Everything you need to upgrade 01 'rolla dash lighting?

[bpr288]

helloooo to all of you lovely people out there in forum world. basically, ive been doing a weeks worth of research going through these threads, compiling all i can on what LED bulbs to get, and how to get those bulbs working in my 2001 corolla ce.

from what i understand from THIS amazing thread, i should get:

3 WLED-xHP5 Wedge Base Bulbs (in blue) from superbrightleds.com for the instrument gauge panel
and
2 74-xHP Wedge Base LED Bulbs (in blue)
High power SMD LED with wide beam angle - 6 lumen
Small Wedge Base LED bulb (74 type) 3/16 inch wide base, 3/4 inch overall length for the HVAC (the ones that are $2.49 from superbrightleds.com).


I also wanted to get some white LEDs for the rear license plate..but ive no idea what kind of bulbs to get or if they'll even fit.

speaking of,

1. do all these led's just pop/twist right into the housings that currently have the old bulbs?

2. does anyone have a reference to instructions on how to take off the center console HVAC panel to install the two HVAC LED's?
a big thanks to lexusk8 for making THIS thread on taking off the instrument cluster. ive no questions about that part of this little lighting update im concocting for christmas.

3. does this LED installation process require unplugging the positive cable from the battery?



this will be my first ever mod sort of project, so any help/advice is greatly appreciated...and hopefully with a clear thread outlining what to do will get other people wanting lighting upgrades.
i do frequent loads of forum boards so hopefully i dont sound too noobish. ill even post before/after pics and pics of my installation and send them on over to the FAQ thread if yall can help me out. cheers!

[Milky]

1. yes they install just like every other 194 style bulb.

2. its pretty easy, just pop out the center console thats around the hvac / storage bin, then 2 screws and the hvac can be pulled out to swap the bulbs.

3. nope. just do it with the key out, and the lights off and you will not have a problem.

as for the license plate lights. there the same 194 style bulb as in your gauge cluster. but be careful some forms of law enforcement do not like colored bulbs on the out side of your car. this is why i stick to white. plus its cleaner looking in my opinion.

[bpr288]

they do look very clean dont they. the license plate lighting will definitely be that cool white color.

i also got the panel around the hvac off today for anyone wondering, i did it by taking out the ash tray, and pulling out from the bottom sides of the ash tray hole, working my way up to the top. i gotta do some hunting for a screw driver thatll fit in the two screws to take off the hvac panel, though.



im gonna search the forums a little more to find out how to change the cig lighter lights. ill only do it if theyre just "plug in" type LED's and no sauldering is required.


ill post some pics once i order and receive the lights..considering i may not be able to wait for christmas.

[jay0016]

Make sure to use a magnetic screwdriver if the screws fall they fall into a black abyss lol i got like 3 floating around in there i've taken almost my whole center console and still couldnt find them lol.

The cig lighter is tricky.

[bpr288]

same here. theyre gone..but i just borrowed a few screws from that little storage bin and put them in the hvac.


EDIT: earlier i did post a few issues i had, but theyve been solved thank god
im about to head over to the "perfect colored dash lighting" or whatever thread and find the exact bulbs to order tonight.


in the meantime, i swamped out a few of the lights and took off the condoms, exposing that yellowish color over the speedometer. two out of three of the gauge cluster bulbs dont work, so partly thats the reason why im going to go ahead and go with ordering the 194 LED's now, as well as two 74 smd lights i believe theyre called.
ill post pics in a bit

[bpr288]

LED's are on their way. but heres a before and after of the before...



typical gauge cluster..with one less light.


and after..with only one bulb without green condom



and same story with the hvac





CANNOT wait till the blue lights come. i went the cheap route and did snail mail so hopefully ill get them before christmas

[old-corolla]

I am very interested to see and hear how this turns out. I just picked up my 98 corolla today, love this thing! but my old 95 f-150 didn't really set the bar that high.

if this turns out good for you, I will be doing the same.

I'm going with glow face gauges for my spedo/tach so the needle is really all i'm after. a blue needle would go nicely.

[jay0016]

Blue is rough because the clock sticks out so you gotta keep some green, but then blue and green dont look that good together, so you can do what i did glow guages with red needle paint clock red HVAC blue or mine are cool white, and shifter blue. or white which ever works for you. personally i just broke my cig lighter bulb so that doesnt glow and i dont smoke so ash tray light is still stock, oh yeah you gotta sodder some either 3mm and sand them or something smaller in for your defroster lights i think that covers about what i did lots of fun so glad i couldnt just be happy with green

[old-corolla]

could you post some pics?

I was riding around today and noticed the clock and had that same thought. what do you mean painted the clock? I was thinking I could take a tiny piece of blue tint and apply it to the clock.

[jay0016]

I dont have a working digital camera right now(dropped it in the pool late this summer) i was hoping to get one for christmas or sometime soon, so i could then but for now you could use a blue film but im not sure because the plastic peice on the trim is tinted red to give the clock a greener look if that will interfere and make it purple or just dark green.

But you can pop your top trim peice off and unplug your clock then i forget if two small screws are holding it in or if its just clips holding it in but you take the clock out and get some testors transparent candy red spray paint and well paint it lol theres a good write up on doing it saw it about 2 or 3 weeks ago prob only a page or 2 deep by now.

[jay0016]

Btw dont try it with blue spray paint i tried that and it came out aqua green thats why im not sure about the blue film.

[jay0016]

Perfect colored bulbs for gauge cluster!
page 6 I have a can of blue spray paint i missed a small detail ima try it again tommorow and ill let you know if it comes out blue or green yet.

[bpr288]

definitely let us know how the clock spray painting comes out. that was one thing i figured id put off till later..painting the clock blue. maybe a bath of paint thinner will tear off that film.



i just went with what i saw in that one thread called perfect dash lighting or whatever. those pics looked pretty decent and hell LED's are so cheap itll be no problem switching them out.


still waiting on the order to ship though...

[old-corolla]

sry didn't mean to sound retarded in that last post. I wasn't thinking candy paint. nor have i taken apart the clock to know what is what and what color parts are.
looking forward to your pics.

[bpr288]

had to re-order a few times..but basically heres a rundown of what i got:


Quantity: 1 (for dome light)
Product: High Power 2-LED Festoon bulb $ 6.95 (each)
Options: Blue 3022-BHP2

Quantity: 3 (for instrument gauge cluster)
Product: WLED-xHP5 Wedge Base Bulb $ 5.95 (each)
Options: Blue WLED-BHP5

Quantity: 4 (two for license plate, 2 extra)
Product: WLED-xHP5 Wedge Base Bulb $ 5.95 (each)
Options: White WLED-WHP5

Quantity: 2 (for HVAC)
Product: 74-xHP Wedge Base LED Bulb $ 2.49 (each)
Options: Blue 74-BHP

Quantity: 1 (for trunk)
Product: WLED-xHP5 Wedge Base Bulb $ 5.95 (each)
Options: Green WLED-GHP5

total was..oh idk anymore i think $70 with priority usps. something like that. probably.


hopefully thats all right


also, thats not including the:

Ash tray- 74 type
Cig lighter- 74 type but its soldered on
AC button is NeoWedge 3mm (NEO3) bulb, but it needs to be soldered apparently? dont get the HP version of these though since regular NE03 are very bright.

and on 01-02 the air circulation buttons require component LEDs that would have to be soldered on as well.


so i ordered basically everything that doesnt require soldering. wahoo. still figuring out how ill be able to change the clock light though...thatll be tomorrows project.