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Engine Compartment lighting

6K views 49 replies 13 participants last post by  Zentrum 
#1 ·
This thread is about various options to add lighting to your engine compartment. Everything from convenience lighting to aid roadside repairs to disco balls and laser light shows.

My current interest in this topic is for the purpose of adding blingy LED/laser/etc. lighting, so that I can hang out with the tuner dudes and also so that folks can see my shiny stuff at evening cruise-ins and stuff. The simplest way to go would be to buy some LED rope lighting and stuff it under the lip of the hood opening overhang. But, aiming the light from cheap rope lighting is kind of vague, so I was wondering if you guys, especially you younger Opelers, might know of lighting ideas that are cooler or more high tech.

On the other topic of convenience lighting, some sort of general purpose underhood light attached to a retractable cord would be handy. I had something like that in my Jeep Cherokees. Any ideas or eBay finds?

:thinking:
 
#2 ·
This thread is about various options to add lighting to your engine compartment. Everything from convenience lighting to aid roadside repairs to disco balls and laser light shows.

My current interest in this topic is for the purpose of adding blingy <SNIP> bling is NOT my thing .:no: .:lmao:

On the other topic of convenience lighting, some sort of general purpose underhood light attached to a retractable cord would be handy. I had something like that in my Jeep Cherokees. Any ideas or eBay finds?

:thinking:
Have you seen this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BntmrLIu2g
Eastwood Professional Folding LED Light

HTH -- Doug
 
#3 ·
I'm currently working on a small project, specifically, with you in mind.
I'll share more later this evening.
 
#5 ·
So, as promised, here is what I'm working on.

I have a need to make some LED strip lighting, encased in an acrylic tube, for a work project.
At work I only need white LEDS in the tube but thought I can just as easily do it with RGB LEDs.
The process is as follows. I mount the led strip to a 1/4" square acrylic rod. Then I slide the assembly into a 1/2 OD tube (for single color LEDs) or a 5/8" tube (for RGB LEDs). Then I fill the tube with liquid acrylic resin and let cure.

I can make these at any length up to 6 feet long.

I have a plan for the LED underbody lighting that I will wire up after I build them for my GT but the basic concept is that the underbody lights will be OFF whenever the car is in operation but will come on when the ignition is shut off. They will run from a completely isolated battery that won't drain the car battery. That battery will power the underbody lights til it dies. Then when the car is started it will charge again. I have yet to determine how effective the charge cycle will be and which battery to use but that's the concept.

So, Gordon, the sky is the limit.
 
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#7 ·
So, as promised, here is what I'm working on.

I have a need to make some LED strip lighting, encased in an acrylic tube, for a work project.

I can make these at any length up to 6 feet long.

I have a plan for the LED underbody lighting
Sign me up!

I've got to light up my MacDonalds front suspension!

:veryhappy

I have that battery from my Power Wheels Baby Baron project, it'll run my inflatable Snoopy thing for a week straight. When it's drained I can just plug it into the wall, no charger(I guess it's built into the plug).
 
#6 ·
On the other topic of convenience lighting, some sort of general purpose underhood light attached to a retractable cord would be handy. I had something like that in my Jeep Cherokees. Any ideas or eBay finds?

:thinking:
Yes! My 90 Cherokee has a work light attached to the underside of the hood (it's the under hood light) via a retractable electrical cord and that damned thing can reach all the way around the jeep, no shortage of cord for sure. BUT, when the retract spring goes to hell, they become a nuisance and a real pain in the ass. Personally I would think if your gonna go for convenience/work lighting, some sort of rechargeable flashlight/lantern that has a spot built into your vehicle (back "spare tire" area, or maybe a cubby built under the rear "seat" deck panel, or.....well you get the picture) so that when you put the light away it is automatically recharged and always available when you need it. I still have the whole retracting light assembly from my 90 Cherokee (I still have the Cherokee, just have the light out of it) had thought about putting it in my Dart. But for simplicity a rechargeable lantern/flashlight has proven much more practical.

:cool:Just my nickel.
 
#9 ·
FWIW - my wife had a 1976 Mercedes 450SLC (which we bought in 1986). That car had a rechargeable battery flashlight built into the glove box. Of course, rechargeable batteries weren't too good in those days and it hardly ever worked by the time we got the car, but you may like that concept in addition to the under hood lighting. Hey, you even have a GLOVEBOX! :yup:

Doug
 
#12 ·
Since I've turned into a total nut job with all the fun I'm having with alternate lighting in my car, I went off on the tangent of a related blingy car lighting concept: Under ther car lighting. Knowing nothing about the subject and checking Ebay for what sorts of lighting are available, I came across "COB LED lights".

Here's an article about different LED technologies:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/comparison-differences-between-led-technologies-dip-vs-doris-li

Here's a typical ad for a bunch of them(CHEAP!) in white on Ebay(or you can look for others by searching "COB LED light"):

6x White Car COB LED Light Waterproof DC 12V High Luminance DRL Fog Driving Lamp

Here's a pic of an amber one:



Holy Cow they're cheap! $10 after shipping for 6 white ones. You could line your engine compartment with them for the cost of a decent hoagie! The various things I've read say that they're very bright and tend not to cast multiple sharp shadows like SMD-type LED's.

Howsabout that under the car lighting idea? For $30 I could put 18 of'em under my car! Holy Canoli! The whole lower perimeter of my car has body kit stuff sticking down(air dam, side skirts, tail panel), forming all sorts of convenient pockets and places to glue or drill/mount and tuck away various lighting ideas.

Oh man, my mouse is wandering in the direction of the "BUY NOW" button.............!


:yup:
 
#13 ·
Since I've turned into a total nut job with all the fun I'm having with alternate lighting in my car, I went off on the tangent of a related blingy car lighting concept: Under ther car lighting. Knowing nothing about the subject and checking Ebay for what sorts of lighting are available, I came across "COB LED lights".

Here's an article about different LED technologies:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/comparison-differences-between-led-technologies-dip-vs-doris-li

Here's a typical ad for a bunch of them(CHEAP!) in white on Ebay(or you can look for others by searching "COB LED light"):

6x White Car COB LED Light Waterproof DC 12V High Luminance DRL Fog Driving Lamp

Here's a pic of an amber one:

View attachment 296242

Holy Cow they're cheap! $10 after shipping for 6 white ones. You could line your engine compartment with them for the cost of a decent hoagie! The various things I've read say that they're very bright and tend not to cast multiple sharp shadows like SMD-type LED's.

Howsabout that under the car lighting idea? For $30 I could put 18 of'em under my car! Holy Canoli! The whole lower perimeter of my car has body kit stuff sticking down(air dam, side skirts, tail panel), forming all sorts of convenient pockets and places to glue or drill/mount and tuck away various lighting ideas.

Oh man, my mouse is wandering in the direction of the "BUY NOW" button.............!


:yup:
Great deal. I can never compete with those price for what I'm working on. Make sure they are weatherproof. I learned the hard way when I put year-round lights on my house. After the first couple months they had to be taken down.
 
#15 ·
Not in the US
 
#19 · (Edited)
I continued researching them after I made my post and discovered that you have to read closely. Some are 2 watt and others are 6 watt. As near as I could tell, the 2 watt ones put out about 150 lumens and the 6 watt ones put out around 500 lumens. There are also 2 sizes: 14cm and 17cm. Keep all that in mind if deciding on these. The white ones seem to be much cheaper than the colored ones. Yellow/orange/amber all appear to mean the same color. I've chosen amber because I already have the amber inside the car.

I bought TWENTY of them! About $30 for 5 sets of 4 including shipping from this ad:

4x Amber/Yellow 17CM COB 6W LED Strip Daytime Running DRL Light Waterproof #2 | eBay



I didn't want to run short in case I go really nuts, plus having so many gives me lots of options.

But then I did the math:

Amps = Watts/Volts

20 @ 6 watts = 120 watts

120 watts/12 Volts = TEN amps ! ! !

Holy Cow!

I'll definitely be needing to carry a spare battery or other power source to juice them all up when I'm parked. My alternator and new electrical system could handle the load just fine with the engine running, but it's illegal in Jersey to drive around with under-the-car lights on, so these would only get turned on at car gatherings/cruises in the evening when I'll be parked. All last year I only went to one event where I could show my lighting off and that was indoors at a brewery. My early work hours have me hittin' the hay by 9pm every night, so I don't do much evening stuff in general. In the Summer it doesn't get dark until 9pm. So, what I'm saying is, I'll hardly ever use them. They'll just be another fun electrical gizmo for me to install and I'll wow a few people with them once in a while.

:veryhappy
 
#20 ·
From the eBay writeup (near the bottom of the page):

2X 17cm LED COB 84 Chip Pure White Car Auto Driving DRL Daytime Running Lights Lamp Waterproof Bar Strip DC12V

Specifications:

Voltage: DC12V
Power: 6W each one actually equal 5W
Lumen: 336LM
Light Color : Pure white: 7000-8000K
Degree: 180°
Size:170*17mm


From a Google search (Convert lumens to candlepower)
...To determine the candlepower, divide the lumen value by 12.57.
Ex: ... a light with 336 lumens will equal about 27 candlepower.

Now, how bright is a candlepower? You are on your own!

Doug
 
#21 ·
If they are telling the truth, 150 lumens will light up an engine compartment almost like daylight, sans shadows.
 
#22 · (Edited)
From a different thread:

http://www.opelgt.com/forums/1c-lighting-signal-systems/93681-third-brake-light.html#post1193745


Holy Cow! What a deal!:


Glow LED Light El Wire String Strip Rope Car Dance Party + 3V/12V/USB Controller | eBay


I just bought a 1 meter length of this stuff to experiment with putting strip lighting on the back of my car's spoiler to act as a 3rd brake light.

$2.28 free shipping from China!

That wouldn't even pay for the gas the guy will have to put in his moped to deliver it from his rice paddy to the post office!

It might be a piece of carp, but for $2.28 it's basically free.
 
#23 ·
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#25 ·
I played with my LED light strips today to try to get a sense of how many I would need in each area and how effective they would be.

First I took a 5' long strip of aluminum and taped 5 of them to it with 3" gaps between each, wired them up, and propped them up in various under-the-car locations:

Electrical wiring Floor Technology Wire Electronic device


Under the side skirt area:

Black Darkness Night Yellow Light
Night Yellow Black Light Street light
Light Automotive lighting Night Darkness Headlamp


The back of the car:

Black Darkness Yellow Light Night


And under the front of the car, strapped to the steering rack:

Night Architecture Technology Room Glass
Black Yellow Light Night Darkness
 
#26 ·
Next, I wanted to see if they would be effective as under the hood lighting to actually help you see stuff if you were stuck on the side of the road at night or only as decorative bling. I took the light bars off the aluminum strip and put 3 on one 24" long piece of wood and 2 on an 18" piece of wood and tried them out in various locations:

Vehicle Engine Auto part Car Motor vehicle
Vehicle Motor vehicle Car Engine Auto part


Under the sides of the hood opening:

Night Space Auto part Darkness Engine
Motor vehicle Auto part Engine Vehicle Car


3 bars at the top of the hood:

Automotive design Night Hood Glass


3 at the top and 2 more lower down:

Technology Games Metal Space Night


Both of them jammed under the cowling:

Car Vehicle Gauge Speedometer Odometer
Light Darkness Brass instrument Space Night




The verdict? As under the car lighting for decorative purposes they're just right, not too bright and not too dim, and fairly easy to attach. As lighting under the hood to help you find the wire that popped off? Lame to useless. You'd need all 20 of them to barely see anything. Since they're orange, they'll only truly reflect well off of orange surfaces. My engine is yellow and you can't see shiite. Chrome only reflects the colors around it, so all you see is black chrome with orange lights reflecting. Maybe full spectrum white LED bars would work better. As bling? Meh. Not worth the trouble to hide and install and the added complexity of wiring and junk in the engine compartment wouldn't be worth the trouble either.

So, I'm going to install all 20 of them under the car. I may even try to install one in each wheel well at the top behind the tires to backlight them. Will they ever get turned on? Almost never. Under the car lighting is illegal to drive around with here in Jersey, so they can only be used when parked at evening Cruise-ins, Carlisle parking lot gatherings, and as a quick show off thing for my friends, family, and neighbors. Due to my work hours, I'm in bed before the sun goes down in the Summer, so I haven't done any Cruise-in meetings.
 
#27 ·
Under the car lighting is illegal to drive around with here in Jersey, so they can only be used when parked at evening Cruise-ins, Carlisle parking lot gatherings, and as a quick show off thing for my friends, family, and neighbors.
Are you sure about that?

NJSA 39:3-50. Color of lights,
All lamps and reflectors, which display a light visible from directly in front of a vehicle as authorized by this subtitle, shall exhibit lights substantially white, yellow or amber in color.

(a) The color of light emitted or reflected by exterior lamps or reflectors on a vehicle shall be as follows, except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b), (c) and (d) of this section:

White when the lamp is a headlamp, or spot lamp, or illuminates a license plate or a destination sign; or is located on the outside limit of a side car or other attachment on a motor cycle;

Substantially white or amber when the lamp is a side-cowl or fender lamp, running-board or other courtesy lamp, front parking lamp, back-up lamp, auxiliary driving lamp; or a turn signal on or facing the front;

Substantially red or amber when the lamp is a turn signal or a stop lamp on or facing the rear;

Red when any other lamp or any reflector is on the rear or on either side at or near the rear, except as otherwise provided in paragraph (f) of section 39:3-61 for a combination marker lamp;

Amber when any other lamp or reflector is on the front or on either side other than at or near the rear.

(b) Lamps and reflectors on projecting loads shall emit or reflect light with color as provided in section 10 of this act.

(c) No person shall drive or move any vehicle or equipment upon any street or highway equipped with any device or lamp thereon capable of or displaying a light of any other color than permitted by this section, except: an authorized emergency vehicle, an authorized school bus, or a vehicle authorized by a permit issued by the director.

(d) A permit authorizing a vehicle to be equipped with a lamp capable of or displaying a flashing light, except as provided in 39:3-54 or a light of a color other than permitted by this section, visible from directly in front of said vehicle, may be issued by the director when necessary, in his discretion, for the reasonable and safe movement of traffic. The permit shall specify the type and color of such lamp and the conditions under which a person may drive or move the vehicle with said lamp displaying a light. The permit shall be valid only when the specifications and conditions contained therein are complied with.

The director may cancel or revoke a permit issued under authority of this section whenever the conditions for its issuance no longer exist or on any other reasonable grounds.
White or amber appear to be legal.
 
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#29 · (Edited)
My recently installed hood window has rekindled my interest in this project, so my next attempt will involve using 2 of these car LED kits:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4Pcs-RGB-L...rentrq:382dc9791680ab674b747b99fff7e51a|iid:1

My plan is to use one kit to light the engine bay and the other kit to light up under the car. Both kits have arrived and I might start the project this weekend.

The entire kit is pre-wired and connectored. There are 4 flexible, encased in urethane, COB(Chips On a Board) LED strips with self adhesive peel and stick backings. The kit contains two 2 foot long LED strips and two 3 foot long strips. For under the car, I figure on installing the 3 foot strips on the sides between the wheels and attached to my side skirts and a 2 footer attached to the belly pan or front suspension, with the last 2 footer routed along the bottom of the rear axle(to keep it away from the exhaust heat). Each strip is attached to an 8 foot sturdy wire and all 4 strip wires are permanently molded into a single junction attached to a single wire that plugs into the infrared receiver/controller. A hand held remote turns the lights on and selects the various lighting modes and effects. No switches or anything need to be added to the car, you simply need to attach the system to a 12V source and make sure the infrared controller is located somewhere where the controller can see the remote. The system can make the lights flash and change in various ways to music, so you would need to mount the infrared controller and it's built in sound sensor inside the car, so that it can hear the music, if you want that function to work.

The biggest bugaboo is that all four 8' wires, junction, and strips are essentially one inseparable piece that then plugs into the controller. You'll have to plan and think out how you're going route and attach the wires and strips carefully.

And the great thing is: $20 + free shipping! Heck, I blow that much money just buying lunch every day.

I don't really want to stick the LED strips to the car and it's paint, so I'm currently thinking about adhering them to metal strips or clear tubing that I can wire tie or screw to the car.

I'm considering mounting the other kit entirely to the underside of the hood, the 3 footers tucked into the hood's side edges and the 2 footers front and rear or stuck to those 2 flat chromed bars that add strength to my hood. It all depends on whether the lights will be annoying if I have the hood up.

Light Vehicle Purple Automotive lighting Technology
Light Neon Lighting Font Visual effect lighting
Electronics Technology Electronic device Remote control Portable media player
Fashion accessory Jewellery Font Bracelet Rim
Motor vehicle Green Automotive lighting Light Car
Audio equipment Electronics Cable Technology Electronic device
 
#32 ·
I don't like the layout and I'm going to change it. The shortness of the wires for the 24" front and rear lights is screwing everything up. With the rear one attached to the pan hard bar(a VERY good location), the one in the front can't get mounted any farther forward than the engine support crossmember. That's about 48" away from the front bumper. WAY too far back.

So I'm going to mount both of the short 24" LED strips in a V pattern all the way up front and not light up the back at all. Coupled with under-the-hood lighting, that ought to look pretty acceptable. I'm not seeking to install a wackadoodle system, just a minimally acceptable light set up to show the car at night and be on a level playing field with the tuner dudes.

Really, though, the only reason I'm doing this is for those first 2 nights in the Carlisle hotel parking lot. After that they'll almost never get used.

Pic of my plan:


Line Text Parallel Rectangle Diagram
 
#33 ·
I installed the V-pattern metal strips for the front lights today and I was going to call it a day when I figured I would spend a little time figuring out how to light up the engine compartment.

WOWOWIE!

It turned out REALLY great. WAY better than I had hoped for!

Here's a video. Eat your heart out with envy........



https://youtu.be/d2uA5TZTFmc
 
#34 ·
I installed the V-pattern metal strips for the front lights today and I was going to call it a day when I figured I would spend a little time figuring out how to light up the engine compartment.

WOWOWIE!

It turned out REALLY great. WAY better than I had hoped for!

Here's a video. Eat your heart out with envy........

https://youtu.be/d2uA5TZTFmc
So, what are you going to do at daytime car shows? Add a 1000 W halogen spot light where the battery sits?

Dieter
 
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