Underhood Light Switch

[Racinfan83]

Can someone possibly tell me which wire / wires I need to hook a toggle switch to so I can shut off my underhood lights? Maybe a couple close-up pics so I dont cut the wrong one? Need a switch to shut em off for car shows.....

[Vette Guy]

Rather than splice in a switch, you have two additional options:
Run LED bulbs and leave them on. They draw milliamps and will not kill your battery or simply pull the 10A fuse that sits over your driver's side marker light housing. I opted for the LEDs and am very happy with them, but previously pulled the fuse when the hood was up for any extended period of time.

Mark

[Schrade]

Today I was wondering ... how many owners have more time 'hood up / wrench time', as opposed to driving time...............

:confused:

[Funracer]

Can someone possibly tell me which wire / wires I need to hook a toggle switch to so I can shut off my underhood lights? Maybe a couple close-up pics so I dont cut the wrong one? Need a switch to shut em off for car shows.....

I am out of town or I would send you a pic. Its really pretty obvious though because its the wire that runs all the way up the underside of the hood directly to the --left drivers side--I believe-- underhood light. The reason I am not 100% which side is I put a black roller switch on mine over 20 yrs ago. If you pick the right spot along the line you can't even see it unless you really look for it. Very convenient for shows. It was probably the first "mod" I ever did to the Z.

Having said that, my car is not NCRS original anymore and never will be again. If yours is and you want to keep it that way then just pull the fuse.

Regards

[garyhugo]

Gordon Killebrew sells a kit to do just that.I have one and it works great.

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Gordon Killebrew sells a kit to do just that.I have one and it works great.

I agree and have Gordon's kit too.:cheers:

[carmine]

Mid America sells switch & Harness kit #601-721(17628)

[Hammer]

Mid America sells switch & Harness kit #601-721(17628)

I went with this one on mine. It installs easily and looks like I belongs on the car.

[Racinfan83]

Good deal. Thanks guys! I have LED's in the lights already - went to a night show on a lighted lot last night and I think I was the only one with underhood lights on....:o

[Mystic ZR-1]

Save your money and just unplug them...
Like the lite in your 'fridgerator, are you sure they go out when the hood's closed?

[HAWAIIZR-1]

I went with this one on mine. It installs easily and looks like I belongs on the car.

I like this one. Loomed and everything with plug and play. If I did it again, I would go with this one. :cheers:

[Racinfan83]

I sent an e-mail to the Gordon Killebrew site - the one on there is $15. The MA harness is $40 + shipping. Appears the Killebrew site may be gone - so if I don't get any reply here in a couple days I guess I will go with the MA one... I kinda want to avoid hacking up the car since its almost all original...

[Hammer]

I sent an e-mail to the Gordon Killebrew site - the one on there is $15. The MA harness is $40 + shipping. Appears the Killebrew site may be gone - so if I don't get any reply here in a couple days I guess I will go with the MA one... I kinda want to avoid hacking up the car since its almost all original...

That's the nice thing about the MA Harness, you don't hack into any wires or anything. Like HawaiiZR-1 said, plug and play.

[Racinfan83]

Mid America sells switch & Harness
kit #601-721(17628)

www.mamotorworks.com/corvette.html?frame=3.1077&searched=underhiod%20light%20switch

After reading the replies (and what my wife said) - this is the one I went with. Very happy with this choice - as it is "plug and play". You can't tell it isn't factory. Gordon Killebrew still has switches - but by the time they emailed me back a week later I had already ordered the MidAmerica one. I think I would have had to splice that one in as well. The MA one is the way to go if you want stock look. With my UPCB -XWHP30 - FES LED lights from superbrightleds.com (which are MUCH brighter then regular) - I am now very happy with the setup!
(And my 90 did not have the underhood fuse that many of you have)

[emmvette]

www.mamotorworks.com/corvette.html?frame=3.1077&searched=underhiod%20light%20switch (http://www.mamotorworks.com/corvette.html?frame=3.1077&searched=underhiod%20light%20switch)

After reading the replies - this is the one I went with. Very happy with this choice - as it is "plug and play". You can't tell it isn't factory. Gordon Killebrew still has switches - but by the time they emailed me back a week later I had already ordered the MidAmerica one. I think I would have had to splice that one in as well. The MA one is the way to go if you want stock look. With my UPCB -XWHP30 - FES LED lights from superbrightleds.com (which are MUCH brighter then regular) - I am now very happy with the setup!
(And my 90 did not have the underhood fuse that many of you have)

I like the idea of the LED lights. Can you tell me more? The one you mentioned is a 30 unit rectangle; did you install two of these? Do they fit under the standard plastic light cover? How about the switch from MA; did you use one switch, or need to buy two?

With this many LEDs is it still a lot less amp draw than the standard bulbs?

[Blownrunner]

Today I was wondering ... how many owners have more time 'hood up / wrench time', as opposed to driving time...............

:confused:

I started to laugh and then I realized I am in that boat. Not so much wrench time, but I raise the hood at car shows, and I need to do so to plug the battery tender in.

[Racinfan83]

I like the idea of the LED lights. Can you tell me more? The one you mentioned is a 30 unit rectangle; did you install two of these? Do they fit under the standard plastic light cover? How about the switch from MA; did you use one switch, or need to buy two?

With this many LEDs is it still a lot less amp draw than the standard bulbs?


Here is the thread that got me into the LED thing: http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?t=20381

I put one of the 30 unit rectangles in each underhood light. They come in two pieces - the board with the lights and the festoon piece that snaps in where the factory bulb was. There are wires and plastic connectors on each piece, snap them together. I took electrical tape and taped it to itself (so no sticky) and put that as a backing to the circuit board. Then I used a couple small zip ties to hold the festoon and the wires tight to the board. Now I don't know how well they will hold up to water - and I really don't intend to find out..;) As far as current draw - they gotta be way less then the factory ones. I had my hood open for 4 hours with the factory lights and killed the battery. Had it up for probably 6 hours the other day with the LED's and you couldn't even tell when I hit the key... They are MUCH brighter. You will only need one of the MA switches to run both hood lamps. Go through the thread above and there is info on both the hood lights and the interior LED's. My wife and I did all the interior lights to LED. MUCH better!
Here is a pic another member took of my car at an evening show couple weeks ago - you can see how bright the lights are even in daylight:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i178/Racinfan83/Erics%20ZR-1%20Vette/Vetterearview.jpg

[emmvette]

Thanks for the link; I like what you did.
BTW, Eastern MO - which part? I'm from SE MO originally. Went to college in Rolla - MO S&T.

[Racinfan83]

I live in a suburb of St Louis called Cottleville. It is in St Charles County on the south end of St Peters/O Fallon. Rolla is about 2 hrs SW of me... :cheers: