new interior mod

well... first a HUGE thanx goes 2 tony for helping me with my wiring problems all day :)
i got my 6" neons all hooked up today in my car, started around 12 i think and finished it around 2:30
its not 100% because my consoles not finished, once thats done then i can attach em :D

now for some pics lol
first the supplies (didnt need the black wire so i'm gettin a refund :D) lol
got the neons and a toggle switch for em
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/666353supplies.jpg
the toggle switch in the dash :D
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/739385toggle_switch.jpg
and the lights all lit :D (its REALLY sunny right now so i'll try and take a pic later tonight)
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/515314Lit.jpg
and now 4 pics of my car lol
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/365593corner_shot.jpg
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/732139driver_corner2.jpg
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/231853pass_crnr.jpg
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/751701Pass_crnr2.jpg

Hide those wires damn it;) They are baby neons;)

looks pretty good. i have red neons in my car under the dash with the cig ligther adapter thing. no toggle switch here:(

dude its easy to hook a switch up to it, mine that i used to have were the cig lighter ones, needless to say, they never touched that cig lighter, they got a damn switch, if you need any help just IM me on AIM

Originally posted by Stali08
looks pretty good. i have red neons in my car under the dash with the cig ligther adapter thing. no toggle switch here:(

mine had the cig lighter but the asshole that had the car b4 me clipped the connection so it'll never work again prolly
so i cut and did the toggle idea! :D

How hard was it to do the toggle switch, and the wiring?

not too hard once i knew what i was doing and once tony told me what 2 do lol
connect postive from the fuse box to the toggle, then another postive from the other tab on the toggle 2 the neons wire. then just connect the ground from the neons somewhere and ur done lol

oh yea!
make sure u have the right fuse in there
i hooked mine upto the sunroof fuse (even tho i dont have a sunroof) lol
it uses a 30 amp fuse and i dont think it'll blow for a long time... unless u short the wires like i did the first try ;) lol

Yea, I think I ran a 15 amp fuse for mine when I had them. Pretty much all you have to do is find an empty spot on your fuse box, if there is one with power running to it, if not try to pick one that only gets power when the key is on accessories, like the radio or something. Then just run a power wire from it to your switch, then run another power wire from your switch to your neon. Then just find a ground for your neon and your done. If you have any other questions just ask

okay cool, ill add that to my other list of mods that i wanna do to my car

just quickly wipped this up
might serve as a good guidline 2 go with

yep just like that, and if your neons don't have a control box, just by pass that and hook everything up like it says

shouldn't you try to hide the neons, acually seein the tubes looks tacky IMO.

I hooked mine to a constant 12v then to a fuse, then into a relay hooked to a toggle switch. This way you have absolutly no chance of frieing your wires, or the neon tubes.

I have the 2 12" tubes under the dash, and let me tell you it was a hell of a task to shove those bad boys up there. I'll take some pics when i get home from work.

well see, that is what the fuse box is for, it will still act like a normal fuse. If you wanted to do it right, and you had other things that you would like to be on a fuse, you can buy little 5 slot fuse boxes that you can mount anywhere, I had one in my glove box. I would recommend doing that if you could, but also this way does no harm.

Whoa.. Hold up. How's your console controls on the bottom instead of on top? I wanna move my cd player up top!

hahaha, have fun. I was gonna do that but your vents are in the way. He don't know how it was done because the people before him did it, or thats what he told me before when i asked.

what console is that???

how are u connecting the wire into the fusebox? any pictures? and where abouts to stick it in?

this sounds like a cool weekend project :)

just stick the wire in, put the fuse in, walla your done. I don't really know how to connect it clean on the fuse box yet, I looked one time, looked like too much work

ohhh.. i see.
and just any bare metal to ground it?

just like any normal ground.

Originally posted by Tony
just stick the wire in, put the fuse in, walla your done. I don't really know how to connect it clean on the fuse box yet, I looked one time, looked like too much work

What you could do isto just put a spayed connector on the end of the wire and plug in into the fuse box. There are spaces that are just left blank you could say that you can do that to:D

well yea you could do that. I haven't really messed with any wires in quite awhile, the last time i did was back in my ricer days and i just wanted shit to work.

Originally posted by Tony
the last time i did was back in my ricer days

When did those days get over like what last week or something like that:D

nope, after I found this place, then you guys woke me up and now my car doesn't have anything from those days on it, still has some scars though:(

Originally posted by Tony
nope, after I found this place, then you guys woke me up and now my car doesn't have anything from those days on it, still has some scars though:(

plastic surgery is the keyLOL:D

Originally posted by Skeme1
what console is that???

Stolen VW Cabrio Console ;)
from this car (my bros old car... he rolled it lol)
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/3467551.jpg
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/9400512.jpg
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/4511223.jpg

Originally posted by 95civicman
shouldn't you try to hide the neons, acually seein the tubes looks tacky IMO.

yea i'm gonna put em on the inside top of the console cuz u wont see em there but i need 2 finish the console first... lol

heres some pics from tonight :D told ya i'd have some hehe
these look sick when they flash 2 the music too! :D look like strobes haha
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/363689neons_night1.jpg
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/169434neons_night2.jpg
the control box
http://www.ei0.com/upload/Neon_control_box.jpg
the toggle switch, looks pretty awesome there! :D
http://www.ei0.com/upload/Switch1.jpg

l2ice rocketz yea Tonys right, the Previous owner did switch it around and trust me... u dont want ur cd player up there.. it wont go in all the way, mine doesnt so i gotta fuck around with it to get it to fit one of these days, sux big time! but i guess u can say its something else unique 2 my car! ;)

oh yea one more thing... Tony... Thanx for jackin my thread:finger: but its my turn 2 take it back ;) haha

I have those exact same lights under the dash of my car. I wired them into my alarm (power and ground) and then put a switch in the fuse box cover so that it would be hidden.

me..jack a thread...never :rolleyes:

I see you switched the wires around like i said;) Also, DAMN!!!!!!! Your stereo stickes out hella far, i would switch those things back around, with it sticking out that far, that means they didn't do shit really behind there, just rigged something up to still run your vents and shit.

lmao yea u always jack threads..... u thread jacker u haha

and yea i switched the wires, took 2 second lol
and later on i'm gonna see whats involved with the removal of the heater controls.... either that or see if I can mod the heater box behind the deck. theres like a tab its hitting then it'll go in!

huh? just a tab? alright then they did do something back there, because mine hits a big vent box and stops.

Hey there is nothing wrong with jacking a thread, just as long as you stay on topic :silly2:

lol true true haha

and yea its the vent box but it has a tab on it that sticks out and it looks like thats the only spot where the deck hits, i'll get ridda it and see if i can get it 2 stay in lol

i just did the exact same thing today.. same canadian tire switch and all:)

cept i crammed the control box behind my console... its a really clean looking install.

Originally posted by dirtydx
i just did the exact same thing today.. same canadian tire switch and all:)

cept i crammed the control box behind my console... its a really clean looking install.

any pics of yours:D

Dirtydx thats awesome dude! :D
i wanna see ur install now lol

first, here is my ground.. i soldered the wire to a washer, then put the washer under this nut..
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/793952ground.JPG

my neons.. i mounted them in the middle, on that lower vent.. i figured they would be out of the way here. it gives a good amount of light from here too. http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/917122neons.JPG

my switch, the same as 1phat's.
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/598588switch.JPG


the neons are hidden pretty good too, you have to stick your head under the dash to see them

shit thats one nice install man :D those r the 6 inchers right? lol
i wanna see what they look like light up at night hehe :D
where abouts did u put the control box for it?

oh yea... u made mine look like garbage now :finger: lol j/k

yep 6 inches.. they give off a perfect amount of light, not too bright, not too dim. i crammed the control box under the back part of the console.. there's a metal bar going across, and the control box fit tightly under there. tried to take a picture at night, but it didnt work.

hey does yours take a while to turn on? when i try to turn them on in he morning, or after work, it takes atleast 20 seconds for them to light up. im guessing that they are just warming up.. if i had bad connections they would be flickering...

nope, mine turn on right away when i turn em on, sometimes i turn the box on first then the toggle switch, sometime other way round and they still come on right away lol :D

You bastard I have that same setup in my car. You tryin to copy me? :D Nah but it looks really cool, I have 2 underneath my dash and passenger dash and I just got done installling 2 more underneath my seats so it lights up the whole front of the inside of my car.


Jameson

hide those bulbs! in my state it is illegal to have any exposed neon bulbs any where on the car. exposed tubes look tacky as all hell.

i've got red neon up under my dash hidden so all you see is the glow on the floor. i've got the ground switched.

yea in my state also you can't see the bulb, but its a little different, its just you can't see the bulb from outside of the car, its the same for underbody kits also

they are hidden pretty good... you have to stick your head right under the dash to see them. it seems like they are out in the open, but they arent.

i think they must have to warm up, cause this morning in 24C weather, they lit right up.. but after work in colder conditions, it took a while.

yea that might b what it is, i should try mine when it gets colder again and see what happens,
or havent u had urs for a lil while? cuz that might have something 2 do with it too, oh well.... as long as they work lol :D

Originally posted by DarkImportGrey
hide those bulbs! in my state it is illegal to have any exposed neon bulbs any where on the car. exposed tubes look tacky as all hell.

if ur talkin about mine..... i've stated this already, i'm putting em on the inside top of my console once i finish fiberglassing it all

pretty nice installs you guys got going ... personally wont put any neons in my car cause im sure im already drawing plenty of power from my shit with the system, but anyways, heres a pic of my dope foglight switch which I put in with the dremel into one of those "my car should have a button here, but it doesnt so heres a gay panel"

http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/Jul/20027281440708311258675.jpg

and my foglights
http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/Jul/20027284308889804428085.jpg

one of em filled with water and shorted out so I rewired the bumper lenses and they now use that switch
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid56/p58511f47bc1b53e6d64397492a9903ef/fc736f30.jpg

Originally posted by Melt
pretty nice installs you guys got going ... personally wont put any neons in my car cause im sure im already drawing plenty of power from my shit with the system, but anyways, heres a pic of my dope foglight switch which I put in with the dremel into one of those "my car should have a button here, but it doesnt so heres a gay panel"

http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/Jul/20027281440708311258675.jpg



Hey, nice setup u got w/yer Switch and fog light installation.. looks familiar tho .. ;)
But for your car already having alot of power drained from your system, you can buy them CAPACIOTORS. They're like batteries just for your system! Theyre cool. Im getting one as soon as the rest of my system is in. But they range from 70 ( for an alright one ) to 200 and somin. ( for good ones that give u most of your power yer system will run off of. ) But thats if u can scrape up some Mulah. :)
- oh, and heres my pic of my foglight switch installation. ;) peace

..whoa.. sorry bout that guys. i swear it never happens ! :D

sorry to bring up this old thread, but after doing a search on google, it brought me back to AF, who knew...

anyways, from what i understand is that you ground the negative wire to a washer or some bare metal. I understand that part.

And if you were to connect the positive wire to a constant power source, the neons would be on all the time, hench a switch being introduced.

I was told a 15 amp 3 pronged switch would do fine. the three prongs being +, -, and acc. right? So the positive wire of the neon goes to the acc. Then you have to buy what kind of wire to connect the + and - to the car? 18 gauge, 15 gauge what's the diff?

My main question is how do you get it to connect to the fuse box. I understand you have to find a vacant fuse hole and connect it somehow to that. So you get a 15 amp fuse and sandwitch the wire between the fuse and the fuse hole or what? I'm really confused about that part.

Originally posted by whiteracer
sorry to bring up this old thread, but after doing a search on google, it brought me back to AF, who knew...

anyways, from what i understand is that you ground the negative wire to a washer or some bare metal. I understand that part.

And if you were to connect the positive wire to a constant power source, the neons would be on all the time, hench a switch being introduced.

I was told a 15 amp 3 pronged switch would do fine. the three prongs being +, -, and acc. right? So the positive wire of the neon goes to the acc. Then you have to buy what kind of wire to connect the + and - to the car? 18 gauge, 15 gauge what's the diff?

My main question is how do you get it to connect to the fuse box. I understand you have to find a vacant fuse hole and connect it somehow to that. So you get a 15 amp fuse and sandwitch the wire between the fuse and the fuse hole or what? I'm really confused about that part.

Always ground directly to the chassis if possible.

You don't need a 3 prong switch... Only a SPST switch will do (SPST is a 2 prong switch). I think the 3-prong switch that you are talking about is a lighted switch with an LED inside it... Never bothered with those, so I don't know how the wiring works, but I imagine that the "+" goes directly to the battery (or fuse box), the "-" gets grounded (for the LED), and the "Acc" goes to the neon positive wire. As far as switch amps, not really a big concern. Neon's draw pretty low current, so it would take ALOT of them to fry a switch. 15Amp switch should be fine.

As far as wiring, I would go with 18 guage, or even 22 would be fine. Actually, what I would do is (if I was going to run more than one neon from a single switch), I would run 16 guage wire from the fuse box to the switch, then 16 guage wire from the switch to a distribution block, and then 18 or 22 guage wire from the distribution block to all the neons.

As far as connecting to the fuse box, find an open fuse block and connect the wire to the power side by using a spade connector. Very easy to do.

question about a spade connector, they're found like at any kragen or autozone right?

I know some people solder the wires to connect them to like washer and stuff, seeing how i don't have a soldering gun nor have i used one before, is there a way to connect wires without it? like a wire to another wire, i'm assuming just some electrical tape would suffice, is there another alternative?

like the gauge wire to the spade connector just goes in the back and then the U shape connects to the fuse, but its connecting the gauge wire to the spade connector is something i can't visualize.

Originally posted by whiteracer
question about a spade connector, they're found like at any kragen or autozone right?

I know some people solder the wires to connect them to like washer and stuff, seeing how i don't have a soldering gun nor have i used one before, is there a way to connect wires without it? like a wire to another wire, i'm assuming just some electrical tape would suffice, is there another alternative?

like the gauge wire to the spade connector just goes in the back and then the U shape connects to the fuse, but its connecting the gauge wire to the spade connector is something i can't visualize.

Yes, this is a spade connector:
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/802821MaleSpade.jpg

Spade connectors are the "male" conterpart of these:
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/928102FemaleSpade.jpg

All these connectors can be found at Kragen, or Schucks or Radio Shack or wherever...

Why would you bother soldering to a washer? That doesn't ground anything unless the washer is bolted to the chassis. And don't use just electrical tape... For connecting two wires together, use one of these... I don't know what the technical term is for them, but I call them a butt connector since the ends of the wires are butted together:
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/981236ButtConnector.jpg

For grounding to the chassis, use one of these connectors:
http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/688598RingTerminal.jpg

Just drill a pilot hole in the floor or whatever, and use a screw to secure it. Make sure the pilot hole is smaller than the actualy screw so you get a good connection.

For all of these, all you have to do is strip the end of the wiring, slip it into the connector, and crimp it with a crimping tool. No soldering involved, and no electrical tape or heat-shrink tubing necessary.

For connecting to the fuse box, the spade connector will just fit right into the fuse holder. Since there are 2 spots for it to go for each fuse, you have to figure out which one is positive and which is negative. I'd recommend buying a multi-meter of some sort to test the connection.

Thanks for bringing this topic back up because I always wondered how to hook a wire to the fuse box. You guys are the best.:bigthumb:

One thing I might add is that if you actually want to use a fuse between the fuse-box and the switch, use one of the male spade connectors with a short wire (1 or 2 inches long) to a female spade connector. Then, insert one end of a fuse in the female spade connector. Use another female spade connector on the other terminal of the fuse, and run the wire to the switch from that. It also works very nice to use female spade connectors to attach the wires to the switch.

so how would you connect a wire to the switch? female connector?

Crimping tool? I assume one of those smashes all the wires together in a "butt connector" so the connect?

I've had the same mod inside my car for quite a while now, and I apologize in advance for the lack of pics.

For anyone else who is considering this mod, I would like to recommend this (http://www.pcmods.com/list.asp?CtgID=10)
kind of light (about the site: yes, some people mod their computers too! -- for example, here's mine: http://www.coolcasegallery.net/ccg/viewcase.php?cid=00014
anyway -- they are a ton brighter than neons, and also a lot slimmer, which gives you a little more flexibility in mounting... personally I have a 10" mounted horizontally up under the dash in the fuse panel area, and it is totally invisible.

I also hardwired the sucker in, I just tapped off the 12v for the stereo and grounded it to the chassis. Works like a dream.. Was a quick job to wire it up to a switch. That switch also controls my other neon (passenger side), and my LED shift knob.

looks good man just hide those wires hehehehe

got n e more pics?

WOW!!!!! i forgot alllllll about this thread :biggrin: well. heres an update. my neons r no longer in the console, no matter where i put em... u could still see em, so i just tossed em under the dash so they shine on ur feet lol :bigthumb: