mikek6789

Please help, how do you install an underglow kit (please dont give opinions on how underglow looks, i just want to know how to install it). Are there any tutorials with pictures?

and what exactly is a firewall?

Thanks
mIke

cerealkiller

The firewall is the barrier between the engine bay and the passenger(or interior) area of your vehicle...or at least this is the noob definition, I'm sure the're are more indepth descriptions out there, but this should give a general idea.

KINGxOFxSKA

mikek6789 i'm sending you a PM right now

unlimited77

^^^^ could you send me a pm too, i mean if it is directions or pics of the install....

Thank you

insaneintenti0n

i'm in the process of doing mine now. It's been raining the last couple days so all I have are the side tubes and rear tube on.

Let me at least give you a word description for the moment for the side and rear tube.
When i get around to the front tube, i'll make sure i take some pictures.

Some tools/materials that will come in handy:
-Packaging tape, or another strong tape.
-Power Drill with drill bits smaller in width than the screws you have.
-Screw driver bits for the power drill that fit the screws.
-Silicon
-Large Cable ties.

Prep Work:
Take off the side floor running boards and lift up the carpet some to prevent screws from possibly going through it.

Side Tubes:
-Get a few long pieces of tape ready. (about 4 is good per tube)
-Hold the tube roughly where you would like to have it.
---On the tC, you have to go about 4 inches towards the center of the car from the side skirt. Anywhere closer to the side skirt is thick steel and I broke a screw off in there.
-Take the tape and tape in place the neon tube.
-Take the power drill with a drill bit and drill holes in the spots where the screws will hold the tube in place.
-Screw the screws in through these holes
-Depending on the type of neon tubes and the wiring you can do the following...
--if it is two small wires, just drill a hole large enough to run the wire straight through the floor baord. (my current kit)
--if it is a large connector, run the wiring through the firewall - to be discussed. (my LED kit on the Paseo)
-Fill in holes and around the screws with silicon.
-Remove tape.

Rear Tube:
At the moment my install my or may not be temporary (but it will work)
-In the rear bumper of tC there is a steel I beam. towards the front of the car there are two steal beams (one on each side of the car) with about 3 large (1/4"-1/2") holes. I ran cable ties though the holes in the steal beams and secured the neon tube that way. I have it so it is pushed tightly against the heat shield near the muffler.
-For the time being I have the wiring running through one of the flood plugs under the spare tire. I should fix that, but probably won't.
- Just run the wiring between the seat and under the rear paneling, and under the side floor board and to the front of the car. (the wiring on my tube was too short and i had to lengthen it by soldering more wire to the end of it.


For a general idea for the power wiring, and front tube.
-The front tube should be relatively similar to the rear tube, but i have yet to crawl under the front of the car to know for sure.
-In my other car, there is a rubber plug under the driver side front splash guard above the wheel. There is already wiring run there from under the hood to the dash. it's a goo place to run power from the battery to the dash, and the wiring from the front tube.
-For ground, just attach the wire to a grounding point under the dash. There are several.
-Install a switch where ever you would like in the front of the car. (OR if you're worried about messing with the electrical system... for the time being my side tubes are run on the cigarette lighter. I had cigarette lighter adapter lying around. So i just attached the wiring from the neon tube distributor box to the cigarette lighter adapter, and i can just plug it in there and they light up. Eventually, i'll install a switch once i have the other tubes on.



I hope that helps some.
In the next 5 days... it's supposed to NOT rain for 1 1/2. So i'll try to get around to getting some pix and finishing my kit so i can help a little better.

G/L. BTW, I love neons. that's gonna be the only mod on my tC for a while. (Still have to fund the Paseo mods first.)

ScionDad

For the front tube, I cut out the bottom plastic splash pan with a dremil to fit the tube into it flush so I couldn't see the tube hanging down.

Nor did I drill one hole to attach them. I used zip ties with the metal clip (weather proof) and slid them into existing slots and brackets using 2 zip ties at each end of the tubes. Ran all the wires to engine bay and thru firewall into dash. I do not like drilling holes for dress aftermarket products...2 years from now, bad things tend to appear, like rust.

The side an rear tubes are really easy to attach and install. The front requires some work in order to properly hide them from view.

dgHotLava

moved...

if you guys can add pics and more info, we can turn this into a tech article....

insaneintenti0n

As I said, I haven't looked under the front, but from what i could feel, it did seem like the splash guard covered from the from the the bumper to pretty far back. That's not a bad idea though. I might have to condsider picking up a dremel and doing that myself.

ScionDad

Oh it works perfect. I laid the tube on there, marked it with a perm marker, laid under there and cut it out. I left about 2 inches on each side of the splash guard so I could fit the tub in and use the splash guard to help hold it in place. Zip tied and a little all weather clear caulk sealed it right up. Working great since January.

As for the dremel, you will use that thing for the most weird things

KINGxOFxSKA

haha i did the same thing. but i didnt have a dremel at the time, i just used a sharp knife. :D

insaneintenti0n

That's why i need to just go buy one. there's been so many times that I've needed to cut something, and know a dremel is best... but don't have one. Guess I'm stopping by the store on the way home.

violent_b

I worked on my friends tC and I took a heat gun to mold the spalsh guard so the tube would fit straight across. I believe there were factory holes in the splash guard so I wire tied the tube up into place.

xbox83

and for some useless knowledge its a bulkhead now instead of a firewall just like an emergency brake is called a parking break. its for liability reasons and what not but i just saw it in the first and second posts and thought i'd throw it out there. so yeah. bye. lol

-X

ScionDad

I guess calling the rubber piece sticking out of the boot on the "bulkhead" a nipple was a not so PC either

Thanks for the heads up on that one. Would have never thought to call it a bulkhead.

But, then again, I sometimes still call the enter key the carriage return key when telling someone how to enter something on their computer. My kids look at me like I was speaking greek.

insaneintenti0n

Nipple sounds right to me...

Anyway. I finished my neon kit today since it didn't rain like it was supposed to.
Well. I just cut like 3" of the splash gaurd out on the front of the car since there is a nice little edge that the tube fits in nicely.

As far as running the wire for the power from the battery... It is not like my Paseo
I did run the wire through the driver side wheel well. but there's not a nice big hole like i'm use to. There is a small rubber plug that holds the cable for the hood release. That's where i ran my wire, but i would probably recommend against doing that.

I took a few pix, but nothing turned out . It was too overcast outside and the flash wasn't going off. I'll try again another time.

On another note.... i found out my rear tube busted already. it was only cable tied on, but not tight enough i guess, and it must have been bouncing pretty hard against something to crack like it did. I'm not use to neons. My other kit was LEDs and they hold up much much better.

So, anyone know where I can buy just ONE 3' blue neon tube?

mikek6789

CREDIT GOES TO 05_SCION_TC (AKA PATRICK)

ScionDad

Neons look so sweet, but fragile as...well glass I used the LED's Those things will take a beating

Lonely_Raven

I'm putting my LEDs on tomorrow. I'll take some photos,
but it's on a box, so not sure that helps any.

CyRaX2007

marking this for my info

So you guys said that you had to drill into part of the underside of the car...

anyone do this with the OEM Ground Effects kit, is it different???

insaneintenti0n

I drilled into the underside of the car. (I've done two cars this way) Other people attached the side tubes to the sideskirts. It's up to what you're willing to do. Drilling through the floor might not be the best idea if Toyota used cheap metal for the floor for the Scions because once you go through the layer of sealing on the bottom of the car, you have the potential for rust. If you decide to drill, just make sure you go around the screws with some silicon to seal it from water.

The way i did my install, the stock sideskirts, or ground effects side skirts don't matter. my tubes are about 3-4" away from the side skirts.