I have always like the 93+ dome lights. I have a extra one in my garage and was wondering if anyone has ever made that conversion? If so how did you go about wiring it up? And how was it mounted? Matter of fact is it even possible?
Any input, advice, pictures and expertise appreciated.
Yes, I have a 93 dome light in my 88 coupe. I was redoing my headliner and wanted to get rid of the R2D2 map light. You could leave it in place if you don't want to deal with covering the hole it will leave...but you will need to use the positive wire going to it. Either jump off of it, or just remove it from that map light and leave the light itself in place.
I am sure there are a few ways to wire it, but I chose the easiest for me. The stock dome uses one of the supporting screws as a ground to the roof. The new light has three prongs, one for ground, one for + from the door ajar switch, and the third is constant + to run the map lights.
I hot glued a piece of thick cardboard inside the hole left behind by the stock map light (between the visors) and recovered the whole thing. Either way, you need to extend that wire to the dome light and use it as your constant + to run the map lights, the stock connector for the stock dome light will be used for the new dome light, so it comes on when the door is open.
It's been so long I forgot exactly how I did it. But basically I used a small wire and grounded it to the roof of the car, cut off the stock positive and used it for the dome light, and extended the map light wire to run the map lights in the new dome.
Notice that the retainer screws are also the connectors for positive and ground, you will need to cut off some of the prongs where the screws go through so you won't ground out the dome light when screwing it to the roof.
I am going to have to remove mine to get a better look and remember how I did it. But the long and the short of it is, yes, it can be done. Sorry I am so vague, I will get better info tomorrow.
I just got rid of the map light and used the wires to wire up the 93 dome light.
Just had to drill a few new holes for the mount bolts.
A tip from experience: Use a piece of electrical tape and wrap it around the drill bit several times about 1/4" from the tip. This will act as a stop for the drill bit when you drill through the metal so you don't drill through the roof!
I had one in my car for a while, but the mounting plate on the roof is different, so it would not quite sit flat in my car. I wired it up like Fett said, constant from the front map light and the other two wires.
But I ended up getting a smaller light from a 94-95 car and it fits so much better.