How To Build illumaesthetic Tail Lights (Actual DIY Tutorial)

There are almost NO good videos on how to build these tail lights. So I figured I would show you guys how to build a set of illumaesthetic at home. We will be building a Set for my Mazda RX7. I promise it is not as intimidating as you might think it is when you get these DIY Kits. once you get into the swing of things it goes pretty smoothly. I did make a wire diagram you can reference @20:45 But I would suggest watching the entire video so you can understand what I am referring to on the diagram. Hope this helps!
Shop Subaru Parts - www.Rallysport... use code SMEEDIA
Tools For The Garage:
Power Supply: amzn.to/4cnsZq7
Soldering Iron: amzn.to/3Rxzxu9
Solder: amzn.to/4c5IGSW
Wire: amzn.to/3xpSatf
wire strippers: amzn.to/3VsdTZv
Sharpie: amzn.to/4eu7Lsl
Dual Wall Heat Shrink: amzn.to/3z99tPX
Kapton Tape: amzn.to/3KOHuHS
Butyl Sealant: amzn.to/45rePlH
Diagonal Cutters: amzn.to/3VKQRhZ
Heat Gun: amzn.to/3XALAuu

[@CruelUnknown]

What a trooper. Makes a video about something and then doesn't even use it! Thanks again Smeedia. Now I have knowledge for something I never thought I would ever try 🤙🏻

[@Smeedia]

Figured it would be. Waste to not at least get the video out to help others. Trying to find any good diy video on these is wild. Nothing out there 🥲

[@theleviathan282]

Going back to your roots of building taillights and headlights!

[@Smeedia]

Yesssssir, LEDs a bit different 😅

[@Thechaoscrusadors]

Maaaan i wish i could show pics in the comments 😅 i am currently building a set of 1 of 1 fb rx7 tails for a customer! The prototype went amazing!! I will be recording the build this weekend

[@Smeedia]

I’ll keep an eye out for that to pop Up 👀🔥

[@d2a5e32]

That’s a bummer you didn’t like the leds. I can confirm, I personally enjoyed the hell outta this video! Thank you homie. 🤙🏼

[@BrownGravy23]

Coming in for the watch and +1 for Smeedia totally being a resource for me in rebuilding my Subaru. What a journey it’s been

[@88Frank]

Such a good tutorial. I thought the same when looking at the illumasethic videos

[@micahgunnell]

Love that you took the time to go through all of this and were honest about not really loving the final result. I don’t think they look too bad, especially since it was all diy, but I agree, a more OEM look just works better for a classic like this.

[@adamandrews2528]

I really appreciate this viddy. Pushing me over the edge of doing my fxt lights.

[@surrrithux]

Thank you for this, I was considering building LED taillights for my FD myself in the future. Saving this for reference later for sure!

[@Smeedia]

Anytime! There were no good videos walking through how to build these 😅

[@foxunfocused]

Very solid guide. I'm not a fan of individual LEDs style either. I'd much rather have the diffused look, but that's also more modern than it sounds like you're going for.

[@Smeedia]

Little bit, maybe once the car gets more put together it might looks better with newer style tails 😅

[@followtheornghat]

Spun a bearing today ( rod knock after getting on the car) so atleast I get a Smeedia vid to be happy about and it's one I'm interested in ❤❤

[@Smeedia]

Keep me posted on what Subaru says 😮‍💨🙏

[@followtheornghat]

@@Smeedia they open soon and imma call and have the car towed up. Hope they take my warranty or imma be scrounging 😅😂

[@TheChromeCannon]

dead serious, learned more from you than anyone else on subies. even if its something i dont plan on doing myself. can atleast help my friends do stuff and seem like i know something lmao

[@Smeedia]

Glad that I can be of assistance 🫡🥳 never know, I never planned on doing this until now 😅

[@BushidoPhoto]

I completely rewired my old SRT-4 in 2004 with blue LED's. I'm talking every bulb in the HVAC controls and dash. It looked so good, but was a pain. This is a good straightforward tutorial for noobs. I would have used red wire for the red and yellow wire for the yellows. Green or black for the ground is fine.

[@Smeedia]

Hoping it helps anyone who’s doing this for the first time. Definitely a small learning curve with this 😅

[@BushidoPhoto]

@@Smeedia You did great! I wish I had a helpful resource back in those days.

[@Cmfrs503]

Professor smeedia and class in session, always a great day went I see a new upload

[@Smeedia]

🫡🫡🫡

[@Cmfrs503]

@@Smeedia appreciate the reply 🤙🏼

[@stefanvanbraam4378]

Tail lights are pretty groovy. Nice job.

[@Smeedia]

Thank you 🙏🫡 they look great but too modern looking for the car 😅

[@losdc5185]

Please please please keep these on the car! They look amazing🔥🔥🔥

[@Smeedia]

I might build a diff set but these ain’t it 😅

[@heftygainz]

They look horrible lol. The leds aren't even consistently spaced and look ghetto. So glad he's not using them

[@losdc5185]

@@heftygainz lol I didn’t think they looked that bad tbh. But honestly once he said someone called them dodge viper tail lights. I couldn’t unsee it😂

[@Billy_Built]

been wanting to do this myself on my z.. Good stuff!

[@Smeedia]

Hope it helps 🥳

[@Billy_Built]

@@Smeedia unfortunately no DIY kits for the Z32 chassis.. So it's going to turn into some heavy DIY stuff lol

[@Thechaoscrusadors]

Amazing video!!! I dont care for that style. There are a few that look way better on the car. I personally prefer an led board over oem. But i am also very picky about car styling. Oem looks great on the right type of clean build. And this is definently one of those builds!

[@Smeedia]

Totally agree, factory 99 spec tails are the move for this thing 🔥 the LED board looked too modern 😅

[@ratfarmers]

Thanks for the tutorial on building led lights! I've been thinking of doing this for a while on my old benzo because the tail lights output is weak. When you first mentioned to use a sharpie I thought you were going to say uh a pen preferably a sharpie it really doesn't matter the color um black blue green yellow purple silver cyan. But you didn't and I laughed anyways.

[@patrickgarvin2570]

Kudos on the diligent work, sir. Even if all for naught. I don't know if you're old enough to remember, but those boards look just like Lite-Brite, from back in the day. Honestly, I'm glad you're not going to use them. OE for the win. 👍🤘💯

[@Smeedia]

lol my grandparents had a lite brite, I thought the same thing 😂😅

[@isherzdeleon1544]

Great tutorial, I’ve been wanting to make infinity taillights out of some stock 1st gen BRZ taillights I have sitting around.

[@omialmanza1900]

I'm liking this👍🏽

[@Smeedia]

🫡🫡🫡🫡

[@slexov3897]

A cheap Amazon soldering iron works but if you want an easy time with it 1000000% get a pinecil. They are around 20 dollars and run off of a DC barrel plug or USB C. Makes the job much easier with the adjustability.

[@Smeedia]

Curious about this magical device now 😅

[@WholeCosmos]

Sorry for the previous crappy drunk post I did last night LOL. Keep up the great helpful content for your peeps. You did mislead me about the engine swap though and I am still bitter about it..... Whatevs though, Ill get over it eventually. LOL

[@zachattach850]

I actually like those… but definitely something darker. Almost black in the light(with them off). That’s a detail that sets the car off… very critical that you get it right for yourself.

[@Smeedia]

Definitely needs something else, I like these but not feeling em😅

[@bradgreen987]

Yeah, I got a flashback to you making $$ off custom headlights back in the earlier days. Miss the old garage, too

[@Smeedia]

Used to knock those headlights out daily 😅

[@100cotton0]

I do wonder if you would have liked the "c design" over the "ring design" for that outer bit to look a bit less light a viper. There's also the non-diffusion version too like what TJ Hunt has on his. However it's hard to beat the OG 99 spec which is what I did on my FD too.

[@Smeedia]

I’ve seen the full board versions too and on some cars they look so good, maybe it’s just because the cars not fully done. I don’t have anything to compare them against yet

[@wazza_za7873]

I like it. Looks good.

[@Smeedia]

They don’t look bad but they definitely don’t fit the era of the car 😅

[@wazza_za7873]

@@Smeedia true but id leave them on and do a side by side comparison and have a vote.

[@dannyl7035]

i dont know how much that light set set you back but that RX7 deserves something much better looking n finished look

[@MonkellD]

@9:50 it looked like the cathode went into your finger 😱

[@Smeedia]

Magic!

[@MonkellD]

I had to watch it again and I still almost fainted 😵‍💫

[@steeveamedee5021]

What hi can t says bros ,u no what u doing man keep going 🤷🏾‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️🫡🫡 great job🎉

[@anthonyoregan1651]

Great how to.

[@hughjanis4555]

Tanner really raid “nah I’ll make my own I ain’t paying a stack for tails.”

[@Smeedia]

I refuse to pay thousands for them 😅

[@tommanning7337]

That’s badass!!!!! 😎👍🏻👍🏻

[@reaper352c5]

that is going to look sick on the rx7, is it going to be the switchback kind for blinkers, or just normal like my car which uses amber for blinkers?

[@Smeedia]

These just had normal blinkers, can definitely wire up switchbacks though 🙌

[@mattohearn48]

Have you looked into infinity tail lights? Honestly the one you built don't look bad but they are a little bit dim keep up the good work dude

[@Smeedia]

Totally agree, the infinity lights look super good on certain cars 🚗

[@joelansell3516]

When are we seeing more of the 2J 😩

[@Smeedia]

After the FD, don’t have space to have two projects happening at once 🙏

[@sum24u]

hear me out. imagine a whole light bar. they made it look as one, attached to break light might as well make it a function. i think it will look great

[@Smeedia]

That might make it look a bit more cohesive 👀

[@Wingnuut79]

Hey Tanner, when are the dad hats coming back? I need a new one. Also, any giveaway's planned? lol

[@Smeedia]

After the RX7 series I have a drop coming with a built engine give away 🫡

[@8145dwerdna]

Yeah honestly they'd look better if there was some type of light diffuser keeping the amber together and red together. Kind of like the surrounding border. Looks weird on a mid 90's car

[@Smeedia]

Agreed, if the LEDs had some diffusion I think they’d look a lot more fluid 😮‍💨

[@SergioSalazar-od8og]

What are your thoughts on the Katana V1 LED Tail Lights?

[@Smeedia]

I low key like those, but I gotta see em in person 😅

[@jdubbsvt85]

At around 11 mins or so you cut the leds down and attach them to make the bridge and you say you connect one negative to one positove? Did you mean negative to negative and positive to positive or was that on purpose..? Just a little confused as ive daisy chained gauges together and i always connected all the grounds together and 12v powers together.

[@marcusfigueroa1365]

How do I make that panel with he LED holes I’m looking at this for a different car different shape light

[@thenerdycanadian7172]

I spent today putting in what I thought was a good motor only to find out it's got rod knock from a blown turbo, tomorrow I get to find out where the oil consumption on my partially built motor is from. I swear I love subaru's too much sometimes

[@arc9696]

Dang! you shouldve bought the sequential module as well, so that your signals can have a trailing effect and what

[@Wolfwood0011]

good video brought me back to my college days for electronics courses. if you were going to use those there is a Transistor that i was going to suggest that sets a delay for the Trun Signal that does a sequential animation for the lights. you would just put it inline at the power lead before it hits the Group of Lights and also connect it to ground. Black Bulls Raised on Yellow Grass Bring Very Good Wadges B B R O Y G B V G W.

[@Smeedia]

That would have been a cool little addition to add into them. I saw some modules that work for the sequential stuff. Soldering into those boards is was more difficult than I thought it would be 😅

[@daggerSLADE]

I work at an electronics company .. seems like this could be made up with surface mount LEDs much easier

[@Smeedia]

Definitely would have made it easier 😅

[@stephenhoffmann5551]

When is the Subaru 2jz engine build videos coming? 😁

[@mo4low]

I have a car that no one is ever going to make a DIY kit for, so how would I go about getting the template with the holes in it?

[@kailani112]

Where do you get the white boards from?

[@johnlexus1]

So dope

[@Splitrip2023]

What is the wattage rating on the resistors?

[@sidpetty1507]

How thick is the board?

[@cjhouse8666]

I like the taillights. Just my opinion no hate.

[@Smeedia]

They don’t look bad but they look kinda cheap 🥲

[@gdizzle8265]

I’m honestly not used to too much rice but I think those tail lights actually make the RX7 seem to make it look like more of a new car. But if you are going for OEM+ like everyone else that has already done and is not original then regular tail lights are the way to go

[@Smeedia]

They have full LED Boards which I think might look better. But that diffuser ring just looks tacky to me 😅

[@gdizzle8265]

If it looks better than the OEM ones then that’s cool. The stock ones are boring especially if it’s going to be a SEMA car

[@j_zales1390]

I think they look good , but do what you feel is best for the build

[@joshchaides]

Ah, they do look like Viper tail lights haha!

[@Smeedia]

I can’t unsee it 😅

[@joshchaides]

@@Smeedia they already look similar too haha

[@H3xyexe]

Hear me out.. what if I just send you some that I want to do and pay you..? I really want some Hawkeye custom taillights

[@Smeedia]

I can build you a set 👌

[@12344491brandon]

Make 1981 Trans Am Tailights

[@brackertae2825]

Do headlights now please

[@davidfeder2255]

You wanna know what would’ve been so much easier and so much better looking and fitting of the car, some 99 spec tails…

[@Thewolverine691]

Wow so its just a cnc cut piece of white acrylic painted black in a pattern with some leds and they charge $300 for it

[@TheRZBM]

I don't think I have ever seen these DIY style lights ever look good. They always just look cheap and tacky to me compared to OEM.

[@tokirak]

pless

[@jandkwhite6459]

Looks like Christmas tree lights😂😂. Just me sorry

[@Smeedia]

It’s a lite bright 😂

[@jandkwhite6459]

@@SmeediaTHATS IT!!! Nostalgia 100%

[@arthurdouglass4672]

So glad you didn’t go with those. Never liked them. 99 spec is definitely the way to go!

[@jakehill9174]

Thay looks so tacky and cheap 😢

[@Smeedia]

I thought the same, they reminded me of cheap spec D tail lights