Illuminated Door Sills
#53
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Car: 92 RS/97 K3500/07 ISS
Engine: LT1/454/LS4
Transmission: 4L60E/4L80E/4T65E-HD
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Re: Illuminated Door Sills
I do some IT work for a tool & die shop, got to talking with their head engineering guy about this, he said it'd be no problem at all to make up some nice aluminum sill plates with the lettering all done by CNC, even matching the honeycomb pattern on the rest of the front & making a relief on the back for the lighting setup to fit into, then anodizing them.
So if I ever get started on my camaro project again (it was planned for this spring, but I came across a deal on a truck that I couldn't pass up, so it's getting all my attention right now ) I'm going to have a set made & see how they turn out, if they're decent I might have a few extra sets made.
So if I ever get started on my camaro project again (it was planned for this spring, but I came across a deal on a truck that I couldn't pass up, so it's getting all my attention right now ) I'm going to have a set made & see how they turn out, if they're decent I might have a few extra sets made.
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Car: 92 RS/97 K3500/07 ISS
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Axle/Gears: 2.73/4.10/3.29
Re: Illuminated Door Sills
I'll keep you posted, not likely to start on the camaro again until towards the end of summer, but this'll likely be one of the first things I work on. Picked up a '97 k3500 with a vortec 454 (and 4.10s ) and I've got a bunch I need to get done to it (new hood so we can finish painting, ls1 injectors, 411 swap, etc) before the Carlisle Truck Nationals so it's taking up pretty much all of my project $ right now.
On these we're going to try to make a complete sill plate, including the curved part that goes over the lip, getting those bends right is likely going to be the trickiest part, we could always machine it out, but that would waste a shiatload of material & add quite a bit to the machining & material costs, so we're going to attempt to bend it. Did all the years (from 83-92, I know 82 used a different design) have the honeycomb pattern on them? I know my '92 does, but idk about other years, I've never paid that much attention to other year third-gens' sill plates What about the Fisher logo in the center? Thinking about relocating it to the end like on the 2nd-gens.
On these we're going to try to make a complete sill plate, including the curved part that goes over the lip, getting those bends right is likely going to be the trickiest part, we could always machine it out, but that would waste a shiatload of material & add quite a bit to the machining & material costs, so we're going to attempt to bend it. Did all the years (from 83-92, I know 82 used a different design) have the honeycomb pattern on them? I know my '92 does, but idk about other years, I've never paid that much attention to other year third-gens' sill plates What about the Fisher logo in the center? Thinking about relocating it to the end like on the 2nd-gens.
#59
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Car: 92 RS/97 K3500/07 ISS
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Transmission: 4L60E/4L80E/4T65E-HD
Axle/Gears: 2.73/4.10/3.29
Re: Illuminated Door Sills
As long as everything else about them is the same between the different years/models, it shouldn't be too hard to change the logo on them, since we can use the same base file for all the different ones, just change out the center area with the different logos.
#63
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Car: 92 RS/97 K3500/07 ISS
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Axle/Gears: 2.73/4.10/3.29
#65
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Re: Illuminated Door Sills
Dunno yet, once we get closer to making them, probably once we have the design work done, we'll have a pretty good idea on the amount of shop time required, then I should have a decent estimate of what the total cost will be.
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#69
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Re: Illuminated Door Sills
Planning to get started on it sometime after the Carlisle Truck Nationals. Right now all my project $ is going into my k3500 (ls1 injectors & 0411 are going in this weekend!) trying to get it ready for that.
#70
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Just a /bump cause I'm still ready to put an order in when you start manufacturing these
#72
Re: Illuminated Door Sills
i think space boy got it but need to paint underside of it use reverse lettering stick it on under it paint then peel off lettering so it does not peel off paint when scratched and have smooth finish on top just like you do for r/c car bodys
#73
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Re: Illuminated Door Sills
I think I'm going to borrow part of his idea, going to prototype it soon to see how it'll turn out, but what I'm thinking is to take a piece of lexan & emboss the logo on it, paint the entire thing silver (to help diffuse the light) & then black (to contain it), then shave off the very tops of the letters so that they're clear & the same height as the sill plate is thick so they fit exactly in it. If I do that then I can glue the centers of the A, R & O to the lexan & don't have to leave little tabs of material to keep them in place. Then I'll use some LED strips along the sides to light it, the silver coating should help eliminate hot spots.
#74
Re: Illuminated Door Sills
I'm going to take some off a CUBE and put them on my TA...just kidding. I'd like a set for my GTA convertible but in that style of script Like 82-92 TRANS AM
#75
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Re: Illuminated Door Sills
I wish I still worked at the electric sign shop! This is a great idea. CNC some 060 aluminum and get out some clear acryllic... I'd CNC the aluminum for the insignia, and then CNC acrylic to the insignia shape. Put the acrylic in the aluminum, use #2 acrylic weld and hold it in place! LED lights underneath. Hmmmm.
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Car: 1988 Pontiac gta
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Bumping this thread to see how the progress is coming along
Still excited about this
Still excited about this
#79
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Re: Illuminated Door Sills
Small update. The sills finally made their way to the machine shop over the weekend, my contact took them home with him to make the 3d model of them. Right now we're thinking it'll be cheaper to make them as 2 pieces, but we'll know more once he's done modeling them.
That's pretty much what I'm thinking. We're going to try modeling just the lit up part soon, it'll give us a good idea of how well my ideas for that will actually work or if I have to rethink some stuff.
That's pretty much what I'm thinking. We're going to try modeling just the lit up part soon, it'll give us a good idea of how well my ideas for that will actually work or if I have to rethink some stuff.
#81
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Re: Illuminated Door Sills
I am down for a pair too! Is there a place where we can put our names in?
0nthedl.
0nthedl.
#82
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Re: Illuminated Door Sills
subscribed. Will sets that say "Firebird" or "Trans Am" in third gen (not fourth gen) fonts be an option?
#86
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Car: 92 RS/97 K3500/07 ISS
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Axle/Gears: 2.73/4.10/3.29
Re: Illuminated Door Sills
Not yet. I might see him tonight & I'll ask where he's at on it. That's the downside of me knowing what I'm doing instead of having to go visit their site a couple times a month I only have to go once every few months now that I've got everything straightened out
#92
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Re: Illuminated Door Sills
I might be interested in some for my Camaro. maybe some that say Z28?
#95
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Re: Illuminated Door Sills
I shouldn't have seen this thread... now I'm going to need a pair.
Maybe I'll try making my own too, but I should probably finish this semester up before getting into such a project.
Maybe I'll try making my own too, but I should probably finish this semester up before getting into such a project.
#96
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Axle/Gears: 2.73/4.10/3.29
Re: Illuminated Door Sills
Nowhere near close unfortunately Had some health issues the last few months so I haven't had the ability or the funds to do much of anything. It's not forgotten though. I'll try to dig out the LEDs I bought before crap started & take them with me this week so we can try to prototype it with some scrap aluminum.
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Axle/Gears: 2.73/4.10/3.29
Re: Illuminated Door Sills
I haven't forgotten about it. The idea still bouncing around in my head as something I want to do, but I don't have the support contract for that shop any more so I doubt I'll be able make a full sill plate that would imitate the OE honeycomb like I originally had in mind. My dad & I keep talking about buying a 3d printer & one of the ones we're considering has a CNC option. It wouldn't be big enough to make a complete plate, but it'd be big enough to do either a small section to replace the center of the factory one or to do an overlay like the OP did.
Unfortunately I have no idea when I'd even start on it at this point, I have this habit of buying cheap projects & they keep getting in the way of making any progress on my '92. But hey, at least currently one of them is a 3rd gen
Unfortunately I have no idea when I'd even start on it at this point, I have this habit of buying cheap projects & they keep getting in the way of making any progress on my '92. But hey, at least currently one of them is a 3rd gen
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