retractable underhood light installation

[monterey1962]

I went ahead and started on it tonight. I've just done a test fit. There aren't too many locations where the light unit will clear everything. I wanted to keep the unit towards the low end of the hood to minimize the impact and shake when closing the hood. The light unit must be positioned as it is in the picture with the bulb pointing up. Reason for this is that when it is turned any other way, it will not fully engage or not come on at all. Here's a quick look at the positioning:



I just tapped into the existing pos and neg wires for the original underhood light. Both lights are now operational. I did find out that the colors on the wires are flip-flopped. Black on the unit when to yellow and green on the unit went to black. I also need to grab a new bulb for the one unit, but I tested both units and they work fine.



Mounting. A slight issue. The lower mounting hole is screwed into the hood brace. The top mounting hole has nothing to attach to. I plan to grab a couple 12" strips of thin metal tomorrow and run it underneath the top mounting hole. I will attach the strip to the hood brace on the left. This is a good thing in that the light unit needs to be pointing upward as much as possible when the hood is open. Remember, the truck hoods opened to a much steeper angle which allowed the light to come on sooner. Without a steep enough angle, the light will not turn on.



More info to come as I go along with this.

[boXman]

Looks good!

[mrltd]

Cool...

[nitroracer]

Pull the light out, how useful are these things?

[Southern_Pride]

My 87 cherokee had one too. Had an on off switch I think. I got one laying around somewhere.

[monterey1962]

Finished. Ran to Home Depot and grabbed a couple 12" x 1" strips of metal. Thin enough to mold to the curves of the hood, yet strong enough to provide good support to the light unit. Here's the GM's:







The CV's after a little paint. I'll probably paint S.U.'s in the near future, as well.






I figured, what the hell, and tossed a couple lights in the trunk. Tapped into the power wire for the subwoofer.




While working in the trunk I noticed two things: 1. It was pretty comfortable; 2. The sticker on the lid towards the center informs the owner of the lug nut key. It gives the serial number for the proper key, as well.

If you have questions, ask away.

[boXman]

Nice work man!

[86GmLsCoupe]

Looks good to me. You actually reminded me of something I wanted to do on my GM. My friend just got a 91 Mark VII LSC and I noticed they have lights underneath the seats. I'm wondering how much work it would take to add them to my car. I was getting parts for my friends car in the junkyard and saw 89 Mark VII with them as well, only thing is i think you need to remove the seat to get them out.

1986 Grand Marquis LS coupe [/url] http://photos.yahoo.com/leo76830

[boXman]

Some Town Car seats have the under seat lights as well. Mine had them. Should be able to just wire 'em in to the rest of the interior lights.

[nitroracer]

The light in my trunk doesnt work, I even found another receptor next to the light that looked like it had never been used and it didnt work when I put a bulb in it either. Is there a mercury switch in these cars like my '80 had?

[p71towny]

Yes

[85crownHPP]

the lincoln underseat lights are attached to brackets that are riveted to the seat frame - have fun getting those out!

[Archangel]

the lincoln underseat lights are attached to brackets that are riveted to the seat frame - have fun getting those out!

Nope - the lights are attached with two self-tapping screws to the seat frame, Philips #2 screwdriver gets the bracket out no problem, I took mine off off some Signature Series Townie and now they live under my Neon seats

[boXman]

Yea, mine were two screws as well.