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I just went to Circuit City and saw that they now install all kinds of stuff. Exhaust, taillights, and neon in addition to systems. I want a couple of blue 9'' neon tubes in my front footwells, and I thought that the $60 quote with the neon and installation included was reasonable, and could really have some fun with these. How would you do this install?

I know this is kinda rice, but I have seen it done, and it looked cool, so why not?

Let me know if you have any opinions, but try to keep the rice flaming down please.

Also, how hard is this install to do?

I'm mostly worried about C.C. ripping my interior apart, and I thought that if I watch them do it, then they will respect my car, does this seem right?

PJG

 
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i just got a 2 white redline brand neons at pep boys, 10" i believe and cut the cigarete adaptor off then hard wired it to my accessory outlet and then wired in an on off switch from radio shack. then i zip tied them in the foot wells in the front seat, u cant even see em unless u lay on the floor and look under the dash. nice touch of light in the car at night. whole things cost me like uhh..i dunno 25 bucks for the lights and the switch.

 
Rep Power: 328

i got two 10" street glow blue tubes, connected them to my fog light switch ( requires testing the seperate wires to determine which ones to splice into), ran the wires under the carpet, and bolted them to the little lip under the seats (under the seat mount brackets). you can't see them, but they light the footwell very nicely. probably took 15 minutes to install. and with supplies (the two SG tubes, and 4- 3/4 inch sheet metal screws) i probably have 40-45 bucks in it.

 
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I'll install em for you for like $10 lol.

 
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armieo,

I would love to give you ten bucks to put them in my car, but you are in MD, and I am in IL.

LOL, i am such an idiot when doing these things, I am so worried that I am going to screw something up!

PJG

I'm just going to take the civic to Circuit City when I get home from school.

 
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haha man why don't u just ask me i'd walk u thru it any day. AIM: armieo0

 
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neons in cars are so cool no way there not played out lol

 
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an even cheaper, yet more time consuming way to do it would be through the use of superbright led's. the advantage is that theyre sooooo small and you can put em everywhere to illuminate teh whole car

 
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dam! nice idea! thanks i'll gank it from u now.

 
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LED's are so directional... it's hard to get the nice even flood lighting you get from neons. But LED's are definitely the way to go to accentuate other interior features. ie. door panels, vents, etc

 
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Sounds like Neon is the way to go.

We will see if I have the guts to do it when I get back from school, thanks everyone.

Pat

 
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so did you get it done or not? or did you DIY?

 
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My car is stored at home right now. My dad wouldn't let me take it to school with me.
So, when I go home for Thanksgiving, it will get done. I might call armieo to help me through it though I also want to get a toggle switch from Radio Shack to put in one of those spots by the fog light switch, instead of plugging anything in that cigarette lighter. Worried about the difficulties in that too. If I can't have it done properly and clean, I won't do it.

Pat

The only thing that I am worried about other people doing it is breaking plastic dash tabs, or making a rattling when it is all done.

 
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look at "my ride" i have pics of my set up to maybe help you with some ideas. i have have lighted toggle switches mounted in my console and neons under the dash and seats and also in the vents. if you have any small knowledge of electrical i really suggust doing this yourself, it actually really easy. i wouldnt want people i dont know taking apart my car.

 
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youll just **** them off. they have the right to kick you out of the bay for safety reasons, they hate doing it cause it makes them feel like *******s, but they hate it more when someone is looking over their shoulder.

if you cant tell they damaged yoru car, then no worries. and if they did and you find it, go back and politely ask them about it, they are cool about fixing anything and everything, as long as it was THEM that did it in the first place

 
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i just installed mine. Redline 9" red neons. You dont have to screw or twisty tie them in or anything, they have two-sided tape that goes on the tube. Looks pretty nice in my footwell, though Im pissed off. I bought their last two, and went home, and one didnt work. I got my money back, then went to the other Auto Zone in town (on the other side of it, mind you), and got there FIVE MINUTES after they closed. I was so pissed, and still am. Oh well, the driver's footwell looks cool now.

 
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WhiteRabbit,
True True.

I guess I need to learn how to do something, and this seems easy enough, plus if I ever get stuck, I can contact you guys.

Thanks,
Pat

 
Rep Power: 812

We should have an Illinois DIY meet sometime. Are you just talking about putting neons under the seats? Just get a switch that plugs to the cig lighter and a splitter to divide it into two outlets. Then just plug the neons in. I would do it for free. Good luck.

 
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If you install them properly they should look like this

 
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Would it be better or easier to put them under the dash, or under the seats? I would think that under the dash would be easier to make clean.

Thanks for the comments and pictures, they look great.

Pat

WAIT! Gearbox, you can get a switch that plugs into the cigarette lighter spot? How cool!!!
Where can I pick that up? Radio Shack? Or are you talking about just the plug that you put into your cigarette lighter to turn them on?

 
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holy shiit, thats bright. I guess my 9" thin tubes are kinda skimpy...they give a nice level though. Anyways, DO NOT just use the sticky pads that come with them. THought they worked well last night...this morning they're both lying in the footwells. Time for some super glue.

 
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jwalker87,
that's funny about your neons, but super glue does sound like a good solution to the problem. Where did you mount your neons? Did you add a switch, or do you just have the cigarette lighter plug in? Where did you put your wires?

Pat

 
Rep Power: 812

Okay here you go. DIY for under-seat neons.


1) Radio shack cig switch with green led (mine has tape over the led cause I don't like green).




2) End of switch plugs into triple splitter. This pic is under the edge of the passenger floor mat.



3) Pic from the rear floor showing the triple splitter with two neons plugged into it. Third one is empty.



4) Notice how everything fits nicely under the seat. Just put some duct tape to hold the neons and the splitter in place. The splitter can be found at radioshack or walmart.

Having them under the seats lights up both front and rear floors nicely. I don't really use mine much anyway, but there you go. Good mod to match indiglos or other accessory.

 
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Oh and that other switch on the left in the first pic is for my streetglow blue undercar neons

 
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How many times can you split the cig lighter before it causes problems? I need to plug in my radar detector and I wanna do what gear box has. Let me know ASAP.

 
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Gearbox,
Thanks so much. I laughed my head off when I first saw your DIY.
I feel SOO unexperienced about this kinda thing. It all makes sense now, but how did you get the wire from the outlet, through the back of the dash, to the floor?
Thanks again, Pat

 
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ok, what I did is, instead of using the cig. adapter plug, I spliced into the 2 wires that go into the cig lighter, and ran those 2 into a switch. Then cut the cig. adapter plug off of the neons, and ran those wires into the switch, completely bypassing (cosmetically) the cig lighter. So it looks clean; all you can see is the switch. I'll post some pics sometime. If you look closely, the center console is a separate piece of plastic from the dash, so if you take that little piece of trim off (where the cig lighter is), then you can actually see into the footwells; you just wedge the wires back there, no prob.

I have one question for anyone who's done this though. I have 9" 'mini tubes', and they're not very bright. THe only other neons they had at Auto Zone were 10", but they pulsed to music, which I dont really want. Where can I get some big ones to put under the seats (i think 12" will fit), that are brighter? Thanks.

 
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You can stuff the wire underneath the sides of the center console. It lifts up a bit on the bottom without actually removing anything. I just ran it through there to the seat bottom.

I don't think you can split it more than once. Even three accessories instead of one seems alot to run off one plug. At least neons don't need lots of power. You may be able to find a splitter with 4 outlets on it.

 
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I have 10 inch neons and they barely fit. Any bigger and you may have clearance probs.

 
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are they pretty thick, or are they the weenie ones like I have? mine are like half an inch in diameter