LED Door sills

[kn0x47]

So everyone knows that there's basically no aftermarket door sills for our cars except for the old ebay ones that you can't find anymore. Sense I've spent the last week in bed with the flu I decided to find some options.

Newer cars have deeper door sills making those products seem useless but I noticed the lates two generation of accords used sills that were part metal and part plastic. So here's what i've found....


1. 8th gen accord door sills
LED door sills by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

So thanks to photoshop and measurements of the sills I found online I was able to estimate that the section of metal with the lit Accord logo should measure about 20" long and 1" deep. Our 6thgen coupe door sills are about 1.5" deep and 33.5" long so you could remove that metal section and attach it to the stock door sills.


2. 9th gen accord door sills
LED door sill by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

Well here's what I ended up buying. Based on internet photos I was able to estimate that the metal section was about 1.8" deep and 19.7" long. The sills arrived today and the actual measurements are a little under 1.75" deep and a little under 19.5" long so i did pretty well with my original estimates.

So these come in either mirror polished or brushed finish with red or blue leds. I wanted red led with brush finish but couldn't find it so I ordered the Sunroadway door sills from amazon for $51 that I thought came in brushed finish but arrived as polished. This was the cheapest listing I found and the only listing where the parts were already in the USA.

The quality is actually quite impressive. The metal is not paper thin and there is no cheap chrome coating on it.

LED door sill by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr
LED door sill by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

the lit lettering is lifted to fit in the cut out of the metal.
LED door sill by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

comparison is size...
LED door sill by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr


3. Custom acrylic door sills

Here's an aftermarket product I found from china that can be customized for any car. They only come in three different size options, all are too deep for our car. This could be an option if you cut it and was able to not mess up the circuitry.

 

[kn0x47]

quick photoshop of what it should look like. I'm hoping to get some lines cut into the metal and use some electroluminescent tape to backlight it
LED door sills by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr


The metal section is glued onto the plastic so i used a flathead screwdriver and slowly pried all the way around the part to get it to lift

 

[Pardie]

This is something I need. Blue led door sills. Please don't let work get in the way of this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SykVSyx]

Jon,

It's these little touches that guys like you, CB, FNCONE, Bilal and a select few others do, that maintain interest in the 6th Gen.

Always appreciate the creativity and ingenuity you put towards keeping your car fresh.

 

[kn0x47]

Jon,

It's these little touches that guys like you, CB, FNCONE, Bilal and a select few others do, that maintain interest in the 6th Gen.

Always appreciate the creativity and ingenuity you put towards keeping your car fresh.

thanks man. I figured this would help motivate other people to do the same thing sense it's pretty easy




well i got the metal panel off by slowly prying it up with a flathead. it has double sided adhesive and glue holding it down.
LED door sills by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr
LED door sills by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

the wiring is held in place on the bottom side with either silicone or hot glue. can't really tell
LED door sills by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

the backlight is nothing more than a defused piece of plastic with two little surface mount leds at each end. The piece is glued down and seems delicate and I haven't been able to remove it yet
LED door sills by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr


next i rounded off the edge of the factory door sill
LED door sills by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr


Now if you wanted, all you need to do is cut out the section of the 9th gen sill holding the backlight, then attach the metal with a lot of double sided tape to your factory door sill and you'd be done. basically looks like this
LED door sills by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

But for me, sense the top edge of the metal piece is beveled, i'm going to grind that down so it'll sit flush on the factory door sill
LED door sills by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

 

[RedRyder]

Nice find. Getting those lines cut will be precise work.

 

[puzzlemaster94]

I've wanted a set for my car for years. I'll probably be looking into these

 

[kn0x47]

Nice find. Getting those lines cut will be precise work.

yeah it can be done at my work. Our machinist is working the other shift this month so i won't see him again till April so now i'm just gonna cut out a section of the groves on the our factory door sills and backlight that sense that's something i can do at home instead.

I've wanted a set for my car for years. I'll probably be looking into these

cool deal. I think using the 8th gen door sills will be easier sense the metal piece isnt as deep (tall). Even after removing most of the top bevel of the one i'm using it's still too tall to get it to sit flush on the factor door sill

 

[kn0x47]

I cut a hole in the factory door sill and cut out the led backlight from the 9th gen door sills and glued it in. Also painted the door sills
DSC_5602 by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr
DSC_5604 by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

I'm putting this project on hold for a while tho. I showed my dad what this kit would look like in his 9th gen and he liked it so now i'm searching for a kit that is brushed with red back light (which is what i really wanted) and once i find one then i'll be installing the kit i already have in my dad's car

 

[kn0x47]

door sill installed. had to use a few layers of double sided tape on the top section to get it to stick.
DSC_5609 by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

light doesn't work yet. I'm pretty sure i can tie it into the door sensor but i'm not sure if that's a ground or power yet. ...i think it's a ground


Also got my new arm rest cover installed
Before
DSC_5606 by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr

After
DSC_5607 by Jonathan Boothe, on Flickr