#50795, "1st EVAR TALON CENTER TAIL LIT UP (I RULE) many pics no 56K"
It's not perfect and it's gonna get redone pretty soon, but here's what I did tonight... I learned a lot from this project and hope these pics help a no0b out. This is the inside back panel - no need to pull the others.
Piece out. (hehe) That's your power wire, sir. Splice with care.
I used 2 of these neons form AutoZone. $20 ea. Not enough - you'll see...
sand (or polish) the black off the outer letters and likewise inside. Then hold up to the light and be SWASS like me.
detail of where I sanded outside the line in the back. you'll want to paint around the letters just in case...
See the buldge over the light there? You'll need to cut a hole in it to fit your neon in there. Both sides.
This is the size of the hole to cut.
This is that hole after being cut.
Test fit your neons. Drill a hole next to them to run your wires through.
Close up of the little hole and the neon in place. I used a screw in the other end and silicone at this one later.
Paint around the lettering to minimize light where you don't want it
Neons need ballasts! You cannot just cut and splice. You'll need to pull your ballasts out of the cigarette lighter piece and then wire them inline for EACH tube you use. Use the same power source, but each tube gets it's own ballast!
A mess of wires: Neon>ballast>longer leads to reach 12vdc (12VDC is the GREEN WIRE!)
leave plenty of slack in your wires just in case! You can always go shorter... (note the silicone holding the already snug by itself neon in place)
base mounted with neons installed - are you ready for this??
oh HELL YES!!!
D'OH! I need to get some chrome tape in there and maybe a couple of those littel tiny neons for the edges and the "T."
The amber lighting is because the tag lights need to be painted over so they don't shine through, but just down.
They appear to be red at the tops and amber where the tag lights are. I will rewire the entire thing here pretty soon. I used clear silicone sealant to seal it back up. You'll need to waterproof all your solder joints as well as the ballasts for your neons.
All together, this project took about 12 hours of cumulative time (tonight we spent about 5 hours) and supplies like silicone and neons came out to about $50. It looks pretty damn sweet imo.
I WILL be redoing the whole damn thing and will create a power block to tap into the 12vdc from instead of tucking all those wires behind the piece, but I'm less than a week from ENGINE REBUILD time, so it's gonna have to wait.
Good luck if you if you want to do this. It's a lot of little detail work and grimy business. Have fun!
#50824, "RE: 1st EVAR TALON CENTER TAIL LIT UP (I RULE) many pics no 56K" In response to Reply # 5
yeah you need to light up the L, but looks pretty good. how did you take the cover off. i know if looks like it just snaps off, but is there any glue or anything holding it on?
#50827, "RE: 1st EVAR TALON CENTER TAIL LIT UP (I RULE) many pics no 56K" In response to Reply # 6
Just plain nice, thats all I can say. I thought about somethign similar with my eclipse but not that elaborate, it is an eclipse after all. but damn that was a good Idea. Me likey
#50831, "RE: 1st EVAR TALON CENTER TAIL LIT UP (I RULE) many pics no 56K" In response to Reply # 9
The colored piece has snaps around the outer edge as well as around the inner one that the tag bolts too. There is some glue, but I think it's the same stuff on the headlights. I didn't reheat it as I didn't know how the neons would handle the temps.
I plan on getting 3 of those little mini neons that have the flexible arm you plug into your cig lighter and cutting some more recesses for the "L" as well as mounting two of them out at the edges for the T & N. I also want to get some chrome tape to mask off the tag lights and make it more reflective in there.
I think the Eclipse center would be a piece of fricken cake to do this to. Imagine how cool to have the old school clear center piece and have a red neon glow inside it. Maybe you could mask off "ECLIPSE" and paint it leaving only the name clear. That would rule imo.
I may not have a turbo system yet, and I may look almost completely stock, but dammit! I was first. Rock on! This is so cool. Thanks for all the compliments everyone!
