hvac unit conversion-thread DIY

[Torsten 0]

some of you guys may already know what i've done to the interior of my corrado. ddi gauges and changed the lights of all switches to red. but i was always not satisfied with the hvac unti. it hasnt a smooth illumination. so i went to change this and here is a lil description of what i have done so far.

 

first of all i bought another hvac unit the other week to modify this and keep the original untouched till its all done.

 

i used about red 6 LED

[__Andy__ 0]

looks neat, some good work there. will look forward to seeing it finished..

[Torsten 0]

thanks, but it will take a few days to get it back because the center console was broken in 1000 pieces when i remove the screws :(

[Torsten 0]

you can also use different colors like blue with red spots in the knobs

 

[__Andy__ 0]

looks kool with the diff colours, ive got the early style unit would i be able to do a similar thing with it?

[Torsten 0]

the early style control is completly different. there is just 1 bulb and you need a new foile with the symbols because this foile is green colored.

[Toad 0]

I love the blue/red unit.

[Torsten 0]

thank you. im doing another one at the moment (red) maybe im going to see the first red unit (a/c)...

[fla 9]

Did you remove the green 'spider' inside the white cover? How did you then get the side controls to light up? Looks great Torsten.

[Torsten 0]

i removed the siper in the red illuminated unit. But im doing another unit by keeping the spider. I think the red colored led

[Torsten 0]

im in the process of the second one by using the spider thingy this time.

first step is done, i cracked off a lil piece of every leg and put a flat led in.

the falt leds fit perfect the ports where the spider legs where pluged in.

 

 

[Torsten 0]

finished the 2nd hvac unit and also installed 2 LED

[IrishG60 0]

That is soooooo cool!!!!!... man, you should charge people for that service! 8)

[fla 9]

Torsten? where did you get the flat leds from? I've done a search on the web but doesnt bring anything useful up.

[Torsten 0]

i also hardly searched for them and found them in a german online store call Conrad

unfortunately these store is very unclearly

 

http://www1.conrad.de/

[fla 9]

No worries, i'm going to use the leds in teh four locations you've shown around the centre dial. Did you use any others apart from those main 4?

[Torsten 0]

no, just the 4 in the spider. But the backside of the cover plate is very important for best illumination.

There should be a couple clear plastic defusers snapped to the back of the plate.

If the clear plastic difusers are not on just right in you can get a problem with the outter rings being not as bright. This is a function of design (light being defused from the leds only at the middle ring).... regardless of model year I would check that all the pieces that should be there are there and that they are snapped into the proper locations if the outer rings appear too dark. you also need to remove the green platic ring before of the back side on

the cover plate (you can use a clear one off a mk3)

[fla 9]

Good info Torsten, vielen Dank.

[Torsten 0]

thank you :D

[cata 0]

Great thread Torsten! Since you are among the very few who did something about the aircon buttons, maybe you can answer an old question of mine. My buttons never light up, but my A/C setup is also incomplete. Will the buttons only light up when you turn the A/C on? If my assumptions are correct, the A/C has to be in working order for the compressor to engage the clutch and thus turn on the buttons. Is this correct?

 

Those flat LED's are a great alternative, would you be interested in stocking up a few and selling them? It's too late for me unfortunately, I have already done my conversion and I used the clear spider (light divider) from a Passat. However, I could tell a few local dubbers about the LED's.

[Torsten 0]

thank you! sure can do (about the flat leds) but i dont know if they are also available in blue (for the people who wanted blue ;) )

actually the A/C buttons only light up when they are pushed / a/c is in use. the bulb in the the switch is working all the time

(when cars running) but the clear plastic only allows the buttoms to light up when they are pushed

 

 

you can hardly see in the pic the bulb in the middle surrounted by the yellow spider thingy. left and right side of this there are

the long clear platics which carry the light to the button. there is a small part painted black / covered on this clear plastic so

the light wont come up the button isnt pushed.