Trick Light switch installs
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Member
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 32
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From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Trick Light switch installs
Has anybody got pics of great lookin switch installs. I am going to be installing probably 6 sets of aftermarket lights and am trying to find ideas for switch positions and layouts.
I have an expy console that I have thought of using the front pocket area somewhat like what red97 has done but to suit my own needs.
Help Anyone.
I have an expy console that I have thought of using the front pocket area somewhat like what red97 has done but to suit my own needs.
Help Anyone.
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 1997
Posts: 1,286
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From: Littleton, CO USA
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Mark_2kL:
Rearmost compartment in the overhead console from a '00 Lightning
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Rearmost compartment in the overhead console from a '00 Lightning
</font>
Wow, that looks great! Mind if I ask a few more questions on this setup (I as I've kinda been looking for a cool switch location too). Is that the wall that exists in the roof rack, or did you make a custom "wall" to mount the switches to? Did you remove the console, or do that work while leaving it in place? Looks pretty sweet and it looks like it took a lot of work!
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Matt Adams
Littleton, CO
1994 Ford Explorer, highly modified ( http://bart.is-s.com/~explorers/madams/ )
2000 F-150 XLT Supercab
5.4L Triton V8 Engine
Automatic Transmission
3" dual exhaust
Rhino lining
K&N Filtercharger Intake Performance Kit (FIPK)
JL Audio stealthbox with Phoenix gold amplifier, premium stereo
Genuine Steel brush guard with 4 PIAA 520's mounted on it
PIAA Airdam with PIAA 520 fog's and PIAA 510 superwhite driving lights in it.
off-road and tow packages
and much much more! (no page yet)
Soon to come:
Roll bar (double bar/single bar) with 3 sets of PIAA 80 XT's mounted on it (2 sets of driving, 1 set of fogs)
Storage box in the back
Pistol mod (convenient, easily accessible yet somewhat hidden access).
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 3,205
Likes: 3
From: Along Lake Erie
Sticking with the stainless accessory motif...
(sorry it's blurry, but it shows the dual-color LEDs)
It's at the back of the overhead console... they chopped it off and covered it with cloth when they installed the sunroof.
The color of the LED indicates the power source being used for the accessory... 6 switches, 5 power sources, and all of them use some combination of 2
It's all wired to a relay block under the hood
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98 Explorer (Lemon Law Case in Progress)
'00 F-150, X-cab, 4x4, Lariat, Off-road, Trailer Tow, Holandia Sunroof, built 11/99 picked up 10/00!Clear Corners, Manik Stainless Steel 1-piece brush guard, Custom CB wiring, Uniden PC76-XLW CB radio with K-40 Magna-Mount antenna (for now), 1 set of 165 watt KC Daylighters (for now... more on the way) Custom switch mounting plate and overhead console, Bully Stainless Steel Trailer hitch drawbarw/ 2" stainless steel ball.
List of planned mods: Clear tails, torsion bar tweak, bug deflector, spray in liner, and a tonneau of some sort...
93 Probe GT teal, OE rims painted to match, bone stock drivetrain.
[This message has been edited by GIJoeCam (edited 02-06-2001).]
(sorry it's blurry, but it shows the dual-color LEDs)
It's at the back of the overhead console... they chopped it off and covered it with cloth when they installed the sunroof.
The color of the LED indicates the power source being used for the accessory... 6 switches, 5 power sources, and all of them use some combination of 2
It's all wired to a relay block under the hood
------------------
98 Explorer (Lemon Law Case in Progress)
'00 F-150, X-cab, 4x4, Lariat, Off-road, Trailer Tow, Holandia Sunroof, built 11/99 picked up 10/00!Clear Corners, Manik Stainless Steel 1-piece brush guard, Custom CB wiring, Uniden PC76-XLW CB radio with K-40 Magna-Mount antenna (for now), 1 set of 165 watt KC Daylighters (for now... more on the way) Custom switch mounting plate and overhead console, Bully Stainless Steel Trailer hitch drawbarw/ 2" stainless steel ball.
List of planned mods: Clear tails, torsion bar tweak, bug deflector, spray in liner, and a tonneau of some sort...
93 Probe GT teal, OE rims painted to match, bone stock drivetrain.
[This message has been edited by GIJoeCam (edited 02-06-2001).]
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 298
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From: Camano Island, WA
mattbert -
The switches are mounted in holes I cut in the original plastic "wall" of the upper half of the overhead console. I made the light symbols w/ Photoshop and printed it backwards with a black background on a transparency sheet. Then I painted the printed side white so the white paint shows through the unprinted symbol area to the front (did that make any sense?) Then I glued the transparency to the plastic and put in the switches and LED's.
It definitely had to come off to do this. I had to take the headliner off anyway to get the wires routed up the pillar and over to the console. I put in an auto-dimming mirror and radar detector jack at the same time.
BTW, the left switch turns on extra hidden fog lights either with the parking lights (down) or with the OEM driving lights (up) or off (middle). The middle switch turns on the bed light w/o turning on the interior light (for checking bed contents while driving). I left room for a third, 'cause you never know...
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Mark
'00 Lightning
'79+ Corvette
The switches are mounted in holes I cut in the original plastic "wall" of the upper half of the overhead console. I made the light symbols w/ Photoshop and printed it backwards with a black background on a transparency sheet. Then I painted the printed side white so the white paint shows through the unprinted symbol area to the front (did that make any sense?) Then I glued the transparency to the plastic and put in the switches and LED's.
It definitely had to come off to do this. I had to take the headliner off anyway to get the wires routed up the pillar and over to the console. I put in an auto-dimming mirror and radar detector jack at the same time.
BTW, the left switch turns on extra hidden fog lights either with the parking lights (down) or with the OEM driving lights (up) or off (middle). The middle switch turns on the bed light w/o turning on the interior light (for checking bed contents while driving). I left room for a third, 'cause you never know...
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Mark
'00 Lightning
'79+ Corvette
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Joined: Dec 1997
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From: Littleton, CO USA
Mark... just curious... do you have any pointers on safely getting the overhead console out of their without damaging anything? I know when I took the console out of my mom's 96 Explorer I just loosened a couple of screws and it came out, but then the screws didn't quite want to go back in and the overhead console was never quite the same... any pointers on this? I haven't looked at mine yet to see how to remove it.
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From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Great work guys
GIJoe Cam,
I really like the dual color LEDs and the stainless work. Was the wiring pretty painless for the LEDs, also did you power all of your lights, etc direct from the battery, or did you install a second battery for accessories. I am considering a second battery to power my accessories and alarm.
thanks
GIJoe Cam,
I really like the dual color LEDs and the stainless work. Was the wiring pretty painless for the LEDs, also did you power all of your lights, etc direct from the battery, or did you install a second battery for accessories. I am considering a second battery to power my accessories and alarm.
thanks
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 298
Likes: 0
From: Camano Island, WA
mattbert-
If yours is the same as mine (2000 Lightning- temp/compass in front, sunglasses in middle, garage remote in back) then all you do is remove one screw in the front and pull the front down until the rear clips disengage. Unplug the connector and the bottom half is done. Then you have to take off the whole headliner to get the upper half out. It's held on by just two screws in the front. To get the headliner off, unscrew the rear hooks, light, and the visors. Pull it down in front to clear the rubber strips around the doors and slide it forward out from the side plastic panels in the back. There are probably more things to do if you've got a larger or 2-door cab.
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Mark
'00 Lightning
'79+ Corvette
If yours is the same as mine (2000 Lightning- temp/compass in front, sunglasses in middle, garage remote in back) then all you do is remove one screw in the front and pull the front down until the rear clips disengage. Unplug the connector and the bottom half is done. Then you have to take off the whole headliner to get the upper half out. It's held on by just two screws in the front. To get the headliner off, unscrew the rear hooks, light, and the visors. Pull it down in front to clear the rubber strips around the doors and slide it forward out from the side plastic panels in the back. There are probably more things to do if you've got a larger or 2-door cab.
------------------
Mark
'00 Lightning
'79+ Corvette
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 1997
Posts: 1,286
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From: Littleton, CO USA
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Mark_2kL:
mattbert-
If yours is the same as mine (2000 Lightning- temp/compass in front, sunglasses in middle, garage remote in back) then all you do is remove one screw in the front and pull the front down until the rear clips disengage. Unplug the connector and the bottom half is done. Then you have to take off the whole headliner to get the upper half out. It's held on by just two screws in the front. To get the headliner off, unscrew the rear hooks, light, and the visors. Pull it down in front to clear the rubber strips around the doors and slide it forward out from the side plastic panels in the back. There are probably more things to do if you've got a larger or 2-door cab.
</font>
mattbert-
If yours is the same as mine (2000 Lightning- temp/compass in front, sunglasses in middle, garage remote in back) then all you do is remove one screw in the front and pull the front down until the rear clips disengage. Unplug the connector and the bottom half is done. Then you have to take off the whole headliner to get the upper half out. It's held on by just two screws in the front. To get the headliner off, unscrew the rear hooks, light, and the visors. Pull it down in front to clear the rubber strips around the doors and slide it forward out from the side plastic panels in the back. There are probably more things to do if you've got a larger or 2-door cab.
</font>
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 3,205
Likes: 3
From: Along Lake Erie
Wiring up the switches and LEDs was pretty tough... took the better part of a full afternoon Thanksgiving Day...
It wasn't a simple task.... The three on the left in this pic come on with the key in the up position (red LED) or with the high beams (green LED), the fourth one is switched with the key or the parking lights (for the lumi-logo) the fifth and sixth are switched or hot all the time (radar detector and CB radio)...
The power for the fuse block comes from the relay mounted on the firewall directly behind it... I just used a generic piece of cable and connected it to the hot side of that accessory relay (essentially directly to the battery without running another cable to the battery terminal... you can see the cable coming ovv the bottom terminal on it in the pic above). All the circuits are fused before the relay, so I really don't need to worry too much... the fuse block came from a local boat shop (Boat US, I think... you can find them online for less than $30) and is rated for 30 Amps/circuit, 100 Amps total... 3 sets of 150 Watt KCs would only be 78 Amps, so I should be OK for everything I want to run...
The LEDs were pretty straightforward... I had to use a DPDT Center off switch for all of them... long story... I can give you more details later if you need them...
Mark...
I like those labels... I'll have to try that sometime..... Looks sweet!
It wasn't a simple task.... The three on the left in this pic come on with the key in the up position (red LED) or with the high beams (green LED), the fourth one is switched with the key or the parking lights (for the lumi-logo) the fifth and sixth are switched or hot all the time (radar detector and CB radio)...
The power for the fuse block comes from the relay mounted on the firewall directly behind it... I just used a generic piece of cable and connected it to the hot side of that accessory relay (essentially directly to the battery without running another cable to the battery terminal... you can see the cable coming ovv the bottom terminal on it in the pic above). All the circuits are fused before the relay, so I really don't need to worry too much... the fuse block came from a local boat shop (Boat US, I think... you can find them online for less than $30) and is rated for 30 Amps/circuit, 100 Amps total... 3 sets of 150 Watt KCs would only be 78 Amps, so I should be OK for everything I want to run...
The LEDs were pretty straightforward... I had to use a DPDT Center off switch for all of them... long story... I can give you more details later if you need them...
Mark...
I like those labels... I'll have to try that sometime..... Looks sweet!
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 298
Likes: 0
From: Camano Island, WA
The transparency technique would look pretty good with that brushed aluminum. You could leave most of it clear so the metal shows through and have switch labels or symbols for everything. Could even use color & Ford logos and an outline stripe or something.
I've been looking for a project to try one in an "idiot light" style where the light shows through a colored symbol.
Hmmm... I think my dash needs a torque converter lockup indicator.
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Mark
'00 Lightning
'79+ Corvette
I've been looking for a project to try one in an "idiot light" style where the light shows through a colored symbol.
Hmmm... I think my dash needs a torque converter lockup indicator.
------------------
Mark
'00 Lightning
'79+ Corvette
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 3,205
Likes: 3
From: Along Lake Erie
It's actually lacquered stainless... Couldn't find any good aluminum plate stock at work, but found someone who had some stainless squirreled away... Just sanded it with some 300 grit emory cloth a bit and threw a coat of lacquer on it to minimize the finger prints. Worked good... it's still a bit scratched up from the install, but it'll work for now.
If I had thought of the transparency thing before, I would've tried to somehow flush-mount the LEDs and then done a negative symbol outline over the LED opening so the light would show through... (like your idiot light idea) that would've looked cool, I think, but would've been a TON more work... maybe next time... I do like the label idea, though... maybe I could use a thin adhesive clear label of some sort... or maybe a decal-cutter? Use decals instead so they are affixed to the plate, maybe? Then a thin coat of lacquer over top to stop them from rubbing off, maybe?? hmmmmmm....
[This message has been edited by GIJoeCam (edited 02-08-2001).]
If I had thought of the transparency thing before, I would've tried to somehow flush-mount the LEDs and then done a negative symbol outline over the LED opening so the light would show through... (like your idiot light idea) that would've looked cool, I think, but would've been a TON more work... maybe next time... I do like the label idea, though... maybe I could use a thin adhesive clear label of some sort... or maybe a decal-cutter? Use decals instead so they are affixed to the plate, maybe? Then a thin coat of lacquer over top to stop them from rubbing off, maybe?? hmmmmmm....
[This message has been edited by GIJoeCam (edited 02-08-2001).]
