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i wanted to add an underhood light from a Camaro to my 92 Trans Am.
I still daily drive my car and figured a light underneath would help if i had to look under there while driving at night.
I was able to get 2 wiring harnesses from car at the junk yard, one from a 91, another from a mid 80's Camaro.
Problem is i cant find where to connect these on my car.
The harness from the 91 is a little shorter and has a connector i dont recognize.
The harness from the older Camaro is longer and has the in line connector, but for some reason i cant find it on my car either.
Here is what i have:
Very very very very very very BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD idea.
Those POSs are NOTORIOUS for failing to turn off when the hood is closed, especially when parked on non-level ground, and thus draining the battery unexpectedly.
Carry a flashlight in your car instead.
Even better, maintain your car to a degree that you don't have to worry about it; just like a factory new car.
Very very very very very very BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD idea.
Those POSs are NOTORIOUS for failing to turn off when the hood is closed, especially when parked on non-level ground, and thus draining the battery unexpectedly.
Carry a flashlight in your car instead.
Even better, maintain your car to a degree that you don't have to worry about it; just like a factory new car.
I whole heartily agree with this. And besides the light you get from that small bulb is so crap you will be using a flash light anyway. Rip that junky crap out and just keep a flashlight in your car. Most nowadays are LED so they are a hundred times better than any under hood light (which is a crappy incandescent bulb that gets very hot). Also most new flashlights are magnetic base to they'll stick to the underside of your hood anyway.
Last edited by bryan623; Aug 14, 2015 at 09:23 AM.
This is what I use. Its from a mid to late 80s chevy truck. It has a on/off switch and the light has a loooong cord with a magnet . Nice for changing a rear tire in the dark if you ever have to.
If you think that No. 93 bulb gets hot, try putting an 1156 in it's place and leave the hood up for a little while. That 1156 will melt down like Fukushima.
Thanks for that.
Is that part of the lamp holder?
The reason I ask is I obtained one of those a few years back and acquired the lamp holder and wires coming from that with one connector on the end.
This is what I use. Its from a mid to late 80s chevy truck. It has a on/off switch and the light has a loooong cord with a magnet . Nice for changing a rear tire in the dark if you ever have to.
I have one of these as well, in addition to the standard light - pretty awesome little add-on, and the fact that it reaches the rear tires is quite nice.
When I saw this thread I was thinking of the truck version as well.
TheJoeY88, if you really want just an under hood light there are a lot of options with LEDs etc. now that wasn't available back then so that may be an option as well. I like your idea of adding one, but I agree that you actually don't get much light from that stock hood light, and it creates shadows from where it sits.
If you do pick up a flash light try finding one with a side light, strong magnet and/or flex head.
well i always liked the idea of using a factory part from a Camaro on a Firebird and i did plan on using an LED bulb in the socket but i wasnt sure how it will hold up with the temps and vibrations. one thing i dont like is i will have to drill holes in my hood since there are no holes currently. i will probably hold off on this mod for a while, i figured it would be a simple plug and play but i cant find the correct connector to plug right into even with the pass through connector on the mid-80s harness.
Ok, well the last time I swapped hoods I didn't keep the light.
It looks like it hooks up to a block(or stand off) just left of the distributor where a red lead goes into a larger loom behind the engine. The lead for the light goes from that block across the firewall, up under the fender, to the base of the hood hinge. You'll see two holes in the hood hinge where loom connectors hook to. Then that goes across the hood (above the weather striping) being attached to another couple of loom connectors. The two holes for the hood light are just at the edge of the weather stripping so even if you remove it later it won't be that noticeable since there are a bunch of other holes around the same area. On a side note, I have a couple of stock fiberglass hoods and it looks like the actual light attachment is an inch or two above the weather stripping. What I'm looking at is an '85 so the '91 might be routed differently.
If you can, I would go back to the '91 and grab the block/stand off deal and as much wiring as you can get (hopefully to the fuse box if it goes there) if you don't already have it on hand or in your current car. (Having that is what would make it plug n play imo.)
Oh, that wire loom in some of the pics look pretty bad off. It's actually pretty common and cheap so I would grab some the same size and see if you can either re-use the attachment pieces or get new ones.
This pic looks like the connector (Left hand bottom) to the block/stand off I was talking about.
I have one of these as well, in addition to the standard light - pretty awesome little add-on, and the fact that it reaches the rear tires is quite nice.
I saw that thing in my neighbor's 1994 Silverado and I was wondering what it was. I think I am going to get one for my IROC. I like how it has a switch.
I don't like the factory light that goes under the hood plus mine was busted so I removed it and added these. They're 2 sets of lights that can be controlled independently. I set them up so that they direct into the engine bay instead of just down. They won't reach my trunk area but they'll light up the engine bay pretty good.
I don't like the factory light that goes under the hood plus mine was busted so I removed it and added these. They're 2 sets of lights that can be controlled independently. I set them up so that they direct into the engine bay instead of just down. They won't reach my trunk area but they'll light up the engine bay pretty good.
That looks really good. Any details about the parts and how you did it?
More than 1 light is great,.... cause you're not always casting a shadow as you lean in to look around. Nice work G.Penrod !
I would also prefer a manual switch. Mercury switches work fine and are pretty rugged, I would just prefer a factory looking manual switch of some kind.
