Changing Color of HVAC

[vibue06]

Anyone try to change the color red to blue

Attached files

[Mrizzle05]

you mean the vent covers??? most people use the grafxwerks overlays... and you could get them in a red or blue.One person (satur9) made his chrome i think.

[vibue06]

In my old car I could change out the bulbs and use blue leds

[Mrizzle05]

Oh! totally missed the pic... i havent seen that done yet. cool mod though. if its not hard or you do it post a how to so the rest can enjoy!

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by vibue06 »Anyone try to change the color red to blueYes, and I eventually gave up. Here's the problem: The HVAC controls are backlit with white bulbs. The silver area with the white icons around the dials is actually a clear piece of plastic. It has a thin coat of opaque silver paint on the back (That stops the light), then a thin coat of transluscent white paint (so it looks white in daylight), then a thin coat of transluscent red paint (so it's red when backlit), then more transluscent white paint over certain spots to even out the brightness, finished off with a thick layer of adhesive.In short: It's a painted plastic sticker.I tried carefully sanding off the layer of red paint to put on a blue layer, but it was practically impossible for me to do without it looking like crap.You could try putting in colored bulbs but 1) you'll always have a red filter and 2) putting another color filter on the bulbs would make the whole thing rather dim.My conclusion was: a custom-made cover sticker is needed, and I wasn't THAT determined. If you want to experiment, you can buy a new HVAC control "sticker" (bezel)from your local Toyota dealer for about $35. Toyota Part # 81942-01090However, I did succeed in changing the AC and Recirc lights to blue:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=19418

[vibue06]

Is the toyota matrix red also

[Jahntassa]

I believe so, I think the interiors are pretty much exactly the same.

[ColonelPanic]

GMJAP is right on, the filter will get in the way here. I farted around with some LED's when my bulbs in there died and didn't have any luck. I tried both single LED's as well as a 6-LED module that has LED's positioned in three different angles. Both types of LED's were blue in color, IIRC.In a nutshell, the only thing that really lit up well was the blue dot for the temp control. Anything else in red was barely lit.

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by vibue06 »Is the toyota matrix red alsoThe part number i gave is a Toyota- it's the Matrix part. It's exactly the same.