idea: mirror-mounted flashers

[Farrar]

Here's a thought:

- Get two short amber LED light strips and mount them to your side-view mirrors.
- Tap the + side into the unused 12v source for the heated mirrors.
- Tap the ground into the flasher circuit.

And voila -- a modern safety item on our thirty-year-old vehicles.

Problem is: what will fit/work and not look stupid?

I've already done the side-marker-flasher mod to my car, but maybe someone else has already done this. If you have, I'd like to see pictures. :)

Farrar

[TTait]

You can pretty inexpensively find amber LEDS for this purpose, I expect JC Whitney or similar but i know I have seen them.

Then then you can mount new mirrors - I think the multivex mirrors are designed to work with these blinkers. I know you can get mirrors that allow the LEDs to show through, worst case you get them cut at a glass shop.

LEDS behind the mirror will look a lot better.

I assume you are aware of the simple mod to make the amber and red side markers blink, right?

[Ryan King]

You can pretty inexpensively find amber LEDS for this purpose, I expect JC Whitney or similar but i know I have seen them.

Then then you can mount new mirrors - I think the multivex mirrors are designed to work with these blinkers. I know you can get mirrors that allow the LEDs to show through, worst case you get them cut at a glass shop.

LEDS behind the mirror will look a lot better.

I assume you are aware of the simple mod to make the amber and red side markers blink, right?

I love the idea of blinkers in the mirrors. But you would have to run wire up through the door harness into the roof box and down into the car. It would be A LOT of work.

[ydjk58]

Last year at Lexington Houston had a car with turn signal mirrors. Looked sharp but no word yet on when the kit will be available

[Farrar]

I assume you are aware of the simple mod to make the amber and red side markers blink, right?


I've already done the side-marker-flasher mod to my car,

Farrar

[TTait]

I love the idea of blinkers in the mirrors. But you would have to run wire up through the door harness into the roof box and down into the car. It would be A LOT of work.

There is aleady wiring there for heated mirrors, all you need to do is tap into that.

[Ashyukun]

There is aleady wiring there for heated mirrors, all you need to do is tap into that.
Sort of... as Farrar described it, he'd be using the 12V 'mirror heater' line, but would have to run a whole new ground line (or find another unused wire to tap) to get to the blinker grounds to make them work...

I really like this idea overall- but running the new wire to get to the ground would be a good bit of work...

[content22207]

Use the heated mirror wire for your switched ground (disconnect it from Light Green/White and attach it to Green/Red or Green/White inside the car). You can grab 12v from one of the door edge lights.

Is there a heated mirror wire on the passenger side too, or only the driver's side?

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Farrar]

Use the heated mirror wire for your switched ground (disconnect it from Light Green/White and attach it to Green/Red or Green/White inside the car). You can grab 12v from one of the door edge lights.

Is there a heated mirror wire on the passenger side too, or only the driver's side?

I don't get that first part, but to answer the second part: yes, both sides.

Farrar

[content22207]

Repurpose the heated mirror wire. As Bob mentioned, running an additional wire from the car body into the door (for a switched ground) will be challenging. Since the heated mirror wire is already in place, just use it for a different purpose. Makes no sense to use it as a duplicated 12v supply wire since there's already one of those running into the door for the edge lights.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Farrar]

Ah ha, now I get it, Bill! Good thinking. :)

If memory serves, the heated mirror wires are orange. If anyone has their upper door panels off right now, they can double-check this.

JC Whitney has lots of LED light bars.... hmmmm.....

Farrar

[jmettee]

As Bob mentioned, running an additional wire from the car body into the door (for a switched ground) will be challenging.
Bill Robertson
#5939

Where does the ground in that mirror harness terminate? I recall seeing it in the door, but it's been a while & I don't believe it's shown on any of the schematics either since it's unused at the factory. If that ground runs all the way back into the cabin through the door harness, you would just need to locate it & not have to run a new wire.

EDIT: scratch that a I did just find it on the schematic. Looks like a single wire & grounded through the door/chassis from what I can tell. The wire is a Light Green with White tracer.

[Dangermouse]

Farrar,

is the idea to mount the LEDs on the mirror glass, thus making the signal visible from the rear/side only, or to mount it to the black mirror housing, making it visible from the front (and possibly side) ?

[sean]

Last year at Lexington Houston had a car with turn signal mirrors. Looked sharp but no word yet on when the kit will be available
From DCS 10
2592

[Farrar]

Farrar,

is the idea to mount the LEDs on the mirror glass, thus making the signal visible from the rear/side only, or to mount it to the black mirror housing, making it visible from the front (and possibly side) ?

My idea is the latter; although the "behind the mirror glass" lights are cool, they're only visible from one direction -- plus the DeLorean's mirrors are so small that I wouldn't want to lose visibility to a blinker. It's a matter of personal preference -- if you do this mod you can put them wherever you want. :)

My original idea was to mount a short LED strip inside a clear plastic lens (or perhaps translucent black, to make it less obvious until the light comes on) on the underside of the mirrors. With LEDs throwing light at a wide enough angle, the light would be seen from in front of and behind the car as well as from the side. My goal was maximum visibility, not maximum coolness. ;)

Farrar

[TTait]

To be clear, you shouldn't lose any of the mirror surface, the LEDS mount behind the mirror and shine through it - it depends on the type of silvering used on the glass - some mirrors work, others don't.

I understand that you want something visible from the whole side of the car.

If you want to go huge I'll point you to some larger LED products that you could install behind a smoked plex outer rocker panel!

[dvonk]

From DCS 10
2592

is that the Stage 3 DeLorean?

(off topic: what VIN was the Stage 3?)

[sean]

is that the Stage 3 DeLorean?)
Yup
26042605


(off topic: what VIN was the Stage 3?)
Dont recall.

[sean]

My original idea was to mount a short LED strip inside a clear plastic lens (or perhaps translucent black, to make it less obvious until the light comes on) on the underside of the mirrors. With LEDs throwing light at a wide enough angle, the light would be seen from in front of and behind the car as well as from the side. My goal was maximum visibility, not maximum coolness. ;)
Not a bad idea but sounds tough to do cleanly.

[Farrar]

Not a bad idea but sounds tough to do cleanly.

VERY tough. I figure one would eventually end up finding the right size lens cover, then fabricate something out of fiberglass to make it "meld" with the current mirror housing.

Farrar

[Ashyukun]

Not a bad idea but sounds tough to do cleanly.

I've seen LED strips at my local Autozone that are 'edge angled', such that the LEDs face parallel to the flat of the strip surface. I'm likely going to be picking a pack up (each one contains two strips) of the red ones to make a 3rd brake light/high turn-signal setup that will easily mount to the bottom of the louvers and be nigh on invisible when not lit. You could get a shorter pack of amber ones to mount either under the mirrors or even between the mirror surround and the mirror itself- or get a long one and wrap it all the way around the mirror. It would be visible, but not overly obtrusive...

Here's the red ones I plan to use on the louvers...
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Alpena-28-in-red-colorful-LED-light/_/N-25pw?itemIdentifier=60073&_requestid=1138898

[ydjk58]

I have 2 sets of lights like you liked to only in blue wired up as under cabinet lighting on my mame project, while they catch your eye, they aren't a bright as you think, but you can trim them to length, to a degree