05 Sierra Illuminated sill plates
Oct 2, 2011 | 08:26 AM
#1
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Joined: Jun 2011
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From: Dunn, NC
05 Sierra Illuminated sill plates
Hi guys, thought I'd share my latest project, custom illuminated sill plates. Here's my truck:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/320567...00-regular-cab
I've always wanted the interior of this thing to be a little higher class, instead of an ocean of gray plastic, so I got this idea from my friends Mercedes AMG, and I'd never seen in a truck before, so I decided I would look into it. Turn out somebody does make some:
GMC Yukon Illuminated Door Sill Plates
but they're $390, and don't look all that great. Then i found these on Stylintrucks:
Door Sill Plates/Kickplates - Standard Billet GMC Logo Door Sill Plates By Empire Motor Sports
They're $105, a lot more reasonable than the other set, and they look better in my opinion, but they aren't illuminated. Since the lines and the GMC logo are ball milled into the face of it, I thought I could just cut them out with a cut-off wheel and a dremel. My plan was to cut the lines and logo out, put plexiglass behind it, cut a hole in my factory sill plate and put an LED light strip in there, wired to the door light. But when they arrived they were much thicker than expected, about an 1/8 of an inch. I thought they were just thin gauge sheet metal, so this made cutting them out a lot harder. Plus witht he thickness of the plexiglass they would be raised too high over the factory sill plate and the door wouldn't shut, so I decided I would cut the factory sill plate so these would fit flush. Also I noticed they were mirror finished, where I thought they were brushed, and from the very first test fitting the door scratched the hell out of it, and in the process of cutting the logo with the grinder jumping out of the track and just from being left in a busy farm shop all week the mirror finish was all but gone, so i decided to hit it with some steel wool and give them a brushed look, since the mirror finish would only last about another week in the truck.
Got the lines cut out and about halfway done with the logo. Turn out a dremel is way to week fro 1/8 aluminum plate, so I took the dremel tool shanks and put them in my air cut off wheel, plenty of power.
Logo cut out, just need to clean up the edges and bring down that higher point on the M.
had to hit it with 220 grit sandpaper for the brushed look, steel wool wouldn't touch it.
got the plexiglass cut, taped it to the backside to hold it in place while I drill the holes for the mounting screws.
Last night I fogged the back of the plexiglass with white spray paint, because if I had left it clear all you would see is a few dots of light underneath, 1 coat of white gives it a nice even glow. I also clear coated the sill plate after I sanded it for the brushed look, it looks great, semi-glossy and sorta dull/satiny with the brushed look. I didn't take a pic of them yet. While they were drying I took my door panel off and ran 2 wires through the wiring harness boot, behind the speaker, and out the plastic through one of the door panel clip holes so I could splice into the door light. This way the sill plate lights will only be on when the door is open, or when you switch off and the interior lights come on before you open the door. When the parts dried I started test fitting the metal sill plate and marked its location on the factory sill plate, to cut it. I wanted to get the holes drilled in the truck and screw down the metal plate, then put the plastic plate over top, lined up with its back clips, just to make sure of my marks before I cut my only factory sill plate, but I hit a little snag. Turns out the little metal tabs where the factory sill plate clips into are in the way of where my screws need to go, so I hit em with a hammer a couple times to bend them over slightly. I didn't want to cut them out or completely flatten then, because they are what support the weight when you step on the sill plate. But then I hit another snag, out of the 6 different drill bit sets in my shop there is not 1 single 9/64 metal bit, so I'm off to Lowes this morning to pick up another bit set and some more grinding heads fro the dremel. Hopefully I'll have it finished by this eveneing and put some pics up tonight.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/320567...00-regular-cab
I've always wanted the interior of this thing to be a little higher class, instead of an ocean of gray plastic, so I got this idea from my friends Mercedes AMG, and I'd never seen in a truck before, so I decided I would look into it. Turn out somebody does make some:
GMC Yukon Illuminated Door Sill Plates
but they're $390, and don't look all that great. Then i found these on Stylintrucks:
Door Sill Plates/Kickplates - Standard Billet GMC Logo Door Sill Plates By Empire Motor Sports
They're $105, a lot more reasonable than the other set, and they look better in my opinion, but they aren't illuminated. Since the lines and the GMC logo are ball milled into the face of it, I thought I could just cut them out with a cut-off wheel and a dremel. My plan was to cut the lines and logo out, put plexiglass behind it, cut a hole in my factory sill plate and put an LED light strip in there, wired to the door light. But when they arrived they were much thicker than expected, about an 1/8 of an inch. I thought they were just thin gauge sheet metal, so this made cutting them out a lot harder. Plus witht he thickness of the plexiglass they would be raised too high over the factory sill plate and the door wouldn't shut, so I decided I would cut the factory sill plate so these would fit flush. Also I noticed they were mirror finished, where I thought they were brushed, and from the very first test fitting the door scratched the hell out of it, and in the process of cutting the logo with the grinder jumping out of the track and just from being left in a busy farm shop all week the mirror finish was all but gone, so i decided to hit it with some steel wool and give them a brushed look, since the mirror finish would only last about another week in the truck.
Got the lines cut out and about halfway done with the logo. Turn out a dremel is way to week fro 1/8 aluminum plate, so I took the dremel tool shanks and put them in my air cut off wheel, plenty of power.
Logo cut out, just need to clean up the edges and bring down that higher point on the M.
had to hit it with 220 grit sandpaper for the brushed look, steel wool wouldn't touch it.
got the plexiglass cut, taped it to the backside to hold it in place while I drill the holes for the mounting screws.
Last night I fogged the back of the plexiglass with white spray paint, because if I had left it clear all you would see is a few dots of light underneath, 1 coat of white gives it a nice even glow. I also clear coated the sill plate after I sanded it for the brushed look, it looks great, semi-glossy and sorta dull/satiny with the brushed look. I didn't take a pic of them yet. While they were drying I took my door panel off and ran 2 wires through the wiring harness boot, behind the speaker, and out the plastic through one of the door panel clip holes so I could splice into the door light. This way the sill plate lights will only be on when the door is open, or when you switch off and the interior lights come on before you open the door. When the parts dried I started test fitting the metal sill plate and marked its location on the factory sill plate, to cut it. I wanted to get the holes drilled in the truck and screw down the metal plate, then put the plastic plate over top, lined up with its back clips, just to make sure of my marks before I cut my only factory sill plate, but I hit a little snag. Turns out the little metal tabs where the factory sill plate clips into are in the way of where my screws need to go, so I hit em with a hammer a couple times to bend them over slightly. I didn't want to cut them out or completely flatten then, because they are what support the weight when you step on the sill plate. But then I hit another snag, out of the 6 different drill bit sets in my shop there is not 1 single 9/64 metal bit, so I'm off to Lowes this morning to pick up another bit set and some more grinding heads fro the dremel. Hopefully I'll have it finished by this eveneing and put some pics up tonight.
Oct 2, 2011 | 03:36 PM
#2
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Teching In
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 23
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From: Dunn, NC
Just finished it. In all it took about 43 hours just for 1 side, and since I'm a farmer and its time to pick cotton it'll probably be december before I can do the other side, but I'm happy with how it turned out.
got the plexiglass painted
the LED strip was peel and stick, so I stuck it on top of the wiring harness
wires from the LED strip and the wires I ran to the door light
where I cut the factory sill plate
The finished product
got the plexiglass painted
the LED strip was peel and stick, so I stuck it on top of the wiring harness
wires from the LED strip and the wires I ran to the door light
where I cut the factory sill plate
The finished product
Oct 4, 2011 | 04:49 PM
#4
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Teching In
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 23
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From: Dunn, NC
Yeah I consider it a prototype, haha. They were mirror finish but they got so roughed up from cutting and grinding I decided to sand them for a brushed aluminum look. I didn't even do the other side because I plan to have some CNC cut out of stainless plate. But it looks great at night so I'm happy with it for now.
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