I noticed in the Consumer Reports August 2004 review of the xA that they had a photo of the xA interior at night. The caption reads:
The photo looks pretty cool. Why didn't xB owners get this too? Can the translucent door and light be easily and cheaply added? Did anyone do this to their xB?

I've never been in an xA and don't know if the light is truly nice or not.

xA owners: is it? Thanks. :D RPM

 

Not sure about that one. But you are better off posting this in the xA Forum.

-NT

 

I made my own window in the storage compartment. Now I call it the EZ Bake oven:



Dremel RULEZ :D

 

NICE WORK!

How did you construct the door and wire the lighting? I know your dremel tool helped. Thanks. RPM

 

If I ever lose a hand in an accident I want a Dremel grafted on. :twisted:

I took the door off. It is actually two pieces sandwiched. Cut a window in each piece. This will cut the business card holder out. Make sure that the hole in the outer piece is bigger! Then I used some plastic for a window, the thinnest plexi i had was too thick. I cut a piece off of some plastic packaging. I used that black door trim stuff to cover the edge on the outside to give it a smoother look. The light was easy. It's just a 6 inch LED bar on the back of the starge compartment. drilled a tiny hole in the rear to feed the wire out. It's wired into my dash lighting and stuff, switched next to the foglight switch. I actually put the light in there first and everytime i opened it I was feeling like I was trapping a lot of light, so I had to set it free.

Besides, If I'm going to stick a light in every nook and cranny, I couldn't ignore that nook.

 

Thanks for the DIY. It sounds pretty easy since you've done and explained the dissection and reconstruction. I thinking very seriously about doing this mod. Where do I get the "6 inch LED bar." Thanks. RPM

 

Computer stores are the ones I prefer. The PC LEDs are usually straight 12 volt, just cut the molex connector off and you're set. A lot of the car ones have resistors and crap inline which makes some of them a pain.

BTW, to get the two pieces of the door apart, there's 3 little tabs at the bottom. Oh yeah and watch for the springs on the hinges. Also, you MUST tell everyone that compliments it that it was TheScionicMan's idea :twisted:

 

Now I've got all the secrets; I think I'll patent it under my name!

No; I'm just kidding. Thanks for all the details. RPM

 

I ended up ordering the "Laser/Lazer LED" made by SunBeamTech.com:

http://www.sunbeamtech.com/new/produ...aser%20led.htm

I found it at the following web vendor for $4.99 + $4.10 USPS Priority = $9.09 Total

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/directron/lazerled.html

It looks like it will easily fit well in the storage tray and soon I'll have my own EZ Bake Oven (Thanks to TheScionicMan @ ScionLife!).

I ordered the white one on the right. It may make it look like god is in my center console!


I'm looking forward to receiving my LED light. RPM

 

If you can, cancel that order. You paid waaay too much for that LED thing. Go to www.svc.com/lighting.html and check the LEDs if you want that little array. It's like $2.79 on svc, paying $9 for it shipped is whacked out. Also, those lights are very focused and directional, so they're going to give off three focused circles of light instead of a diffused glow.

If I was you I'd go with a 6" cold cathode or a 6" LED tube, I've had a cathode in there for a while and it's quite bright.

 

I checked out the various lighting at SVC. They have a good assortment. Thanks for your tips and link. I did a lot of shopping around yesterday and decided on the white color 3 light Laser LED knowing that it gives off 3 focused circles of light instead of a glow. I'm thinking this light may have a different, interesting look and be useful for reading maps and directions placed on my, or my passengers lap when the storage door is open. The vender that I bought it from was the only one I could find that stocked white, amber and RGB, all colors that interested me. I was not able to locate a 6" LED tube that was 12 volts in white, amber or RGB. We'll see if my experiment looks and works good. :D RPM

 

does anyone know if they make an orange led cluster?

i couldnt find any on the net

 

Yes, AMBER is available:

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/directron/lazerled.html

Maybe amber is not the same as orange. :? :?: RPM

 

I am also interested in an orange LED cluster


~wC

 

can't wait to see how the cluster looks.

TheScionicMan, that looks awesome. great job.