Illuminated rear H badge project. 😎

[Pride]

After installing the JDM/US rear light cluster upgrade a few weeks ago I decided to try and illuminate the rear H badge to give the rear of the car a great total illuminated look.

I first contacted Euro Boutique for a price to do what I thought would be a very straight forward modification and they quoted me $400 plus shipping after I send them the lamp unit.
Approximately 4-6 week turnaround.

So I decided to give a go myself.
I also decided just for a change not to go with LED's as I didn't want the centre badge to be overly bright, just a subtle red glow, which would then nicely show the letter H.

After a bit of research I plumbed for a red electroluminescent panel costing all of £5 from China.

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As the lamp lens was heat welded/glued together I thought it best to cut a slot into the base of the lamp unit and insert the panel.
Although the lamp unit appears to be plastic, it's not. In fact it's a type of nylon based plastic which not only melts at the slightest bit of friction or heat but also fills the air with very fine strands of nylon so goggles and a mask is highly recommended.

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Slotting in the panel and testing it with a 12v battery I found the results were very pleasing on the eye.👍

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Here is the finished item at night installed connected to the sidelights and as you can see the letter H really does stand out quite nicely at night now. In the boot I've also installed a small micro switch which also allows me to be able turn it on or off independently to the sidelights if I wish.

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I would be very interested to know what you all think so comments welcome please.
I love it. 🤗

[goldnsx]

Looks good. It reminds me of a project which dates back to 2006 when I was much, much younger.

When you hit the brakes it get's brighter. But I've removed it some years ago.

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[Heineken]

Nice work!
I'm surprised the lit-up area of so well defined. If had been asked before I would have guessed the light would light up almost the complete case.
Did you close the slot again or is it going to stay open? (Could be an improvement to keep the area ventilated, referring to the well-known moisture issues).

[Senninha]

Looks good. It reminds me of a project which dates back to 2006 when I was much, much younger.

When you hit the brakes it get's brighter. But I've removed it some years ago.

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I always thought this looked very classy and befitting of the NSX ... what ever happened to it?

[goldnsx]

I always thought this looked very classy and befitting of the NSX ... what ever happened to it?
Thanks. It has been mounted on the car from 2006 to +-2010 but has been dismounted since then. One reason was that its color matched best to the darker EU rear lights but I have mounted the 'brigther' US rear lights since about 2008. So there was some kind of mismatch to avoid and some years later, I changed the center light for another one that matched the US lights 100%. But I didn't do the same mod on the new one as well, just a simple H-logo (OEM 02+ style).
The other reason might be that I'm just too tired do any further mods or even drive it. Winter time was usually project time but not this winter.
I also have a set of 02+ rear lights in spare but still haven't mounted them so far. Not sure if I like the yellow/red combo but it would be a perfect 02+ rear then (while the front is still 91).

Since many years I looks like this:

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An illumination like Clive suggested would be very nice esp. if you use a normal H-logo (not the NSX-R one).

[nigel]

I think I’d like to have a go at doing this to my ‘92 GPW if it’s something that could be removed if I didn’t like the way it turned out.
would you be willing to share the p/ns and the place you got the bits so I might take a longer look at it?

Cheers
nigel

[goldnsx]

Well, the project was fun but dates back 14 years. I'll have to look up if I have some spare PCB boards like this (I've made a very small amount of them) as they would help a lot (exact shape of the NSX-letters). Would you be interested in one of these?

But not sure if I can help you on the additional functionality of the brake light illumination because this is on a separate board that is placed outside of the center light. It has been done with the help of an US electronic guy back then. Not sure if I can retrieve the schematics.


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[Pride]

I think I’d like to have a go at doing this to my ‘92 GPW if it’s something that could be removed if I didn’t like the way it turned out.
would you be willing to share the p/ns and the place you got the bits so I might take a longer look at it?

Cheers
nigel

Just in case you'd like something a little less complex then here's the link to get the red panel I used:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/105mm-x-148mm-A6-EL-Panel-Electroluminescent-Sheet-Neon-Sheet-Actuator-12V/362360374580?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

It comes with its own transformer and panel can be drilled through while still being able to illuminate.

It's rated at 30w but because it illuminates half the brightness of your sidelights I think it looks very attractive at night giving it a subtle glow in the middle of the light cluster while not detracting from your all important sidelight illumination.

I used a fine Dremel rotary saw to cut the slot through the top of the centre badge in conjunction with someone following me along with a small nozzle Little Henry sucking away the fine plastic bits.

It will be interesting to see your results. Good luck.