In the first pic there is an assortment of supplies. I found 500 (100 each green, red, yellow, white and blue) 3V 3mm LED's on eBay for about $9. I also got 100 1K ohm 1/2w and 100 160 ohm 1/2w resistors for about $3/100. I picked up a 4x6 piece of PCB 1 sided board for about $2. I also picked up an assortment of shrink tubing from Harbor Freight.
So realistically I can do about 100 cars with these supplies that cost about $20.
You will also need a hot glue gun and a soldering iron.
The first thing I do is solder the wire to the LED. One side of the LED is longer than the other, that is the positive side. You will need to know the positive and negative side of the motor as well, this is where you will get power for the lights. For the front lights I use yellow for positive and green for negative.
After soldering the wires to the LED leads, I bend the wires as seen in the pic to make it fit in the car where I want. I then put hot glue all around the LED leads and put it in place in the chassis. When the glue dries you can install the body and bend the LED accordingly to line it up with the light lens on the car.
Next I route the wires under the axle, I use sold wire because it is easier to contour, and solder them together. I run the negative directly to the motor after soldering the two wires together. I do the same with the positive wires but after soldering them together I solder a 160 ohm resistor in line before connecting to the motor. I use shrink tubing where I solder. I also use a larger piece of shrink tubing on the LED's to reduce light escaping. Here is a pic of the completed front lights. I test with a 9v battery to make sure everything is working properly.
Now for the rear lights I do the same procedure as for the front. The only difference is I use a 1k ohm resistor in line on the positive side.
So there you have it. Its pretty simple. Now I don't think the glue, bulbs, etc add too much weight and I don't know how much power it will take away from the motor but the car seems as fast as it was before. I haven't had a chance to put it on the track to time it yet. Perhaps some of the electrical gurus can chime in.
The PC board just arrived today, so I will do a car using that and post here when I finish.
Happy lighting,
John
