Has anyone tried solar-powered under-hood lights? Wonder if they'd work well or just be a waste of money.

 

I like this idea, looking into it.

If I move forward, this option does not have to be mounted on the bottom of the hood (which is where most of the heat is) because the wire lets the light itself be moved to where ever it is needed.

I like retro mods, like when I did the Cadillac Deluxe 4 Horn set from a 70s Eldorado on my old 07 H3 Adventure.

 

Make sure you power to ignition on or battery draws dead with that vintage light technology.

 

There is an On/Off switch.... if it is Off = no draw. I am very familiar with vintage.




There has been a bunch of Jeep guys that have done the GM Hobbs Retractable light mod. I see where Taint got his motivation.

I was looking at the KC HiLites Cyclone LED 2 Light kit, but with tax it's darn near $100 and can never move around to be used elsewhere.

 

Well Taint, you got me thinking... Almost hurt myself with all that .

I tracked down a nice GM 15990293 and/or 15528774. Ebay has them going through often, most are overpriced, some are in excellent condition with the harness connector and lead wires intact. The Positive wire lead is a light/faded orange, so I used orange 18 AWG hi temp wire. The ground lead was almost 2 feet on what I bought no wiring needed for ground.

Went all out on a set of four 1156 LED bulbs so I got an extra in the glove box and more in the garage.

LED 1156 Bulbs

LED 1156 Bulbs

Then spent some time finding a mount location that made sense for my H3 Alpha. Made a mount bracket with a piece of 5" wide 1/8" this 304 Stainless Steel plate I already had. If I had to buy the plate now I would just go aluminum as it is plenty strong, the GM Underhood lamp reel is not heavy, and stainless prices are ridiculous now. Took a bit of license with the idea from Outfitter Design's H3 On-Board Air Mount to use the Air Filter Box Bolt location for one attachment and that same 6MM fender hole for the second.

I am happy with my results and that little bulb is bright as all get out. Mine has the light base magnet intact so it cam be stuck almost anywhere when needed.

 

Mounting options to the bottom of the hood just did not make sense to me.

 

NICE WORK DOC!
Mine is in that exact same spot with my ARB diff/trans/Tcase breathers.
With the LED modification that sucker is BRIGHT isn't it?

 

Not enough light for you to see>> YOUR COOLANT O/F TANK IS LOW?

 

The coolant reservoir for an Alpha has a different cold full line than the I5s, and I pointed this out to you in another thread with pictures where you tried the same chit. The level is spot on where it is. Live and learn.

 

Brightness surprised me, better than expected!