I think I asked this on here a while ago, but I want some more opinions on it. I want to do a LED strip across the hood to shine down on the engine bay in low light situations for both repairs and the night shows. I also want to do a bulb in both the coolant and washer fluid reservoir. Obviously not just in the tank, I was thinking something like a primer bulb or other liquid proof housing. All the bulbs would be connected to a pressure switch, like the one in the door jam, so the ground connects when the hood is open. I know this is a little silly of an idea but after doing HID's, and an all LED interior swap and add I just cant get enough. Thoughts, critiques, or ideas welcome!

 

I'm not really "up" on the LED thing but I like your idea about lighting up the reservoirs & may actually do a little experimenting with that idea myself

I think you'd be better off using a mercury switch than a pressure switch though. The hood flexes & moves around a lot & a slightly harder-than-normal slam will "adjust" the pressure switch to where it stays on all the time. I have Fieros with this setup from the factory & it was a real poor design: my AJAR lights stay on all the time.

I remember seeing a car in a junkyard that had a mercury trunk switch without an integral socket (it had a "divorced" trunk light)...but I can't remember what kind of car it was, sorry. They're out there though. I suppose you could 'mod' a GM unit with some creative soldering & bolt it to the underside of your hood.

 

I LOVE LED lights... Im hoping to retrofit every light I can once my car is back in order and the more important things are taken care of.

For the LED strip, check Autozone. Yeah yeah..I know. But they carry some strips in particular that are VERY nice IMO. They are fairly cheap...but you can get them in varying brightness. I got the lesser bright strip for my trunk in my DD. You get two...I used one, and its like day time back there. You can trim them, and they stick on with 3M, so they wont go anywhere if you surface prep well. I plan to use the other strip in the engine bay of my DD also, since Im always checking the oil and fluid levels on that POS.

I think they are 12" each...or you can trim them, or you can get smaller 6" ones. They have a brighter one than I got, that is seriously blinding even with the little battery test in the package.

It takes all the work out, is weatherproof already, and just hooks up to whatever switch you want. They are super slim, and if you mount it on the back side of one of the reinforcements, you probably wont even see it. Ide be tempted to mount two under the hood...sort of angling in from both sides towards the front. Light that sucker up!

Ill attach a crappy cell pic of my trunk light. Again, this is the less bright of the ones they offered. Been using it for a year now...Im happy with them!

J.

 

wow, it never crossed my mind to do a mercury switch, but that would be amazing.
I've got a 36" red LED strip in the hatch that's connected to the courtesy lights and it lights up everything at night. as well as 12" red strips in the rear foot wells. Once my car is back Ill show some pictures of it.