I just got mine put in the dash and hvac but I used the 174 for all of them

 

Any pics to show...???

 

I have a quicky question...

For those that used 194s for the HVAC and had to trim them, how did you attach it to the HVAC? The 194s I have have large LEDs that are unable to pass through the small HVAC holes. DId you guys have to trim the actual clear LED to make it small enough to go through? If you didn't, I assume you installed in from the front of the HVAC. If you did this, how did you attach it to the HVAC from the rear? Did you just superglue it to the green circuit board?

Thanks!

 

um.... not sure if this is what you are asking, but this is how mine was done.
Take the 194's and clip the plastic connector so that it's total width is half of what it was. In other words, cut the plastic up until the wire. So, now the plastic connector is only half as wide as the bulb. I've said that a couple times, maybe it makes sense?
Then, remove the front faceplate of the HVAC and put the bulbs in place.... the newly shaped connectors should fit..... OH, and welcome to I-club!

 

Thanks for the welcome dan. I read your posts and I apologize if you had to repeat it again. I understand what you're saying about shaving the butt end of the 194 to make it fit. My question stems from your last sentence.... what do I connect the newly shaved butt to? The original bulb harness? I think there might be some confusion regarding this. I have an STi and I believe the OEM bulb connect is considerably smaller than the 02 Wrxs. I noticed that the STi HVAC has 4 lights instead of 2.

Even with a modifed 194, I think I would have to cut the oem bulb connector by half, because the overall length would be way too long. Boy, this is a hassle. I think I'm going to go with the 74 type bulbs. They seem to be a lot easier to fit into the existing bulb housing.

Thanks for your reply nonetheless!

 

I will see if I can refer someone to you that has done the exact same thing you are doing

 

and ... yes... the confusion was that I drive an 02 wrx.... good call on pointing that out.

 

I did the STi HVAC for my own car to white LED's.

You have to use the smaller bulb, which is 74. You will have to modify the LED holder by drilling down into the holder and then sanding off half of the holder from the top. Then you will have to use your own wires to make new contacts on the LED holder.

It's a bit of hardwork and you may want to buy replacement bulbs just incase you mess up. I did mess up and it cost me an extra 10 bucks, which is no biggie. If you live in Northern California around San Jose, I can help you out with this.

Here is a picture of my interior from the outside. Good luck.

-GDO

 

so has anyone changed the stock wrx stereo to red with condoms? or bulbs?? if so how many lights is there in the stock stereo

thanks in advance
edgar,
sorry for the old school bump

 

Not sure what size bulbs are inside the HVAC of the STi. I believe there's 4 smaller size bulbs as opposed to two bigger ones (MY02-03 WRX). In that case, 4 size 74 bulbs may do the trick. Pop the HVAC and see what you have hiding inside. Believe it or not but the size 194 bulbs are bigger than you think. the male portion and bulb are about 1/4" wide. If you find that this is too big for the female slots of the HVAC then opt for a size 74 at your own risk. If you think you can manage to fit the size 194 bulb via triming the male connector portion the go ahead at your own expense/risk (I don't know the answer). As for fitting the size 194 after trimming away the excess plastic... they fit snug. They’ll slide right in and fit snuggly enough to where they stay put. Of course this won't be the case if you trim too much.

Goodluck.


HOW ARE THE INSTRUCTIONS WORKING FOR YOU GUYS?

Even if they differ from car to car they’ll still give you a good start. I know the instructions are down for the HVAC disassembly but it's nothing an imagination and phillips head can't cure.

 

the instructions are good... there real good.

 

They have a new bulb size up which is probably a perfect fit for the MY02-03, it's the #24 bulb. Unfortunately, there's no way to do an MY05 without soldering.

Yes, the MY04 uses 4 bulbs, #74 size. Here is a picture of mine:







-GDO

 

i have to solder inorder to change the lights of my guage on my 05 impreza?

and also how long does this take for the hwole thing to be done...including the hvac and keyring

 

no soldering... it's actually a pretty quick process. You should be able to do all the lights in the gauges in under 15 minutes. The rest of the aspects can be trickier.