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Under-dash lights installed!
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 12:34 pm
by Geo
Today with the help of my girlfriend, I was able to finally install my under-dash red cold-cathode lights!I used a single kit and a bulb from frozecpu.com. I used their red 4" kit, and connected both bulbs to it. What I did was tap into the power supply from the cig lighter, and put the control box in the center under the shifter. I then had both lights go out from the center posisition; however, I did have to solder in wire extensions to the lights. Did some other funky mounting things - and installed them so you cannot see the bulbs unless you stick your head under there. I might go for something a little brighter, but this works fine for now! Actually, the red in the picture is darker than the ACTUAL red it shows, the red that it really is matches more of the background red to the stock radio display. Total time to do everything was ~ 2 hours, give or take a half hour. I have a switch to turn them on and off, and right now that is just hanging inside the front console garbage can, and I will mount that later on, possibly with a small hole in the side of the plastic I now realize that I /need/ rear lights as well for the rear seats, but at least these will be easier to install as well. (Much thanks goes to RaginFish for his How-tos on removing the shifter assembly, and the center console assembly - they came in extremely helpful!)Comments welcome!

Re: Under-dash lights installed! (Geo)
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 12:41 pm
by NSimkins
Very cool Geo! ... love that red!
Re: Under-dash lights installed! (Geo)
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 1:13 pm
by ragingfish
That's awesome man.Take into consideration the green of the cig lighter and the green on the shifter, you're all set for xmas! hehe...Seriously though, are the bulbs interchangeable? Could you get different colors if your interests changed?
Re: Under-dash lights installed! (ragingfish)
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 1:46 pm
by Geo
Yep, as long as I get the same style of bulb connecter, can relativly easily change the bulb colors.I might even do blue for the future, we'll see
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 10:00 pm
by Jahntassa
How'd you mount the bulbs, exactly? I need to put in the neon from my Probe into the Vibe, and as of yet, I haven't quite figured out how... I have two 6" neon bulbs to go under the dash, and two 10" to go under the seats...It is, of course, already pre-wired.. I ran the switches into the little pocket to the left of the steering wheel, along with my amp cut-off switch and remote level control for the subs.Yours looks sweet, btw! I love the cold-cathode idea!
Re: Under-dash lights installed! (Geo)
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 10:08 pm
by Nervous_Dog
Looks good
Re: (Jahntassa)
Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2003 2:35 am
by Geo
Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »How'd you mount the bulbs, exactly? I need to put in the neon from my Probe into the Vibe, and as of yet, I haven't quite figured out how... I have two 6" neon bulbs to go under the dash, and two 10" to go under the seats...Here's what I did: I had 2 peices of aluminum left over from a previous project. I used automotive tape to tape it under the passenger side, attached to the metal part as you can see:This gave me ample space to mount the light under, there is a little chance that someone can kick the light, but because it is attached with the velcro, it will just come off instead of breaking.For the driver side, I used the same idea, only instead I wedged the aluminum under the dash plastic and the metal part of the dash as you can see. I put tape there too to hold it in place. I then used a peice of foam on the edge of it, so I could mount the light totally hidden from view as you can see:I still need to put some wire-loom over the white cables to further hide them, but that's what I have done so far. If the tape doesn't hold, I will find another way to do it, but this makes things relativly easy to return to stock should I decide to remove the lights if I ever sell the car.If ya have anymore questions, let me know!

Re: (Geo)
Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2003 3:25 am
by huy397
I am really not one to have neon lights in/on my car but I've got to say... that looks GREAT!Good job.
Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2003 1:42 pm
by AKLGT
that looks great geo! i'd love to do something similar.
Re: Under-dash lights installed! (Geo)
Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2003 2:19 pm
by Merzbow
I have an idea for your rear seat lighting...My driver's side foot well thing is iluminated by the switch for my underbody kit. and the rest of my car is lit up bright red by my dome lights. I bought a set of red sleaves at autozone for $1.50. Extremely cheap for such a great affect. Mine are starting to fade though after about 2 weeks but they are only $1.50 so I'm gonna go tomorrow and buy a bunch more.Now all you need is this...
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Re: Under-dash lights installed! (Geo)
Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2003 2:51 pm
by TheDude
very nice job Geo, i absolutely hate it when people mount neons, yet allow the bulb to show. Great job hiding the neon up in the dash
Re: Under-dash lights installed! (Geo)
Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2003 11:01 pm
by ArcsVibe
Love it bro very nice! I just ordered some blue ones and can't wait to install them...
Re: Under-dash lights installed! (ArcsVibe)
Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2003 11:52 pm
by Geo
Arcs, you /have/ to get pics of the blue lights!!! I bet that would look dynamite in there, brighter too!!!I considered getting blue bulbs, but wanted everything to match as there was no other blue in the dash. Perhaps if I got a blue lighted Head unit and blue interior dome lights that would pull things together ...Can't wait to see what ya do with em!
Re: Under-dash lights installed! (Geo)
Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2003 1:18 am
by ArcsVibe
I promise to post some pics when I get them!I just paid them off a guy from Ebay and should get them hopefully before Christmas, I cannot wait!!
Re: Under-dash lights installed! (Geo)
Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 11:40 pm
by HammerHead
Great Job Geo. Looks Great!
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2004 6:51 pm
by Jahntassa
I'm gonna have to get some red to put in mine...I have blue (two 6" tubes and two 10" tubes), but as the car is red...blue wouldn't match well..I think i'm also going to put some LEDs in the front door handles.. Point them so they aim at the window controls...it's a little annoying that the only thing that lights up is the "auto" on the driver window...
Re: Under-dash lights installed! (Geo)
Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 1:32 pm
by namhtam
Looks awesome! I just tried this, and I couldn't get it to work. I'm using the same kit and everything. The white wire with the black stripe is the 12V source and the grey is the ground. The yellow wire coming out of that blue converter box goes to the 12V and the black goes to the ground. All my connections are good, but the lights wont come on... What am I missing?
Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 1:43 pm
by Geo
Check the thread over at MatrixOwners, I posted a reply there

Re: (Geo)
Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2004 8:13 am
by ArcsVibe
I received my blue neons cracked from the shipping so I guess I will have to get another set and post the pics then.
Re: (ArcsVibe)
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 8:11 am
by Merzbow
You got a set of under-dsah neons? or underbody neons??
Re: (Merzbow)
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:00 pm
by FusionVGT
I have to admit this looks a lot better than I thought it would
Re: (FusionVGT)
Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2004 10:17 pm
by RcRacer440
I have red L.E.D.s in the air vents and I'm putting in some red tubes under the dash today. Check out the pics at cardomain on the bottom of this.
Re: (RcRacer440)
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 3:53 am
by vibe_raider
that is just too awesome! I plan on doing that next, i just got a red underbody led kit for my car. the front looks like night rider *heh*
Re: (vibe_raider)
Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2004 3:49 am
by ColonelPanic
Your red LED's are pretty sweet, vibe_raider... I just added some blue LED's under my dash... I bought two of these things here:http://store.tireflysonline.co....htmlI like the small size of these, they could be mounted pretty much anywhere. Found perfect spots to mount them on the A/C housing or whatever it is under there. Tapped into power (switched with the ignition) using an add-a-circuit. Also popped out a blank, adding a switch to control them as well.I mounted them yesterday, but didn't have power ran for them yet. So I just took a 9V and hooked them up to it to see what they look like... Pretty nice, lights up a good portion of the floor, and even shines on the door panels a little. I'll try to get some pics of them tonight.
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Re: (ColonelPanic)
Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2004 10:08 am
by ColonelPanic
...And here are a couple pics of my new setup. I kinda like them...
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Re: (ColonelPanic)
Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2004 10:09 am
by ColonelPanic
And another...
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Re: (ColonelPanic)
Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2004 10:14 am
by AKLGT
very cool. looks much better than my $6 walmart rice LED runway rope!
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Re: (ColonelPanic)
Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2004 9:11 pm
by vibe_raider
aww, thanks colonel