Do It Yourself: Create Angel Eyes LED Headlight Rings

LED lights not only just look cool, they can be also eco-friendly, cost effective, and last longer than most bulbs for sale. Be able to make angel eye rings for your automobile headlights using LED light bulbs.

Difficulty: Moderate. You'll use a soldering gun, drill and Hitachi tools or other power tools for this installation. Seek advice if this is your first time you're handling these tools.

Materials/Equipment: LED light bulbs (2x 3.6 v, 20mA), resistor (270 ohms), smaller blind rod (steel replacement rod), 24-gauge stranded cord, fusible metal alloy and solder, Makita tools with cut-off wheel attachment, drill as well as drill bit #150, pliers for slicing wires, reflective tape, transparent tape/painter's tape, aluminum foil, heat-shrink tube, jar cover (exactly the same diameter as the ring), scissors, 12 V controlled power supply, oven.

Mold the Ring

First of all, measure the diameter of your head-lights. We'll be needing a 4-inch diameter circle for this training course. After calculating, get a little blind rod. One mini rod may make two rings. For a 4" diameter lamp, the rod needs to be 12.5" long (use this formulation: Length = 3.14 x diameter). Add up about 2 extra inches to have handles. Cut the rod using Ryobi tool with a cut-off wheel attachment.

To optimize ring brightness, we have to make tiny cuts along the leveled (back) side of the circle. All these cuts will refract brightness toward the front side for greater perceptibility. Use the Dremel device to make cuts 1.5 mm apart from others. Continue preparing cuts until you get the other side of the ring.

Drill the Hole

We're now going to join the LED light bulbs. Drill a trap on each end of the rod to accommodate a LED light bulb inside. Use drill bit #150, and fix to 6000 RPM. To prevent the rod from melting, remove the bit as you go to let it cool. Go on with the process until you make a LED light bulb-sized gap. The LED light bulb really needs to securely fit.

Take off the LED light bulb and make the hole more transparent by coating just a little clear nail polish inside of the hole. This supplies a lot more light to go through. Wait for the the polish to dry up before re-inserting the LED bulb. Try out the bulb with a 12 V adjusted power supply.

To capture the LED light and make it noticeable even in daytime, use aluminum foil or even reflective tape. Wrap the foil all around the uncut area of the ring and coat with heat shrinkable tubing. Heat the tubing set. Track the ring on reflective tape and just cut out. Peel and then securely attach the tape on the back side of the ring.

Wire the LED lamps

Make use of a resistor (270 ohms). Fasten with electrical wire the two LED light bulbs in a series connection by attaching the negative leg of one LED bulb into the positive leg of the other LED bulb. Take off one end of a 24-gauge cord and enclose it around the negative leg of the first LED bulb. Fix into place using soldering gun. Remove the other end of the same cord and wrap it throughout the positive terminal of the second LED. Solder straight to place.

Shorten a second wire and place it all-around the negative terminal of the next LED, and solder as one. Bring the end of the second cable back to the other part of the ring. Tape the two cables together on the back side of the ring with painter's tape. Remove the LED bulb terminal legs. So you have a single positive with single negative terminal on one side of the eye ring. Check it out using a power supply.