OK, with the failure of a stealth front license plate mod comes the creation of a nice little mod with the rear license plate. I had these parts left and didn't want to just leave them sitting around so I decided to use them on the back.

This first pic is installed and is of it during the daytime. It's just at 2 inches think at the top and just under that at the bottom. I wired it into a 194(White) T10 Wedge Base Empty Socket that I got at this site at the bottom of this page: http://autolumination.com/194.htm

This allowed me to just plug and play this lighting mod. On with the photos...

 

Another day shot from the side...

 

Here's a close up of the unit...

 

Now for the night shots.....a drum roll please.

 

Another angle at night...

 

And, here is what it looks like with a car's headlights on it at night...

 

I bet you are wondering about the red Rotary accent. Well, I have not bought the Rotor accents yet. I thought I would try something a bit different. I have heard some on here thinking about painting theirs. I didn't want to go through the trouble since it's winter-spring and I cannot paint ouside yet so instead, I bought some red reflective tape and put it on piece by piece to cover the rear rotor and the effect you are seeing in the picture isn't doing it justice, it glows in the headlamps of another car.

 

If anyone would like, I can post a DIY on the Lighting Mod. It took about $35 in materials total.

 

How come the 'RX-8' brake lite is lit in the 1st pic, then all the rest are not? Is that photoshoped? Kinda looks that way...yes?

 

hmmmmm...... maybe he's not pressing on his brake? just a thought.

 

Is that ABe Linkin?

 

no its another mod he did, which is really cool. PM him if you want to know where to get the materials for that too.

 

The only photoshopping I did on this thread was to crop and resize the daylight pics. The ones in the dark, I had to bring the levels up a bit to display what they truly look like. Night photography of light with a digital camera isn't easy. Photoshop only makes it easier to correct for levels.

I was going to have my son step on the brakes for the rest of the photos too, but, I was kind of thinking the brake light on in all of them might be a bit over doing it. However, if you would like to know how to get one or make one for yourself, PM me.

 

Why yes, Martha, that is good old Abe...then again, you might have met him when you were younger...but, maybe not since he is known for his honesty...you know, Honest Abe? Sorry, forgot again, there's that honesty thing you are obviously unaware of.

The only home that Abraham Lincoln ever actually owned is located right here in Springfield, Illinois, which everyone knows is the home of the Simpsons.

 

Wow, very nice! Impressive. :D But a couple of questions...

First, why do you have the wiring for it coming out of the stock light location and running to the bottom of the frame? Why not the top? Would seem to be neater to me...

Secondly, didn't this whole thing come up when you wanted a front plate holder that would black out when the car was not running? Whatever became of that? I would think with the incandescent bulbs you're using now that they would overcome the tinted front cover.

One more thing... did you see this thread about that neat one way film? Perhaps you could use this stuff on your "stealth" front plate? It's cheap enought to buy some just to play with. Anyway, just a thought.

Regardless, NICE WORK! :D

 

Everything I used is available at most local auto parts places. The parts are:

White neon license plate light kit
License plate frame
Smoked license plate cover
2 long metric bolts with same patern as license plate stock bolts
Black out tape to mask some of the light and to keep it all together.

The white neon license plate light is prewired and the wire comes out of the bottom of the assembly. If you mount it one of the three ways they suggest, it becomes illegal because you can see the white light either emitted out the front of it or out the sides. That is the reason for the black out tape to mask the sides and to affix it to the license plate frame to make it a window box. You have to mount it with the wiring coming out of the bottom because if you mount it upside down, the power converter for the neon tube would cover the state name and it would be illegal.

 

Yeah, it did but that didn't work because the neon wasn't bright enough in the sunlight to overcome the darkness of the tinted lens.

I am not using incadescent lamps in this housing, it's the original neon. The only way I can think of to do the front license plate in a stealth manner would neccessitate modifying the front grill and recessing a window type box, that would have to be even deeper than this one, and using incadescent lamps and fixtures.

I did see the thread about the headlight film and I have been checking back regularly for the film in black. It's still out of stock there. I want to get some when it comes in stock again.

 

Before I make this rear license plate neon light mod a permanent fixture on the rear of my car, I want to do two things.

One, paint the wire black so it doesn't stick out, and two build a plastic frame that houses the whole assembly rather than relying on blackout vinyl tape.