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Overhead Console Mod, With Pictures!

mmdavidw

mmdavidw

Full Member
Joined
May 22, 2002
Messages
4,729
Location
Eureka, MO
As many of you know, I have some neon which is controlled through four switches in the center console. Because I didn't know how many switches I'd have and because it was behind a door, I just used a piece of cardboard for my switch panel, which worked just fine for a temporary solution.


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Now that I'm pretty much done with my neon and have everything pretty much wired how I wanted it, it was time to go back and clean it all up and build a final switch panel.

Because some of my neons are illegal to use while on the road, having the switches behind a door wasn't going to work. I needed to know for sure when they were on.

Since I have homelink and the sunroof I decided to use the small (useless) storage compartment in the overhead console. Sounds easy enough... if I had only known what a pain it was going to be.

Had to take the drivers sunvisor off and half of the dash apart to get the wires up there, argh! Really wasn't too hard, just required a lot of paitence.


newoverhead1.jpg

newoverhead2.jpg

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The plastic I used for the switch panel is a medium grey that matches the homelink and sunroof buttons exactly and looks like it came right from the factory. I installed my 6" Purple Goo Tribute neon inside of the storage bin and shines out the bottom of the panel through a small gap. Using the wiring guide that ShapeShifter posted, it automatically turns on when the headlights come on. ?>:D

But anyway, all of the wires are run and everything is ready to go except for one thing. I need switches. My original tall rocker switches are too tall to fit in the opening for the storage bin.

I want switches that have a chrome housing and are lighted in either red or clear. They need to either have a round housing or a small square housing like the one on the right in my picture posted at the very top. I've hit the local auto parts stores and looked at dozens of switches but nothing really jumped out at me.

If anyone has any ideas for switches please let me know. I want to have (and have wired for) five switches in the overhead console.

David
 
While I was on my original switch hunt I found one I kinda liked... liked more than the rest anyway. After I started this thread Got Change IMed me and suggested the same exact switch I was looking at.

Two great minds think alike so I had to clean 4 Discount Auto Parts out of this switch today to get the 5 I needed.

I needed 5 1/2" holes in my plate, not a big deal. Measured it out and put the switches in. Made all of the final connections and wired it all up. Did a quick test and everything lit up. (y)

Tucked all of the wires in, lifted the overhad console back into position... and ... it... wouldn't tuck back in. The transformer for the purple neon was in the way. Granted I was working on this at 10pm when it's a little dark out so I couldn't really see what was going on. So I had to pull the purple neon out... for now.

With that out I tried it again and it tucked back up and snapped into place. Tried the map lights, they worked. Tried the homelink buttons, they worked. Tried the sunroof... and nothing. Uh oh, I broke the sunroof switch. Pull the console back off, look at the sunroof connection and it's tight. Fiddle with it a few minutes and nothing.

Then like a virtual slap in the back of the head, an idea hit me. :0: The sunroof requires the key in the ignition... put the key in and turned it on and the sunroof worked! WHEW!

So after sitting there and playing with the switches for awhile to enjoy the results of my last 18-20 hours of work I decided to take a walk around the truck to see how it looked from the outside. And I think I might have a potential problem. Maybe.

These are black toggle switches with a red LED at the very tip. The way I mounted them, when the switch is on it points straight back right out the back of the truck.

Standing behind the truck you can see the 5 red LED's VERY clearly... they line up right under the third brake light.

I think I'm ok though because these are red lights and they're only visible from the back. Well, you can also see them if you're standing right by the drivers (or passengers) seat on the outside of the truck... otherwise they're not noticable.

The worst case, I rotate the switches 180 degrees and they'll point downward when they're on and then nobody will see 'em.

I will post pictures tomorrow but I'll just say that I'm VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY pleased with this mod. IMHO it looks really good and I'm happy I went through the time to do it. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

David
 
Man I'm just impressed that you found a panel colour to match the console button so well, never mind all that other stuff. Can't wait to see the pic's. It's looking to me that any wiring you want to do into that console is going to take time to complete. :cautious:
 
Actually, where that plastic came from is amazing all in itself.

I have two "L" shaped computer desks... probably 12-15 years old. They both have a keyboard tray with a plastic insert for pens and office supplies.

I have since bought a new desk and those have been tucked away in the closet. In the last few weeks, I have been trying to sell/give away both desks, without any luck.

When I was looking around for test switch panels I saw the plastic keyboard tray inserts. Took a second look. Practically RAN outside with them in hand and they grey one was an EXACT match to the buttons. I also have a black one. I have enough plastic left (in the right shape) for 1 more grey panel and 2 black panels.

Needless to say, I may give away the desks, but those plastic tray inserts are mine!!!

Wiring in the overhead console isn't hard at all, it's actually really easy. It's just getting the wires up there that's time consuming. Since you have to do the Left/Right conversion on yours, have the guy run a few wires up there while it's all torn apart just incase you want to do something up there later.

David
 
I snagged a few quick pictures this morning just before the batteries died. They're a little fuzzy, but I will get some better ones this afternoon.


switchesoff.jpg


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David
 
looks sharp David, I am a big fan of filling up the various GM cubbies that to me indicate the fact that I did not get this or that option. I wanted to fill my OHC cubby (I have the exact same OHC as you) with a trip computer, but never got it done. Now I am thinking I can throw some switches up there, thanks to you. Personally, I would find anything other than the faintest glowing led "on indicator" to be a bit distracting at night up there, so I guess that would be a consideration for me.

I am also a veteran of running wires up there, did so for my back-up camera. Not too bad, really.
 
Thanks jackalanche, that storage compartment in the overhead compartment is totally useless. After having it apart it looks like they could have made it bigger.. no idea why they didn't.

I'll try and get some pictures of the wiring I have behind the switches. I tried to get a little creative so they'd tuck down into the console so it would fit back up into the ceiling nicely and have some cable long enough that you could pull it down far enough to work on it comfortably.

As far as the lights, I haven't driven around with it at night. It was noticable during the day this morning, but not distracting. But considering those switches turn on red neon's, it should all just blend in together. :)

They had some nice shorter chrome toggle switches that weren't lighted that would look nice and not be potentially distracting.

And for Chris... doesn't everyone put neon in their Avalanche? :)

David
 
I have also been considering putting switches in that cubby. To get around the mass of wiring, I was thinking of running a light gauge multi conductor ribbon cable between the overhead cubby, and the space below the cupholders in the center console. Then, the switches would control a bank of small relays down below.

The advantage to this is that only low current goes up to the cubby, and the size of the wire can be much smaller. The high current stays down in the lower console where it is easier to run the larger wires, and the runs are shorter.

Another advantage is that once the switches are in, and the relays tested, future modifications won't require any changes in the cramped upper console area. All of the real connections are done down below where there is much more room to work.

I figure a standard easy to find 16 conductor ribbon cable could support seven switches: a common ground and power line, and then a switched circuit and indicator line for each switch.

More than six switches will probably get crowded up there. So, I would probably only use 12 wires for switches/indicators, and double up the extra wires: two for common ground, and two for power.

For the actual switch panel, I was thinking of a row of small rocker switches. Above each switch would be a micro-sized pinpoint LED indicator, and below would be a label. Using pinhead sized LEDs should get around the nightime distraction issue, but still be able to tell that they are on.

Now, if only I could think of an easy way to backlight the labels, and control the brightness of the LEDs using the dash lights dimmer... :cool:

I just haven't had the time to work on it... :6:

-- SS
 
ShapeShifter, I had plenty of room for the wires I ran, which really wasn't too many. The main octopus of wires I had were the actual connections to the switches.

The wires run down the drivers side and end up behind the panel by the drivers side floor and hood release lever. That's where I made all of my connections to my accessories.

Like you, I was thinking about having somewhere easier to get to for wires than having to rip apart the overhead console every time. That side panel was near all of the fuses and was out of the way and can hide everything away easily. I can also easily rearrange the order of the switches by just popping off that panel and moving some wires around.

The LEDs on the end of my toggle switches are extremely small. LEDs by nature tend to be fairly bright though, no matter what size. If you went with a purple, green or amber it would probably blend in a little better. Red kind of jumps out at you and makes you notice it.

I would be interested in suggestions for labels for the switches. And for the backlight, I have the purple neon tucked into the bottom of the console, at night it casts a soothing glow upon the bottom of the panel, which would probably be about the closest thing you'll get to a backlight for the labels. :)

David
 

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It's super overcast outside right now, so I'll wait until there's more sun for the good pictures, but I just wanted to grab one from the outside.

Only had four of them on for the picture and the sun was up, but it was just cloudy... the LEDs are bright and kinda adds a nice light effect too.

David
 
HI People,
Can anyone give me a step by step for Overhead console removal ? Also can I cut a hole though to the front for a radar detector without hitting something important?
THanks, Mike
 
There's one screw towards the back, remove that and then there are just four clips holding it on. Just pick a corner and pull straight down and it'll come loose.

David
 
mmdavidw
maybe if you had some tint on the rear window it would lessen the effect of seeing those bright LEDs on your switches. IMO if you like tinted windows that is... a nice 20% tint should work wonders.

Shades
 
Thanks, I pulled on it some, but didn't want to destroy something.
Mike out..
 

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Here's a picture of the wiring mess. Here's what I did and why I did it.

I wired the power and ground for switches 1 and 2 together, 3 and 4 together and then 5 by itself because it was the underbody neon and drew the most amps.

I took wires from each of the connections and made the actual connections to the power and ground wires.

I did this for the main purpose of having small flexable connections of wires that I could fold down and out of the way into the overhead console. I only have one power and one ground wire coming out of the ceiling that are plenty long so I would have plenty of slack to work with. Obviously each of the accessories have their own wire.

David
 

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And here are the pictures of the purple Goo tribute neon. I had the camera up really high where you could see part of the bulb. Sitting in the seats you just get a nice glow coming out of it and you can't see the bulb.

It automatically comes on when the headlights come on.

It looks great with the red LED's on the switches too.

Pictures don't really do it justice.

David
 
mmdavidw said:
Pictures don't really do it justice.
Click to expand...
If that's the case, then it must be awesome in person, 'cause the pictures look great. (y)

-- SS
 
Did this a wile back. Purple neon in the top of the cubbi opening. It casts a soft glow down the face of the dash. It illuminates the center consoles cup holder. ?No switch so it's on when ?the truck is on. I'll add a switch when I hard wire a radar detector up there.


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What a great mod....it looks like the effort and frustration paid off. One question..while you were up there in the area around the cubby...did you find any unused factory wiring? I'm planning on mounting a trip computer up there. Any existing wires that could be used or re-routed would be helpful.
 
Way cool! That skull is nice and creepy in there. I'm sure the person behind you can see it. >:D

David
 
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