Read the title carefully. The keyword here is INSIDE. I am NOT referring to the small light underneath the vents that is supposed to light the HVAC controls. I have been removing trim pieces and panels from my car for the past few days now restoring the interior of the car. tonight while painting the ashtray and surrounding trim, I noticed a little "clip" I had never seen before inside the ashtray just below the lid. It can be removed, and almost looks like it was for a very small light or wire. What is this?

It is a fiber optics thing, that transfers light from the light for the gear indicator to in the ashtray, or so it appears to me. Turn on your interior lights and you will be able to see it, but you might only be able to see it at night time, it doesn't give off much light (maybe just because it's old?).

Interesting. I include the following thread for the sake of info:

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/in...ray-light.html (The famous ashtray light...)

JamesC

There are a few threads on here about that light, but that is not what he is talking about.
Now I've started thinking... maybe the thing that firedemon and I are talking about was only available in cars with automatics, since a manual trans car wouldn't have a gear indicator to take the light from. And, possibly only manual tran cars got the light above the HVAC controls, since they couldn't have the fiber optics thing.
My thirdgen with an auto has the thing that firedemon is talking about, but no light above the HVAC controls, and my parts car that was a manual trans car did have the light above the HVAC controls.

Greg, does any light actually come from yours? The PO did a real hackjob of installing my megashifter and I think he may have aborted the fiber optic cable.

Yes. I'll try and take some pics of it tonight.

My 85 berli has the fiberoptics thing, which I actually needed to delete to install my megashifter.

My 1992 auto has the vent light. One of the 3 auto shifter plates I scavenged to make complete plate had the fiber optic in it, but I don't think it was a 1992 plate.

I was busy getting my free pizza today, but Ill try and remember to take a pic of one for this thread in the morning, for those who are unfamiliar with it.

My bird is an auto, has the light over the HVAC but no fiber-optic thingy. So I don't think the HVAC light depends on transmission. Seems like your really wouldn't be able to get much, if any, light out that fiber optic thing. Would be nice to have a red LED in there.

yeah, I'm lazy...

My 84 had the fiber-optic light, and I didn't even know it was there until I replaced the shifter plate with one out of a 92 (the 92 plate didn't have it). I saw the little fiber cable, and wondered what it did, and then I realized what it was suppose to do.

If the light for the console was closer to the cable it might have actually worked!

I just noticed my 86 SC had one, second time I've driven it at night and thought I'd look. The light seems pointless, the extra 2 cents for an actual light bulb would've been a better investment for GM.

I believe there was much more of this fiber optic stuff on older cars...