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Now we get to the totally unique part of the installation (as if the rest of it, like kicks in doors with cupholders, ain't unique).
Well, like many other installations, I have colored neon installed in my car.
Yeah, so? What's so unique about that?
Well, part of this light show only works at night (or really overcast days, maybe).
First off, the top picture shows all the controlling switches for the auxiliary lighting. Yeah, I know they're a bit crooked, I'm going to build an actual panel to put them on and it will be a lot better... "And they aren't even all the same, stupid!" Yes, I know, and that's exactly the way I want it... Dammit. The orange switches control the 12 volt lighting, the black switches control other lighting...
Neon in the car is a follows: 1) the 18" strips customized into the door pods which you've already seen. Those look really cool at night. 2) There are 12" strips under the dash on each side, illuminating the floor and each seating area. I've actually gotten so accustomed to them, I actually don't like driving at night with the floor lights off! I have to have them on or something just seems wrong... 3) The subs are enhanced by 12" speaker rings. These are of course fully hidden if the cover is on the box, but the cover fits in the remaining trunk so I can run around with them on.
I have already bought another strip of 10" neon to integrate into the center console. I originally thought about putting it in the air vent to highlight the 3.5" speakers but think I may put it up into the dash such that it shines down on the center - the radio, stick, etc - and you won't be able to see the bulb! That's on the to-do list.
Now what about those black switches?? Well, they control the other lights. I have 2 power inverters in the rear area, stashed neatly under the hatch floor. One comes on with the switches and then another switch turns on the two 18" blacklights that are in the car. (The larger inverter is just there for auxiliary use, like running a vacuum cleaner or light or anything else for that matter.)
So what are the black lights for? Well, I LOVE black lights. They're awesome. I painted the inside of the box with a special neon blue paint (no, there's no blue neon in there) and then added the "RF" made from about 150# chipboard and painted with a red neon paint. Glows awesome at night with the blacklight on. (The bottom picture is actually an old one taken before I converted to the 120 volt blacklight, the new one is along the top and you can't see the bulb from any angle). The other blacklight is mounted right in front of the box on that finishing piece I added over the changer and 40 amp (see the changer section for pictures of that).
The coolest is the amps. Heh-heh. I found a special "invisible ink" that works just like pictures 2-4 show it. Picture 2 is the amp under regular light, no blacklight, and it has the ink on it - looks perfectly normal. Picture 2 is after I turned on a blacklight, but left the normal light on. Picture 3 is the amp with all lights off except the blacklight. Way cool! The heat sinks are highlighted blue, as are the letters on the end caps, and the amp just kinda fades away since it's black. Picture 5 shows them installed in the car. As you can see, I treated the Punch 40 as well. Looks awesome at night, these pictures just can't do justice...
And the other black switch? Well, I JUST added some new external lights on the front - blue driving lights. No, not these new cool blue-ion lights. Real BLUE fog lights. Got some time lapse pics of them but not scanned in yet. Soon... Now the car looks like some kind of space ship at night with those on. And I am working on getting a conversion kit so I can run those new blue-ion headlamps rather than the standard white-ish ones that are in there... Soon...
