cathodes > neon.... cheaper, brighter.... i have a couple sets with a couple more coming

That looks great. I like how it matches up with your Alpine CD player. It gives off a great lighting. You just need to toss some in the back so you can see what your doin.....

I have a white one in mine

Them greenie ones, however, look pretty good... RADIOACTIVITY!!!!!!!

Cost - $13 at my door off of ebay. $5 for the cathodes...$8 to ship (go figure). Additional costs above and beyond that...none as long as you have basic electrical tools.

The wiring was fairly simple. I wired into the cigarette lighter wires, which are just below the panel that the dual power seat switches would be on if my car were equipt. Hardest part was stripping those two wires that go to the lighter. The wires weren't long enough to come out of the panel, so I couldn't get my wire strippers in there.

Just a bit of random info for anyone about to do this project (if you can even call it that :P ). The cigarette lighter wire appears to be 18 gauge. I happened to have some extra 18 gauge around, so I ran some between the panel and the power inverter (converts from 12 volts to 670 volts) which is mounted on the floor, pretty much directly below the HU. From there you basically plug the lights into the power inverter.

My cathode "kit" came with a switch, and I will soon be buying a new one, that I will actually mount to the panel that was previously mentioned. That is why I didn't tap into a hot wire under the dash.

Matches ......decent with the alpine HU. The cathodes are a bit less green. Just a wee bit. That is probably the only down side of cold cathodes in general...the depth of the color isn't quite as good as neon. Like a red....is a bit on the pink side.

The back seat is next...for obvious reasons . Because the car looks funny when it is glowing. You can see everything in the front, and nothing in the back. That why....right?

After that I plan on getting some actual neon for the grill area. Actually, that leads to a question.

1) For exterior use, what is the most durable. LED? Neon? Cathodes? Or are they all pretty much the same.

2) When I get the ones for the back seat area, is it OK to go off the cigarette lighter again? Or will the wire not be able to handle it? I think it is right around 18 gauge. What other "always hot" wires are around that would be easy to access?

Thanks for the compliments, and thanks for the answers.

I dunno about cathodes......but if I had my choice of what kinda lights to put in the grille area, I'd go led if I could. They are durable, brighter (In some Cases,) and not as climate sensitive. Where as neons are real fragile, they take FOREVER to light up in cold cold weather, and the colder the more fragile. Just my thoughts,

be careful with cathodes outside because they are not as durable as the leds or neons.

Interesting thought. I didn't think of the fact that neons have to "warm up." With that in mind, and in being in a colder climate, I think I will have to go strictly LED for the exterior.

never once have i had to wait for a neon tube to "warm up" logan, and i live about 2 hours east of you.plus i never take them off in the winter.. and STILL no warmup time....

Oh...darn that false info...

not necessariily false just HIS experiance, but ive never had that problem