HOW TO: Interior Neon Install

[RollaRollin]

I wanted to install neons on a budget. This is a very simple thing you can do on a weekend afternoon and looks great. All up I paid about $25 and it looks very stylish. The main thing was I wanted the install to be clean and not noticeable until they were on and I believe it worked out great. People obviously have their opinions about neons, some think its cool some think its just ricey. But honestly I like the look it gives and if you want to add neons to your car like I have, all I can say is, just go ahead and do it, the results just speak for themselves and anyone with a bit of spare time and a bit of general knowledge can do it easily. It really is that simple and I hope this benefits a few people :)

Remember, do it once, do it right

What your going to need. I got most of my gear from my local Autobarn shop.

7m of 5amp or 10amp power cable ($5)

Inline Fuse ($3)

Heatshrink 5mm ($2/m)

Neons (eBay - $10 for 2 x 2)

Speaker wire

Zip Ties

Soldering Iron

Switch

The neon wires are really small so you will need to extend them. Because the current is low if you have a bit of speaker wire lying around it will be perfect. The neons come with a box that splits the power into two, so its easy just to add some more wire after the box and extend the wires. I extended my neon wires about 30cm for the front and 40cm for the back

Stock neons, obviously not enough cable to make them work.

Strip your wires and, cut your speaker cable and twine it together.

Solder them up and don't forget to heatshrink. Repeat for all cables that you wish to extend and your done.

Find a hole to run your power cable, this hole had a rubber grommet that I just pushed through

Zip tie your cable to a straight coat hanger and poke it on through. Pull off your Glovebox and you should be able to just grab the cable and pull through.

Remove your dash (Guide Here) and run the cable through to the drivers side little box

Remove the box just below your power mirrors and pull the cable through. This is where your switch will go

Now run a cable back towards the center of the dash for the power.

Once that is all done, wire in your inline fuse near the battery, within 30cm.

Attach your neons to where you need them, the ones I purchased has a sticky backing and I mounted them in the footwells and under the driver seats. Very easy to do, and I suggest the ones I brought as they are great.

Edited May 19, 2011 by RollaRollin

[RollaRollin]

Run the neon cables back to the center dash and hide all your wires and make sure everything is secure and looks neat. eg Zip Ties

You will have two neon boxes that you can hide in your center dash because there is plenty of room. Twine your power wires together and connect them to the power cable that is in the center of the dash that you just run. Solder and heat shrink and your good to go for power (Red Cable)

Now for a ground, I just used an empty wire I had behind my dash, twine the two grounds together, solder and heat shrink to the ground wire. (Clear Cable) You could also use a bolt to the chassis somewhere.

Plug your neons into the power boxes and put it all in the center dash and secure it with a few zip ties. Again make it look tidy.

Install a switch to connect the wire from the battery and the wire to the center dash, connect your power wire to the battery (correctly, ring terminals)

Switch it on and you should be good to go :)

Here they are at night, looks great! Couldn't get a decent distance shot because I'm only using an iPhone but I can assure you they look great from inside and even out of the car :)

Now I'm currently fabricating a bit of gal metal so I can make a switch board in the driver side glove box thing. I want this install to have a bit of class and not be noticeable so its the perfect place to hide your switches and I will post a pic up when its done.

So theres everything guys, a great mod for little cash, with awesome results and will make your car just have a few more tricks up it's sleeve. Enjoy!

Edited May 19, 2011 by RollaRollin