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Old 09-11-2018, 07:40 AM   #18
V
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I recently picked up a back-up camera that mounts in the location of one of the license plate lights and has a small built-in LED light for the plate. My issue is that now I would have 2 different lights for the plate so I'd need to swap out the stock bulb for something that matches that LED light. Problem is that the LED is not a separate bulb so its not like I'd ever be able to find an exact match so I was trying to think what my options would be.

One option is to buy a few LED oem size bulbs and see how close of a match I could get. From a quick test, it seems the LED is around the 6000k temp range and not overly bright. So a 6000k replacement would be my first try. I just feel I wont be able to match the brightness, if its more or less. (I could tint one lens or the other to fine tune brightness I guess)

The only problem with just changing the stock bulb is that now with the camera, there's a cutoff line(some light is blocked by the protruding camera) so the light pattern between the two sides would look somewhat different. I don't know how noticeable it'll be until I actually wire up a bulb in the stock lens.(I'm doing this all on a spare tail panel that will be getting painted soon)
Its not a huge deal, but it'd bother me and I want the car to look like it came that way.

A second option I came up with was to try to find a good quality LED strip light, about 6" long and mount that directly above the plate between the 2 oem lens locations. I would actually cut out a slot and have the strip recessed in so the LEDs themselves wouldn't be visible from behind the car. Having the light more centered would lessen the affect the camera would have on the spread of light across the plate.






I ordered one LED strip light that could work. Its 8" long and I'd center it above the plate. I wired it up and see how it looks just in the general area first. I figured id I really liked it, then I'd cut out a recess for it so it'll sit up in the panel out of sight.

This is the light.





The LED strip is a decent quality part it seems and the color is reasonable too.
However, I was looking at it along with the rear panel, and I couldn't decide on a good way to mount it, without requiring a large amount of fab work. Its doable, but I just don't have that time right now.

So I came up with a new plan. I took that camera/light out of the current location. I will be using both stock license plate lights, with my choice of whatever bulbs.
As for the camera, I cut a small square hole in the flat section right between the 2 lights. I then dropped the camera down into from above. That way they camera will be centered, I don't have to match bulbs, or do a bunch of fabrication. I had to figure out some type of retaining setup to hold down the camera in place solid but still allow it to be removed if needed.


I had to cut the hole slightly wider than the camera in order to be able to slide it up and in. Once in, the camera slides to the right over a small lip. Then I mounted a tab where I can put a screw through into to hold the camera in position. I epoxied small pieces of plastic in place to align the camera properly.

I did also cut the one side off the camera/lens assembly in order to have it fit. I then epoxied a piece on for a screw to thread into. I cut the leads for the led light short since I will no longer be using that light with this setup. I'll be using the stock license plate light lenses and may get a pair of simple LED bulbs for them.

It may not be the prettiest job, but the pieces are solid, and I just primered it quick to give it a uniform look even though it wont ever be visible. The rear tail panel and trunk lid will be going to paint in a few weeks along with the new front bumper kit(shipping from Australia Sept 24th).








Last edited by V; 09-11-2018 at 07:45 AM.
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