Not sure if this is the best section of the forum but I like to live dangerously.

A friend gave me a link to another forum a while back, where Golf/Bora/Passat owners were complaining the boot lighting was woefully inadequate and they had put in some extra lighting. Have to say I never noticed before but then paranoia set in and I too was convinced I need more light in the boot.

I sourced some cold cathode tubes from a computer supplier for a few quid and wiring was simple. I managed to hook them up without cutting a strand of original cable so if need be I can just put it straight back to stock in about 60 seconds.

In short it cost me £6 and 20 mins of time. Figured I'd share the love.

Anyone who can hold a pair of wire cutters and spell "cat" could manage this. Just figured I'd post it up.

I'm barely 32 and I spent my Friday night wiring extra lighting into my Skoda boot .... worse still then posting up pics of it on the net. What on Earth happened to me and why didn't I notice at the time?

Edited 14 November, 200817 yr by allclownsareevi

Looks very nice

where did you take the power supply from?

Anyone who can hold a pair of wire cutters and spell "cat" could manage this.

c t a

bugger

Looks very cool

looks absolutly spot on :thumbup:

Why do we have to spell tac? ... Bugger!

Looks good, how durable are they? I'm quite keen to do something similar but I would be a little worried about smashing them on the rare occasion that the boot is loaded to the top (camping trips etc). I suppose they could be shielded somehow if this is an issue.

Where did you purchase them from?

Thanks.

Also, what are the two 'hoops' hanging down? Are they hooks for carrier bags?

By the time I get to reading this thread all the dog spelling jokes have gone.

Ha, obviously not that one.

Sorry. Nice work though. You big chav :P

You big chav :P

You know mate that very thought did occur to me. But I figured being as they're on the inside I'd get away with it, obviously not.

Actually since having them in I can see the benefit. Had three laptops in the boot tonight and finding the right laptop and it's corresponding charger wasn't the usual fumbling debacle.

I drew the power directly from the existing light in the boot. Unclipped the light and unplugged the power connector.

As for their durability, yeah I had the same thought. They're not bomb proof. They're not too fragile but they'll not take a huge amount of punishment, but mounted as they are under the parcel shelf I'm guessing they'll be alright. I see your point though if you packed the boot out right to the brim you'd have to be careful not to whack them too hard.

Maplin do similar tubes but I sourced these from ebuyer. Came with the inverters and self adhesive pads. Snip off the molex connector, strip the +ive and -ive cables and put the bare wires into two brass sleeves and crimp them tight. Then push the +ive and -ive brass sleeves into the power connector for the boot light and you're done.

Pretty simple mod. The same technique would work to give your car that Audi headlamp look. You can get strips of white leds in a transparent hose and could mount them in the headlamp housing. Chav-ier than Burberry but each to their own I guess. Not for me though. All chavved out for now.

Also, what are the two 'hoops' hanging down? Are they hooks for carrier bags?

Curry hooks

The two hooks are there to harness a braking parachute onto. If you're bulleting down the M1 so fast you can see through time and suddenly start to "Hammond", pull the boot release and all is well. Nice feature. ... ok maybe not.

Curry hooks

Yeah basically. Hang stuff from them. As the bags swing with inertia of the car they're gyro-synchronous (woohoo 5 bonus points to me for being a geek). In other words stuff should stay level in the bags. I like idea's like this. Costs Skoda next to nothing to do this and yet it has a valid use.

Curry hooks

pmsl laughing not just me then

Looks good mate, and thx for sharing it.

Nice lighting

I did something similar for my Superb, as finding anything in the boot at night was next to impossible when the boot was full. But instead of using cold cathode lamps, I used 2x 3W Luxeon LEDs that I originally intended to fit in the reversing lights.

The nice thing about luxeons is that the lens itself is very small, so I fitted them under the parcel shelf but above the metal, in the 6mm holes at the entry edge of the boot. I used a high-tech solution of super-gluing the lamp casings to the metal. Given that these holes are already in recesses, chances of knocking the lights out are minimal. I run full boot at least 5 times a year, including squeezing in suitcases and often a full size car freezer that barely clears the entry.

Speaking of which, these nice meat hooks are extremely useful for shopping, but they reduce the already small usable opening aperture of the boot by about 3/4in. I had to remove one of these hooks (2x cross bolts) to be able to squeeze the freezer into the boot. (It's the WAECO CF-50, and if the freezer is in the jacket you still need to take the cover off before stuffing it in the boot, and replace it once it's in the boot).

An excellent idea - thanx

John

The two hooks are there to harness a braking parachute onto. If you're bulleting down the M1 so fast you can see through time and suddenly start to "Hammond", pull the boot release and all is well.

I see, so those Wolfsburg engineers really are on something?!?

By the way, I've just had a call from your local store, the LED rear lights and the stickers for the doors you ordered are in stock and ready for you to collect

What's wrong with LED rear lights Bluefox? :confused:

I use 3W Stop/Fog Red Luxeon LEDs in stock clusters, because they really are more durable then bulbs, and I can have 2 Fog lights so that I have correct setup both in UK and on the Continent... and 5x brake lights, which matters for those of us who had their cars rear-ended 3 months into new ownership

If bulbs are used the way I described, there is too much load on electrics.

I did see the joke, it's just that USEFUL lighting mods are a bit of a hobby for me...

I see, so those Wolfsburg engineers really are on something?!?

By the way, I've just had a call from your local store, the LED rear lights and the stickers for the doors you ordered are in stock and ready for you to collect

Woohoo been waiting for my LED lights to arrive. Have ordered in white, red and brown, when wired into a PCB correctly they should be perfect Burbery braking lights ..... hmmmmmmmmm classy.

As for the braking chute idea, not had reason to use it yet, but you can bet the day I need it the boot release catch will fail and resulting headlines will say

"witnesses described how they heard a manic voice yelling 'DEPLOY! DEPLOY!' just seconds before the fireball".

Nice one

John

What's wrong with LED rear lights Bluefox? :confused:

I use 3W Stop/Fog Red Luxeon LEDs in stock clusters, because they really are more durable then bulbs, and I can have 2 Fog lights so that I have correct setup both in UK and on the Continent... and 5x brake lights, which matters for those of us who had their cars rear-ended 3 months into new ownership

If bulbs are used the way I described, there is too much load on electrics.

I did see the joke, it's just that USEFUL lighting mods are a bit of a hobby for me...

LED Bulbs, yes, they're a good idea.

These? Well, make up your own mind...

I FINK THEYL LOOK WEL GUD ON UR WHIP MAN.

(On a side note, while searching for that image I found a Burberry Maserati Quattroporte. That's truly terrifying... but I think this has gone OT enough )

Did this to mine today. Big improvement

Did this to mine today. Big improvement

Yeah it's really quite simple huh? I really didn't see the point at first but the first time I needed something from the boot at night it made a lot of sense.

I have to admit my adhesive pads fell off though so I'm going to secure the bulbs on with something better soon .... this weekend maybe, only I had some really bad news this week and I don't plan on using the car until then, so for now they're just dangling around. :thumbdwn:

I never switch my boot light on, it's how I top up my food cupboard weekly with the 'dropsies' from the punters at Asda lol.

I have to admit my adhesive pads fell off though so I'm going to secure the bulbs on with something better soon .... this weekend maybe, only I had some really bad news this week and I don't plan on using the car until then, so for now they're just dangling around. :thumbdwn:

Cable ties?

I've just had a look at these on Ebuyer so I think I'll be joining the "revolution".

Hope the news isn't too bad. :goodvibe:

Yeah I was going to say cable ties myself but I could just hear people shunning me for using them.

Yeah sadly the bad news was pretty bad. Just have to crack on with stuff, not much else to do.

nice one