Upgrading Interior Lights

Step into a current luxury car at night and one of the first things you notice isn’t the quietness or power. Nope, what you’re struck by is the courtesy lighting. There are lights in the footwells, lights in the lower doors, lights recessed into the bootlid. While your first thought might be ‘wank’, it takes only a few evenings to start to appreciate how useful decent courtesy lighting is. No more stepping into puddles, no more groping around in the boot when the single poorly-sited light is covered by luggage. 

And adding extra courtesy lighting is easy and cheap. No, it won’t make your car go faster but it’s the sort of thing you continue to appreciate month after month. And in the words of a friend, it’s also the sort of mod that has a great WAF... that’s Wife Acceptance Factor.

Sourcing the Lights

The best place to source new lights is at a wrecker... especially one that will let you wander around the yard at will. This is a better approach than buying aftermarket lights because (a) aftermarket accessory lights are often bodgy quality compared with OE, and (2) at a yard you’ll be able to pick from a variety of different styles and trim colours.

The lights you get depend on how you intend using them – you can pick from map lights, door lights, boot lights, new interior lights, and so on. Expect to pay from AUD$10-15 per light – less for simple ones and more for fancy ones like interior lights that incorporate map lights.

Fitting an Extra Boot (Trunk) Light

Most sedans run a very small light sited under the rear deck. They typically provide poor illumination inside the boot – and very little behind the car.

The designated upgrade was this light, salvaged from the inside rear of a Ford Probe. Note that it hasn’t a switch – in some cases you might want one.

In this car the boot lid opens wide, making it easy to mount the new light where it can do some good (ie lighting up behind the car as well as in the boot). The interior trim allows easy fitment.

The first step was to remove some of the fasteners holding the lining in place...

... and then mark the required cut-out. Before picking the spot, make sure that you check that there’s adequate clearance behind the trim panel for the light.

The hole in this trim material was easily cut with a pair of sharp shears.

The light could then be tried for size.

Most lights of this type clip into place, so the cut-out should be sized accurately to take advantage of the spacing between the clips.

The next step was the wiring. This light required two female spade terminals which were easily crimped to the new cable.

The cable was then inserted in some spare convoluted tube (salvaged from an old engine wiring loom – keep it in mind while you’re at the wrecking yard)...

...before being taped to the original loom in the bootlid. The new cable runs inside the factory loom down the hinge and into the boot.

Here is the new in-bootlid loom in place.

The final step was to make the connections to the original boot light wiring. This was done at the light, with the connections soldered then...

...taped and covered in convoluted tube.

Looks like it was always there!

Fitting Map Lights

Map lights are seldom used for reading maps... but the name has remained. (Like “glove” boxes...) Get used to having map lights and you really notice if they’re not there. The converse is also true - fit them and you soon get used to having them.

The first step is to have a good look at the headlining where you intend to mount the maplight assembly. In this car there is sufficient depth in the headlining to allow a recessed map light assembly – in other cars there isn’t. Make your wrecking yard selection after you’ve done some careful measurement of your car.

The selected light is from a current model Toyota Corolla. As can be seen, it incorporates two maplights. Other designs incorporate the main dome light and sometimes even sunglass holders.

In most cases you won’t need to take the headlining right out. Instead, removing the rear vision mirror...

...sunvisors and their fittings will allow the front of the headlining to droop down far enough for access.

The next step is to mark the required opening. Be very careful when doing this – if you make the hole too large, it’s impossible to put back bits of rooflining...

The hole can be cut out with a pair of sharp shears. Place an old magazine between the headlining and the roof panel so you can’t mark the inside of the metal.

It’s impossible to make a perfectly neat hole but concentrate on keeping inside the marked lines – it’s easy enough to later enlarge it if the hole proves a little tight.

This light is held in place by spring metal clips - two on this side and two on the other side. However, they’re designed for a thicker rooflining so....

...they were bent outwards and downwards so they would still hold the light firmly in place from behind.

Power for the new lights is picked up from the centre roof light. This needs to be unscrewed so that its wiring plug is accessible.

The cable that will take power from the dome light to the maplights can then be fed into the space between the rooflining and the roof until...

...it appears where the maplights are going to be mounted. In this case enough of the original maplight cable was bought that it didn’t need to be extended.

The cable was plugged into the maplight and then...

...the assembly was clicked into place in the rooflining. Now to make the lights work!

Most interior lights have two wires leading to them. One has power on it all of the time and the other only when a door is open. Connect one of the wires from the maplight to the wire that always has power and connect the other maplight wire to ground (here the eye terminal).

Then put everything back together and check that the new lights work! Again, they look like they’ve always been there...