LED - Stu's Garage

10 Years ago I decided to upgrade my (Jewel Green) Supra interior lighting to LEDs. At first I did those poorly using bare LEDs strung across the button rows. They had a tendency to burn out quickly due to vibration, etc. So then I experimented in making my own discrete circuit boards. This took forever to make as I had to lay all the circuit paths and then Etch them.
Then I decided to have them professionally made. But the issue with these were I had to individually cut each item out with hole saws. Again, this took forever. So I asked my son, Marshall, to see if there C&C machine at his work could possibly cut them out. So this was a huge time saver. Like 50% less time.

Here is a video of them being cut out: http://97supraturbo.com/LEDs/20131127_100747.mp4. This video is showing the HVAC round boards and all the Instrument micro needle LED boards being cut.

Video of Shift Light: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEbYSBBk5i4&feature=youtu.be

Video of Customer Installation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0b7qyogH5c

Here are the pictures of all of the induvial boards. (newer versions in green)

I finally am starting to rotate my face inventory from semi-gloss textured to Matte finish. I have the basic most common styles now but it will take some time to deplete these older faces with the new Matte. Maybe by 2021. I have added a new gallery showing some of the new Matte faces

I have added a complete “How-To” for installing my HVAC LED Kits. This will help for anyone wanting to tackle this. HVAC Install

After solving all of the Instrument cluster and HVAC boards I needed to get custom made faces. At first I used a UK company, but I never really liked how they were made. They “punched” them out which left slashes through the “0” “8” “6” etc. So I eventually sourced a new company to make vinyl ones without the slashes. I have over 100 different styles for all LHD, RHD, Series1 and Series2 units.

Next step was coming up with an internal shift light. I didn’t like those huge gauges that get screwed to the dash so I designed an internal shift light underneath the tach face. There are 2 styles, one that flashes red at shift point and another that flashes alternately red/white (only when lights are on)

(With white strobe) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikv19hlKWuU&feature=youtu.be
(W/O white strobe) REV: Shift Light –II https://youtu.be/YEbYSBBk5i4

If a Supra has a standalone, you can have your tach “sweep” at Ign ‘on’ if set up. This is performed as the tach sweeps it will kick in the shift set point and then flash.

I have received a couple YouTube testimonials with a some install tips. Thanks to the original makers for this.
https://www.youtu.be/xoDh3B2DKPE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0b7qyogH5c