DIY kick panel light

[cgk_iii]

What’s up R3V, This is a very easy DIY project for a kick panel light for driving at night. I wanted to light up the interior some while driving at night so I came up with this solution. I wired up the light to my headlight switch (red/grey power). You can also wire this up to your door jamb switch for the interior lights. Hope this helps! Thanks for taking a look.

TOOLS/PARTS NEEDED:

1. wire cutters
2. 8mm socket
3. 1/4” drive ratchet
4. phillips screw driver
5. wire connectors for the switch and quick connects
6. Shrink tubing
7. light assembly
8. 6418 bulb
9. shears

I had some extra light assemblies laying around. Decided to go with a glove box light. You could also use a trunk light

fitted up the light where I wanted it. I put mine pretty much in the middle of the 3 pedal cut outs



Marked out the outline with a pencil




I used a utility knife because that’s all I had at the moment. If I were to do this project again, I would most likely use a Dremmel with a cutoff wheel

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[cgk_iii]

hole cut out. I had to trim the sides to get it to fit exactly in the square hole. If you cut it to big the light switch won’t snap in place. If you cut too small the light assembly won’t sit flush against the panel so make sure to take your time and get this right.




use some shears to cut the foam so that when the light assembly is installed the wires aren’t obstructed in any way Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cgk_iii]

I grabbed power for the headlight switch panel light (red/grey wire) and ground from the chime gong (brown wire). If I were to wire this up to the door jamb switch I would have to get power from a green/red wire and ground to a brown/violet wire. (Correct me If I’m wrong)




Headlight switch off
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[cgk_iii]

headlight switch on Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cheffy30]

that's nice if you have to scratch your toes but ain't it a little bright? sent from hell using Tapatalk

[cgk_iii]

I keep my toe scratching stick in my map pocket just for that.

It’s not as bright as it seems. I’ll post a picture with an incandescent bulb tonight to see the difference. If it starts to bother me I will switch to an entry light instead of a night time driving light.

[Zambuzan]

This is sweet! If you can figure out exactly how to wire it to the door jamb, please do tell! Maybe easier to wire it to the dome light?

[15Michaeljoseph]

This is cool... A dim amber light that matches the dash lights would look really clean as well, like the ambient night lighting on E46 era+ models Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

[cgk_iii]

This is cool... A dim amber light that matches the dash lights would look really clean as well, like the ambient night lighting on E46 era+ models Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

Agreed! I entertained the idea of smoking the lens red to get a similar dash light appearance but wasn’t sure how it would turn out.