Rick's Model S Front Lighted T - No Longer Available

[artsci]

Here's a list of the parts and tools for the various installation options. Of course, depending on what you have at home you may not need all of these items.

For all installs:

Amazon.com: Car Audio Dash Removal Plastic Pry Tool Yellow - 2 Piece: Car Electronics

Silicone Wire - Fine Strand - 22 Gauge - 10 ft. Black, 10 ft. Red: Amazon.com: Industrial Scientific

Amazon.com: Turtle Wax T-529 Label Sticker Remover - 10 oz.: Automotive

Bosch CO2139 Cobalt Jobber Length Drill Bit, 3/16-Inch - Amazon.com

Black Decker AD600 6-Volt Alkaline 1/4-Inch Hex Cordless Drill/Driver with Accessory Assortment - Amazon.com

Stanley 84-199 10 Gauge to 26 Gauge Stranded and 8 Gauge to 22 Gauge Solid Electrical Stripper Plier - Amazon.com

#6 (22-18) Fork Spade Lug Crimp Terminal 50 Pcs.: Amazon.com: Industrial Scientific

Amazon.com : Pc Accessories - Terminals Crimping Tool For D-

Amazon.com: 3M Scotchlok Nylon Fully Insulated Male Spade Type Connectors 22-18 Gauge (Red) - 100 Pack: Car Electronics

3M Nylon .250 Fully Insulated Female Quick Disconnect Terminals 18-22 Gauge Red - Amazon.com


Other parts for Oznium controller installs.

Amazon.com: BESTEK 120pcs 7 kinds of mini blade fuses assortment car fuse set truck fuse auto holder car fuse kit mini car fuse box car accessories 5A, 7.5A,10A,15A,20A,25A,30A, BTCF07A-1: Automotive

Amazon.com: Bussmann BP/HHH ATM Add-A-Fuse: Automotive

Other parts for Oznium install with in-dash monitor option:

Amazon.com: NightFire - 3mm Clear RED LEDs (30 pieces) with Resistors: Everything Else


Other parts for headlight/DRL installs

Amazon.com: Lockitt POSI-TAP Assortment pack wire connectors 10-22 awg: Automotive

- - - Updated - - -

Rick do you have a plan in the works for Sigs? Thanks.

Likely not. The T on the Sig nose cone, in addition to have a different curvature and mount also is a slightly different size. This means new production injection molds and high capital costs which probably could not be covered by the number sold. We'd have to have at least 50 paid orders to justify those costs. If someone can organize a group of Sig owners for a group buy that would make it possible I think.

 

[artsci]

3 hours??!! That sounds like too much for a professional. A pro should be able to do this in about an hour I would think. The longest part is likely the removal of the T with the dental floss. Opening the panel in the Frunk and finding/tapping into the wire should take 5 minutes. Drilling the holes: 5 minutes. Crimping the wires and taping them down: 5-10 minutes. An amateur should be able to do the whole thing in under an hour, going slowly and carefully.

Agree. 90 minutes at the most for an amateur. One the first buyers did the job in 15 (headlight power).

- - - Updated - - -

Rick do you have a plan in the works for Sigs? Thanks.

A Sig version is certainly possible but it would require a whole new injection mold and pcb. As as far as I know, there were only about 1,500 Sigs made, so the volume might not be sufficient to justify the capital costs.

This weekend I'll start a list for Sigs to see if we can get the necessary numbers. If so, I'll find a way get it done.

 

[4SUPER9]

Has anybody installed yet? I am installing now, and still trying to decide between the DRL's and Headlight connection. I guess I can try both, but was hoping to see some pics here first.

 

[4SUPER9]

Installed the T this evening. Insanely easy. Taking my time, it took a total of 38 minutes (using the headlight method). 20 of those minutes were dedicated to cleaning the old adhesive off the chrome T, arch and nose cone.

Tip #1: Remove the T and Arch with dental floss BEFORE taking the nose cone off. It was incredibly easy this way, as there was no need to brace the nose cone while "sawing".
Tip #2: Leave some slack for if and when you need to remove the nose cone later. This way, you can lay it down and unplug the connectors at your leisure
Tip #3: If attaching to DRLs or headlights, have a bright light on hand. This will make it much easier to locate the wire you want. Regardless, these wires are NOT hard to find.
Tip #4: I actually did the entire install WITHOUT removing the nose cone. That's right. I did, however, pop the top portion as listed in this thread. This was easier for me as I had sensors that I didn't want to unplug. Just be careful that when drilling the two holes that you don't hit what's behind. If you do, no big deal anyway.

The T is bright enough that I may try DRL's later. This change will take me less than 2 minutes.

Finally, Rick, thank you for doing such a meticulous and fantastic job on this product. I am looking forward to the camera, and a red brake light T in the near future!

Here are pics:

View attachment 42793

 

[andrewket]

The DRLs dim when the turn signals are on. So if you wire it to the left DRL the T is going to dim when you turn left, or vice versa with the right. Not a big deal, but I thought I'd point it out before someone gets surprised. Unless the dimming of the DRL is done via some other method, but I doubt it.

 

[artsci]

Installed the T this evening. Insanely easy. Taking my time, it took a total of 38 minutes (using the headlight method). 20 of those minutes were dedicated to cleaning the old adhesive off the chrome T, arch and nose cone.

Tip #1: Remove the T and Arch with dental floss BEFORE taking the nose cone off. It was incredibly easy this way, as there was no need to brace the nose cone while "sawing".
Tip #2: Leave some slack for if and when you need to remove the nose cone later. This way, you can lay it down and unplug the connectors at your leisure
Tip #3: If attaching to DRLs or headlights, have a bright light on hand. This will make it much easier to locate the wire you want. Regardless, these wires are NOT hard to find though.
Tip #4: I actually did the entire install WITHOUT removing the nose cone. That's right. I did, however, pop the top portion as listed in this thread. This was easier for me as I had sensors that I didn't want to unplug. Just be careful that when drilling the two holes that you don't hit what's behind. If you do, no big deal anyway.

The T is bright enough that I may try DRL's later. This change will take me less than 2 minutes.

Finally, Rick, thank you for doing such a meticulous and fantastic job on this product. I am looking forward to the camera, and a red brake light T in the near future!
View attachment 42793

Thanks for the photos and the tips. Amazed that you did it without taking the nose cone off. I would not have attempted that myself, so kudos to you!

 

[4SUPER9]

If anyone in the L.A. area needs help with this, PM me. I have all the tools and parts for at least one more headlight/DRL install.

 

[andrewket]

I had trouble using the pry method to remove the nose cone. At least, I couldn't find a way to do it without risking scratching something.

I successfully used this technique instead:

The proper way to remove the nosecone - ZERO TOOLS REQUIRED OTHER THAN YOUR HANDS

Andrew

 

[andrewket]

Tesla Lighted T

The "T" is in. It took me far longer than I had anticipated. All in probably 2 hours. If I were to do it again I bet I could do it in 1. Getting the old glue off turned out to be PITA. I bet using a hair dryer to warm the area before using the floss would help. I tapped the DRL for +12V and it didn't work the first time. It turns out the tap didn't quite penetrate the wire. I used a multimeter to figure that out. The second time it worked. I also used a bolt near the headlight assembly for ground, rather than the one the directions indicated. This way I was able to use 2-conductor wire to the one location. But after getting it all working, I realized that DRL really means JUST DRL. When the headlights turned on, the DRL (and the T) went off. When you look at the light assembly with the headlight on it looks like the LED lightning around the assembly is still on. It turns out it's not, or it has some on-board logic and powers the DRL lights from one of the other wires. So I ended up re-writing it to the headlights. If I had some diodes I might have wired it to both the DRLs and the headlights, but I couldn't find any around.

Thanks again, Rick.

Andrew

 

[justaddsun]

Andrew, I bet you can do it on my car in less than an hour .

 

[drtko147]

Installed the T this evening. Insanely easy. Taking my time, it took a total of 38 minutes (using the headlight method). 20 of those minutes were dedicated to cleaning the old adhesive off the chrome T, arch and nose cone.

Tip #1: Remove the T and Arch with dental floss BEFORE taking the nose cone off. It was incredibly easy this way, as there was no need to brace the nose cone while "sawing".
Tip #2: Leave some slack for if and when you need to remove the nose cone later. This way, you can lay it down and unplug the connectors at your leisure
Tip #3: If attaching to DRLs or headlights, have a bright light on hand. This will make it much easier to locate the wire you want. Regardless, these wires are NOT hard to find.
Tip #4: I actually did the entire install WITHOUT removing the nose cone. That's right. I did, however, pop the top portion as listed in this thread. This was easier for me as I had sensors that I didn't want to unplug. Just be careful that when drilling the two holes that you don't hit what's behind. If you do, no big deal anyway.

The T is bright enough that I may try DRL's later. This change will take me less than 2 minutes.

Finally, Rick, thank you for doing such a meticulous and fantastic job on this product. I am looking forward to the camera, and a red brake light T in the near future!

Here are pics:
View attachment 42794View attachment 42795View attachment 42796View attachment 42797View attachment 42793

For some reason, I was not able to get the nose cone off using the method you used. I ended up prying off the nose cone off. But I think taking the nose cone off made me feel more comfortable with drilling the hole. It ended up taking me about 40 minutes for the install. Like everyone else, the hardest part was taking off the adhesive off the emblem and from the nose cone. I did use mineral spirits and it worked well.

 

[Msolomi]

Originally hooked it up to go on with the headlights. After two weeks, decided that I wanted both options so went ahead and took it back to the shop that installed it. 15 minutes later, I was able to use the Ozone controller without a problem. It looks very nice with the DRL as the LEDs match.

 

[4SUPER9]

Can someone tell me how to make this work with both DRL's and headlights? I have no need for a controller. Perhaps even always on whenever the car is powered on (off when off). This T is just too nice to see it only with headlights. Per a post above, do I need a diode? What type of diode and how do I hook it up?

 

[artsci]

[FONT=American Typewriter, sans-serif]Oznium let me know this am that owing to supplier delays in China the next production run will occur the week of March 10 and the T’s will likely ship during the following week. The manufacturer of the PCB insisted on a minimum order of 1,000 pieces, and producing that many accounts for the major part of the delay.[/FONT]

[FONT=American Typewriter, sans-serif]We have about 25 paid orders already for the next production run of 60, so if you're interested you may want to order soon.[/FONT]

 

[cgiGuy]

I installed this last night and wanted to share a few things I learned:

1. Make sure you do this somewhere with lots of light. I did it at night in a not-well-lit garage and it probably made it twice as hard.
2. I tried the "peanut butter" trick on the emblem/nosecone and while it got off some of the adhesive, it didn't get all. The sticker remover spray on the recommended list worked great.
3. The rubber bumper-looking things on the frunk side panels are actually screws--don't try to pry them out, like I started to. Just turn them.
4. The fuse box cover has push buttons on each side for removing.. not "pull buttons" like I expected.
5. The fuse box cover has a right and wrong way to put it back on. Learned this the hard way after I cut the gap for the add-a-fuse on the wrong side.
6. Small wire cutters work well for cutting out the gap on the fuse box cover.
7. The area under the nosecone was pretty dirty from water getting in there. Verifies the need to waterproof your Oznium controller with silicon, if you're using that option.
8. Although the "pop the nosecone by pushing down on the top of the frunk area" method didn't completely pop it out, it did pop out a corner that I could then easily grab and finish removing.
9. The LED I used inside the cabin is way too bright at night (I didn't use the same one on Rick's list, so that may have been the problem) so I need to look for a different resistor (used a 1/8 400 ohm) to dim it down. I also used the spare LED power/ground from the Oznium controller for the LED versus wiring it in parallel with the lighted T. Maybe this is why it's so bright? Would love some resistor recommendations, if anyone has some.
10. All panels that were required to be removed came off pretty easy. I actually managed to not break a single piece/clip.
11. Drilling the holes in the nosecone was probably the most difficult... but only mentally. Take a deep breath.. line it up.. and remember, you can always buy new nosecone if you screw it up bad enough.

Make sure you read through the instructions completely, as there are items at the end that would require actions at the beginning (i.e., wire cabin LED in parallel with Lighted T). Also, depending on your preferred setup, some of the items on the inventory list are not required. I didn't need any posi-tap connectors and probably could have lived without the pry tool.

I'm very satisfied with the end result. I still have the inside LED to tweak a little, but other than that I'm glad I did it. i did notice the Lighted T LEDs are colder in color than the LEDs in the DRLs, but it doesn't look bad.

Also, for those using the Oznium controller.. the two LED power outputs are actually designed to work together for the "strobe" effect. So if you want a little different install from the norm, wire the arch with one set and the T with the other set and they will strobe back and forth between the two. The heartbeat pulse runs both sets at the same time. Would obviously not use the strobe while driving, unless you reaaaally want to show the MS off to your local police.

Thanks to Rick for coming up with this and good luck to others diving in to this mod.

Brian

 

[zax123]

Rick (et. al.),

I bought a T using the marketplace link, but I can't for the life of me find a receipt -- was one emailed? What should I search for? Sorry for the ridiculous question.

Thanks, Rob.

 

[artsci]

Rick (et. al.),

I bought a T using the marketplace link, but I can't for the life of me find a receipt -- was one emailed? What should I search for? Sorry for the ridiculous question.

Thanks, Rob.

I'll email you one if you PM me your email address.

We now have lighted T's in stock for immediate shipment.

 

[Josh H]

I'm trying to order and receiving a runtime error on the order page. Is there another way to order? Thanks.

- - - Updated - - -

I'm trying to order and receiving a runtime error on the order page. Is there another way to order? Thanks.

Never mind, I used the mobile link and it worked.

 

[vbandl01]

i will buy both LIghted T and the front camera view provided someone installs in my area, please email me the details
i live in newjersey area. [email protected]

 

[tennisman]

Vbandl01

I live in NJ as we'll and am getting my P85 on May 23rd. Did you have any luck finding an installer?

thanks

tennisman