Car plans for this summer

1. Roll the fenders. (canceled)
2. Replace the front brake calipers.
3. Replace the front LCA which also replaces the bushings.
4. Replace the ball joints.
5. Install the LSD and clutch. (done)
6. Get that turbo installed. I miss the power. (almost done)
7. If I still have money left, replace the front shocks and get the camber/caster plates installed.
8. If I still have time, get the damn retrofit done so I can see at night again.

Let's see how much I will get done...
#7 had been delayed since 2009.
#8 had been delayed since 2008.

updated May 26
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3W LED dome light

A few years ago, I made a 66 LED dome light.
I used normal 5mm LEDs in red, and it wasn't very bright. (but very good for night vision)


Not happy with how bright it is, I decide to do it again.
This time, I decided to use 3W LEDs.
Each of them is rated at 350mA 3.5V, so I connected 4 in series.

That resulted in a 3.6V voltage drop per LED at 14.4V (engine running)
Using an amp meter, the actual current measured is only around 200mA @ 14.4V (under 3W), well under the rated limit (350mA for the LEDs, and 8W for the light's circuit on the car)


I originally wanted to jam everything into the stock dome light again, but space is a problem. And heat too.
So I decided to not use the stock dome light at all.

I used two aluminium bars as the base and heatsink.


Drilled and tapped mounting holes for the stars.

I used the M3 screws from optical drives.

And then I soldered the wires on.


I decided not to use a resistor this time, so they are directly connected to the dome light plug.


Using identical camera settings:
off:

on:

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