NEW IDEA!!

[jlcamp7]

I have been a part of the 100's of people that have not been able to figure out how to change the colors of the heating/air controls(stupid green film). It has frustrated me greatly because I have switched every other light in my car over to blue led's. I just had a thought that I have not tried out yet, but I am going too and will let you know the outcome. my idea:

Thinking back to the color wheel, we take the one color we already have, which is green(once again that stupid film inside the trim rings) and want to make it blue. green mixed with yellow makes blue. So if I can install probably 3 leds that are yellow it just might work, and make the lighting blue. Obviously I will have to play with it and maybe add another color or something to get the right shade of blue.

I just thought I would share, if anyone else wants to try it out too.

[ignernt]

Originally posted by: jlcamp7
I have been a part of the 100's of people that have not been able to figure out how to change the colors of the heating/air controls(stupid green film). It has frustrated me greatly because I have switched every other light in my car over to blue led's. I just had a thought that I have not tried out yet, but I am going too and will let you know the outcome. my idea:

Thinking back to the color wheel, we take the one color we already have, which is green(once again that stupid film inside the trim rings) and want to make it blue. green mixed with yellow makes blue. So if I can install probably 3 leds that are yellow it just might work, and make the lighting blue. Obviously I will have to play with it and maybe add another color or something to get the right shade of blue.

I just thought I would share, if anyone else wants to try it out too.

Yellow + Blue = Green
Yellow + Green = Not Blue :rofl:

Blue is a primary color, so you can't go mixing colors to come up with it, you need some form of blue(cyan) to make a real blue.

[01blkcat]

Doesn't work - tried it.

[nadthomas]

Originally posted by: ignernt

Originally posted by: jlcamp7
I have been a part of the 100's of people that have not been able to figure out how to change the colors of the heating/air controls(stupid green film). It has frustrated me greatly because I have switched every other light in my car over to blue led's. I just had a thought that I have not tried out yet, but I am going too and will let you know the outcome. my idea:

Thinking back to the color wheel, we take the one color we already have, which is green(once again that stupid film inside the trim rings) and want to make it blue. green mixed with yellow makes blue. So if I can install probably 3 leds that are yellow it just might work, and make the lighting blue. Obviously I will have to play with it and maybe add another color or something to get the right shade of blue.

I just thought I would share, if anyone else wants to try it out too.

Yellow + Blue = Green
Yellow + Green = Not Blue :rofl:

Blue is a primary color, so you can't go mixing colors to come up with it, you need some form of blue(cyan) to make a real blue.


Before you go out and try to prove any one wrong here is a simple way to test your theory. Pick up some food coloring at the grocery store and put a couple of drops of it into a glass of water. You will never get blue buy adding yellow to green.

[Keliente]

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

[po00BlkCougar]

I am not Mr. Wizard but I think they are right. Try a bunch of different combos and go with the one that looks the best.

Mike

[Crispy]

well some of us have figured out how to get the green off but it means that you have to peel the whole plastic printed piece off... I'm thinkin that if we can get someone to print the icons on clear vinyl we just have to put a solid piece of colored vinyl over the whole opaque tray which would give you your desired coloring - then ontop of this piece you overlay a clear piece that has the icons imprinted into it in a contrasting color.. you use a heatgun to get it all smooth and I think it solves everything.. you'd have to be careful turning knobs so they do not scratch the vinyl though..

thoughts? I think I am on the right track..

[Crispy]

Bryan at IntricateLines has been working on this project for a few months so far.. not sure if he has tried the simple method that I just thought up last night.. I have sent him an email with my thinking.. I'll let you guys know what he says..

[Crispy]

ooh.. or the other way around... black printed on clear vinyl.. the non-printed (clear) areas would make the icons which would show the contrasting color underneath which would also be your backlighting when lit.. ja?

damnit I think I am on a roll..

[painteddemon]

i dont know about how much u guys know about printed vinyl but its not all that burable and fades fast. im havein my sis try something like that with the vinyl but ima have her cut out the icons and lay in a different color. i let u guys know how it goes. has to be percise measurements

[po00BlkCougar]

I think the best route would be speedhut. They do this kinda stuff on a daily basis.

Mike

[DNNYBOY33]

Damn it! I never thought my art teacher background would be helpful here! If I was just a little more attentive I could have given the priamary colors lesson!

[PeDL2DaMeDL]

yeah green + yellow makes green, right?

[crazyoldcougar]

green+yellow= greenish yellow or yellowish green.... not blue...LOL

there is NO way to make blue.....hence it being a primary colour...

[Crispy]

Originally posted by: po00BlkCougar
I think the best route would be speedhut. They do this kinda stuff on a daily basis.

Mike

this project has been tried by many companies... James Howard took the controls to Black Cat Customs and Speedhut I believe.. both companies would not touch the project...

[madcat744]

well you can't make blue by adding green and yellow, however when you guys talk about the primary colors those don't apply to light. primary colors are just something used for art. the three colors in light are RED GREEN and BLUE or RGB colors, the opposites of those are cyan magenta and yellow, if you mix cyan and magenta you get blue! so if the lights inside the controls were either of those then you could make blue but they are not. Anyways light doesn't work the same way paint does, also on a side note notice that the ink cartrige inside your printer does not have red yellow and blue ink, but instead yeallow cyan and magenta ink. anyways i know this becuase i work in a photolab, also it's basic physics. :cool:

i know i rule.

ps try adding

green and red = yellow
green and blue = cyan
blue and red = magenta
green, blue, and red = white

does it make sense how it works now?

[seedogg]

Just a thought while reading the thread...it has been awhile since science class, but I remember change the color of light by using lenses to blocking out colors.

Could you make a lense that does not allow yellow light to pass through it...if so would it not make it blue...

If I am an a$$ about this...sorry for wasting your time, I have not taken the lights apart, but I know there have been many people working on this for a while, and I was just trying to help out.

Brian

[GnuLoCo]

Did anyone try a blue HI-LED? (High Intensity) I am jus tthinking, overpower it with blue, maybe a blue film on the inside clear plastic, and a blue high intensity led. Just an idea.

[B3NN3TT]

Before you guys get TOO down on the kid-

Light follows different color characteristics that print. Yes, in print, yellow and blue make green. And if you mix all colors equally, you get black. HOWEVER, if you mix all colors of light equally, you get white. I don't know for sure if the additive properties he's proposing are correct (and since people have said they tried and failed, I'd guess not), but don't use the ol' "yellow and blue make green" argument to try and prove him wrong.

Take it from a guy with a background in theatrical lighting.

[transient]

Originally posted by: madcat744
well you can't make blue by adding green and yellow, however when you guys talk about the primary colors those don't apply to light. primary colors are just something used for art. the three colors in light are RED GREEN and BLUE or RGB colors, the opposites of those are cyan magenta and yellow, if you mix cyan and magenta you get blue! so if the lights inside the controls were either of those then you could make blue but they are not. Anyways light doesn't work the same way paint does, also on a side note notice that the ink cartrige inside your printer does not have red yellow and blue ink, but instead yeallow cyan and magenta ink. anyways i know this becuase i work in a photolab, also it's basic physics. :cool: i know i rule. ps try adding green and red = yellow green and blue = cyan blue and red = magenta green, blue, and red = white does it make sense how it works now?

so if you shine blue and magenta into the green you should get blue right? ;)

[NateTheGreat]

I believe this (http://www.customcougars.com/interior/BlueLCDs.htm) might help.

[madcat744]

i'm trying to think, blue and magenta through green will make black, a green filter only allows green to pass through, magenta is a combination of blue and red, since you only have blue and red with no green the result is no light gets through, but thats only with a perfect green filter

[eurocrisp]

I asked this a while ago... a couple months before IntricateLines said they were going to be making something for the HVAC. Whatever happened to that?

[ADavis83]

whomever talked about the CMYK system is right..i worked in a print shop for awhile while taking graphic design and you can't mess w/ the primary colors..its natures rule..but anywayz..this seems to be challenge..who doesn't like a challenge!!!

[yeehaw]

Just wanted to reinforce the fact that Light mixing and ink mixing are completely different. With ink, you are adding color to get what you want. With light, you are subtracting (filtering) color to get what you want. In theory, you should be able to put a blue filter over the green HVAC, and get a slightly less green look. (filtering out some of the yellow) However, you will loose a lot of intensity and it will still have a green hue.



(I too have a backround in the theatre) Try something like a roscolux 95. Its still gonna be green though

[3DB]

Wow, more cougar owners than I thought have a background in theatrical lighting!

In the end, it doesn't seem like using a gel will get you anywhere. I think what Yeehaw said is right, it will be significantly darker and still have a greenish hue. You could probably make the light source itself brighter then try it, but I'm not exacly sure you'd go about doing that safely. The best bet is to get the green stuff off safely, and that's not easily done, as mentioned before.

You want to see something real fun about the subtractive properties of light compared to the additive properties of paint? Mix red and green paint and see what you get. Then go and mix red and green light. It will blow your mind ;)

[zybo2004]

Just to let you all know, if you have a 2001-2002 HVAC controls, just peeling off the cover works. I believe (not 100% sure) that the 99-00 model cougars had the green color embedded into the plastic, BUT on the 2001-2002 cougars the plastic is not embedded with green, or at least it wasn't on my 2002 XR. After I peeled off that cover piece, I had that white piece. I placed Red, white, blue, and green lights behind it (not at the same time) and guess what color shone through.......Red, White, Blue, and Green....so that meant that my HVAC thingie didn't have the green embedded into it.

So for those of you with those year cougars, try taking it off, carefully. All, as far as I can tell, you would have to do is change the color of the lights...THEN here comes the hard part:
Make sure all the sticky stuff is off, that means everything, you want only the plastic there.
Go to your local vinyl place, or just use some tape of somekind.
Cut out the pieces that you want to replace the old ones with.
Place the new cutouts where they belong on the plastic piece.
Get whatever color interior paint you want and start painting. Paint the whole thing.
Once that's done carefully peel off the vinyl/masking tape pieces.
This should have your clear pictures back on there, and then just change the lights behind the HVACs to whatever color the rest of your interior lighting is.

In my wierd mind I think this might work. Maybe my HVAC's were just a fluke, but who knows. I didn't even think of this process until after I sent my HVAC's off to Crispy to send to Bryan. So I can't personally try it myself. But that's cool, cause when Bryan get's this beat I can just get those, and not have to worry with the hassel. :banana:

Oh, and I have no idea about the color wheel, lol, ya'll discuss that all you want, lol.

[IntricateLines]

I know... I never come on these boards...

Thanks for your patience... I've had to put the project aside for a while... but, Crispy emailed me yesterday... and I was motivated again... so... hopefully ... there will be an easy custom kit available for you all soon....

Peeling those OEM labels off the molded plastic part.. is not an option. Don't ruin your car trying this... let me figure it out. So you can put it back to stock when you sell your car eventually... Our gauge face replacemets can be put back to stock too... I don't like permanent stuff... its... too ... permanent. Thats why I make vinyl graphics too.....

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/HVAC%2Ejpg

=) Whoever sent me the knobs... they are now pretty hacked up unfortunatly (trial and error) .. but the HVAC controls are fine....(sorta lost the bulbs I think..and drilled a few small...tiny holes.... ) and Crispys modded custom Dash kit ... for a double din flush mount LCD is still... okay...

OH and by the way... I'm trying to make them as affordable as possible... meaning less handwork...

So please... bare with me... and I will have something for you.

Thanks for your interest... and you won't be dissapointed.

[99CouGSweetRide]

nice! :banana:


Mike

[mercurycougar]

:bowdown: Lets get a group buy so they will be cheap!

[foxslayer]

Originally posted by: IntricateLines
I know... I never come on these boards...

Peeling those OEM labels off the molded plastic part.. is not an option. Don't ruin your car trying this... let me figure it out. So you can put it back to stock when you sell your car eventually... Our gauge face replacemets can be put back to stock too... I don't like permanent stuff... its... too ... permanent. Thats why I make vinyl graphics too.....

OH and by the way... I'm trying to make them as affordable as possible... meaning less handwork...

So please... bare with me... and I will have something for you.

Thanks for your interest... and you won't be dissapointed.

Why would that ruin your car? If you do it right it, and do the rest of the lights the same color wouldn't it look like it was like that from the factory? Ive changed mine to blue along with every other interior light in my car and i don't know how many people have came up to me and said "Wow ford finally got rid of that ugle ass green and got a nicer color for there lights" So i feel if peope are saying that then its not ruining a car is it? Also my opinion on this if people are going to these lenghts do change the color of there car, then there not going to be getting rid of it for a while would they? Thats just my opinion on it.

[IntricateLines]

I don't know... it just seemed very easy to tear that flimsy plastic cellophane printout that Ford use, while trying to remove it.

[foxslayer]

Originally posted by: IntricateLines
I don't know... it just seemed very easy to tear that flimsy plastic cellophane printout that Ford use, while trying to remove it.

Actually its not as flimsy as you think. If you soak it in hot enough water it will come off pretty easily. From my experince. i see your point of not take the chance of tearing it up. But thats the fun of modding your car is that you do it and it may come out good or bad but you at least you tried it. But i do see your point.

[SHiVERZ]

ok... I am so confused... foxslayer did you ever finish a how to for the way you did it? I would like to see.... please put up some pics. also I am in need of the whole HVAC insert even my silver around the green is peeling off... anyone know where to get replacements for a 01 C2 cougar?

[CBG]

Originally posted by: IntricateLines
=) Whoever sent me the knobs... they are now pretty hacked up unfortunatly (trial and error) .. but the HVAC controls are fine....(sorta lost the bulbs I think..and drilled a few small...tiny holes.... ) and Crispys modded custom Dash kit ... for a double din flush mount LCD is still... okay...


i sent you one of the sets, tho dont worry bout it really, i've still got 2 more sittin hurr at my house...LOL

[poweslave736]

What about this for the 01-02's? I know there is still the problem with the 99-00 but at least half would be complacent.

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=13&threadid=108989

[wadespencer99]

You can do the Foxslayer/jlcamp7 mod like I did on either the 99/00 or 01/02 set. They are identical except that in my opinion the green stuff came off the 01/02 set easier. I killed the 99 set I was practicing on.

This Intricate Lines piece looks great in the teaser pic though. Any chance of a reverse indiglo style?