jmrmotorhead Junior Member

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    Some new photos!
    image-5.jpeg

    image-4.jpeg

    image-7.jpeg

    image-3.jpeg


    image-11.jpeg

    image-1.jpeg

    image-2.jpeg

    image.jpeg

    Matt
     

    Attached Files:

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  10. Electric Charge

    Electric Charge Active Member

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    Looks fantastic! Did you get a chance to take more behind-the-scenes pictures?
     
  11. Aquos

    Aquos Junior Member

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    Man those pictures looks NICE!!! Are the first four pictures the blue or white EL.
     
  12. jmrmotorhead

    jmrmotorhead Junior Member

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    Aaron- First four are the blue on the rear emblem, the rest are the front. Seems the rear lights a bit brighter, at least on the low voltage power pack I use to test them indoors. On the car, its not as noticeable, but still a bit dimmer. I think this may be in part to the size difference and the way the length of the el wire. Not positive though. Its not an issue to me though, since technically your not supposed to have forward facing blue lights I like it a bit dimmer in the front.

    EC- I'm sorry, I totally forgot to take pictures of the back....I've got another set I'm putting together so I'll be sure to snap some for you.

    Matt
     
  13. jmrmotorhead

    jmrmotorhead Junior Member

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    EC-
    Here are some pictures for you, sorry it took me so long!
    image-15.jpeg



    image-18.jpeg
     

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  14. speedydevon

    speedydevon Junior Member

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    Ooo I hope those are mine! :)
     
  15. peterjmc

    peterjmc Ping pong in Ding Dang...

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    What does the emblem look like if you install RED EL wire? I think it might be cool if you hook up the wire to the brake signal and have it illuminate as you press the brake pedal.
     
  16. jmrmotorhead

    jmrmotorhead Junior Member

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    Peter, I really wanted to try and do one with red and blue. That way it would shine blue but when you hit the brakes it would switch to red. Not sure how it would reflect, but I think it would be neat. Unfortunately the supplier of EL wire is out of stock of the thin EL wire that would be needed to do both colors in one emblem. They do have red in thicker wire, so just red is possible.
    I'm really digging these plasti-dipped ones:
    image-20.jpeg
     
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  17. Fore

    Fore Don't look back!

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    ME LIKE!!!
     
  18. peterjmc

    peterjmc Ping pong in Ding Dang...

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    I like that with the plasti dipped emblem! I hope you plan on getting some of the red EL wire to eventually test out. Will be more interested in the product if the red works well.
     
  19. arek

    arek Junior Member

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    On eBay they have a lot of el's! Any of them that have the inverter you are speaking of? Does the inverter come part of the el wire kit or do you have to buy it separate?
     
  20. Jerry Shi

    Jerry Shi New Member

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    MAN ... these are beautiful!!! definitly won't mind to have a set in white :D