built in under hood service light

[dsmcurse]

hey guys, i thought id share with you all the under hood service light that i have rigged on my car. ive seen a few cars that come stock with a underhood light but the light it self is so whimpy that its like basically useless. but after seeing a few cars thar come stock with a underhood light i got the idea to add one on my DSM, but actually have it functional.

the light i chose is a LED strip lighting type off stuff that comes in like a hundred foot roll and you can basically cut it where ever you want to make it any length of lighting you want. this strip lighting comes with a official track peice that could be purchased also for holding the light. and the track comes with nice end caps you can put on the ends of the track to make it nice.

i did not use the mounting track and just chose to zip tie it on. works just fine like this because the mounting track would not be curve to the shape of the hood. i mounted the light in a position that when the hood is closed it will not be ruined from the hotness of the turbo header. the light is mounted so when hood closes it rests above the intake manni.

i had several differant options as far as how to have it turn on. i could of used the factory car alarm hood sensor and made the light turn on automatically every time hood is popped. i thought having this light on everytime hood is open wasnt needed so i rigged it through a rocker switch that i installed in the fire wall.

the wiring of it was super easy. i fed the switch power and ground from my starter post. this post is always 12v hot so what the hell right? also sending the ground from the starter was easy. directly from the power source i have the juice go through a fuse holder. this LED lighting has almost no draw, its crazy. the fuse inside is like a 2amp or 3amp. light could be on all night and it would have no effect on battery. i also have quick connect bullet style conectors at the hinge point so when heavy work is done on the car and hood is removed the light simpily unplugs easy style.

this underhood light works tremendously well at pure dark time. after a big 'ol 33psi powerpull on the highway and you maybe pull off and pop the hood to check stuff out this light is so awsome! times when emergancy roadside changes have had to be made i was so glad i put forth the little effort required to have a functional underhood light. it sure beats the cell phone trick...

 

[Nekid]

This, is awesome!

And if you are a car show guy, you can get those RGB LED strips and have white light to work with, or change it to a different colour for show!

 

[Boost503]

I agree, I might have to try this out some time. looks like it would come in handy, a job well done.:th

 

[dsmcurse]

thanks, and yeah the light comes in so handy for alot of things. when workin on the car its nice to just have extra light. but sometimes at darktime like when leaving town or somethin and you check dipstick befor roadtrip and having a light under there makes all those little things so much easier. it was %100 installed as a functional serivce light but it sorta comes in handy for showin off the goods when the time is right if you know what i mean?

 

[undefined0000]

Very nice! I had a similar setup with my grand am, 'cept I had 2 smaller led strips on the side and it was controlled with a touch dimmer switch

 

[dsmcurse]

nice, did your old car come facory with a under hood light or was that something you added?

 

[98dsmkid]

That's actually pretty cool I like it

 

[Alphashadow]

Did you run the wires to the rocker switch from inside the cockpit/cabin (under the dash)?
I can see how useful this would be. I find myself fighting a flashlight in one hand and tool in the other at night because I don't have time during the day to get to the car. Thank you for your innovation this is truly inspiring. So many mods, so little money. Ahh the joys of owning a DSM.

 

[fenixnr]

That would be very useful for people like me who always seem to have an issue at night, and never during the day!

 

[curt-s]

Nice. I will be doing this type of thing next spring, for sure.

 

[JDT]

That's effin' brilliant. I'm definitely doing this after I order my hood lift supports.

 

[gst noob]

That's way awesome! I did sort of the same thing except I took the light out of the engine bay if a Chevy truck the style that you pull the light out and its like a little flash light that retracts. Very helpful in the dark.

 

[manny correa]

Great idea!! I will be stealing this . Your bay is so clean and killer looking! What exhaust manifold is that?

 

[Blue37]

That looks really good and its purpose is amazing I came for the light but I ended up staying for a while longer just admiring your engine bay

 

[DammitCoby]

Me and my buddy was talking about this. I was asking him why our cars didnt have them, very nice I will have to make my own.

 

[ALynch]

Very cool!

 

[timsgsx]

Nice job, I've been considering doing something similar to mine

 

[Murderedoutdsm]

Thats great! My Bonneville has a stock underhood light, but it's almost worthless. Those LEDs will light up everything. I would have just used black zip ties to go with your engine bay, which is sick btw. Good work!

 

[jsawyer]

I always thought it would be cool to put four small strips of leds one on each wall of the engin bay. they could lbe small and hidden but you would be able to see all sides of the motor.

 

[dsmcurse]

The wiring for the light is all under the hood. Theres is no wiring fot that coming thru the firewall. Thanks for the nice compliments too. And to awnser a earlier question about my exhaust manni, its a custom built turbo header number 2 outa 3 so far that have been built by my friend alex aka boostdriven. Turbo headers are full tig weld and all material comes from the vibrant ordering catalog. Boostdriven can make intake and exhaust manni for awsome deal and pricing . Private message him for further info if any one is interested. Thanks agin.