Puddle Lights on stock skirts

hey guys,
 
i am interested in getting some puddle lights for my 2GS as i like them as a nice touch and no-one has them here in Perth that i know of.
 
However my car only has stock bodywork and I dont want to drill holes in the stock skirts. has anyone mounted them without drilling into the skirts? or is there a way it can be done that people know of that is still clean and neat? i was thinking of somehow mounting them to a thin peice of aluminium or something just behind the stock skirts.
 
also with the wiring, is there any pre-existing holes through to the body for the wiring or do you need to drill? how easy is this step to do as i would be looking to try and DIY them.
 
cheers for any input,
---Ant

They look terrible without drilling. I mean TERRIBLE. They NEED to be mounted properly or you'll be sad. Here are 3 reasons why its ok to drill into the stock sideskirts:

1. If you sell the car, whoever you sell it to will NEVER know, if they did know (from having the car up on a lift) they would then have to care, which, since it doesn't effect the car, they most likely will not.

2. They are plastic, its not like its going to rust.

3. Do not be scared to cut your car. Holes in the sideskirts are easy to do and easy to do right. When you have them off the car (30 minute job with a screwdriver) and next to eachother you'll be able to space them out perfectly and have them match both sides of the car. Truely a 2-3 hour/beer project.

thanks for the reply. i kinda figured the best way is to mount flush but i would like a lip kit one day possibly later this year so i wanted to have the stock skirts untouched to put back if i wanted to. but to be honest i really *shouldnt* get a kit (saving money and all) so i guess if i mount them to the stockers itll put me off haha
 
Elite Auto Style said they have some that mount with double sided tape so ive asked for an image of those so ill see what they are like, otherwise i may have to bite the bullet and drill.
 
i guess if i do them right & then do end up selling, the new owner of the car should like them anyway since theyll be neatly installed & fully functional.

Dude trust me... I can take a pic of what it will look like if that will convince you not to do it. If you do it right it WILL look good and if you do end up selling the car its only going to be a bonus selling point. Don't be scared of the drill. Measure it all up first and then go at it. You will be extremely glad you did.

I've heard of people mounting them to shower curtain rails before mounting beneath the car. I don't know how effective that is though.

without drilling the skirts to make them flush,they look really odd.
not a 2GS but you get the idea.
[IMG]http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/biggie86/IMG_0014.jpg[/IMG]
and you should'nt worry about the holes.you're not gonna see it unless its up in the air.

hmm true they look like pimples or something. plus i may scrape them off at some point lol
 
okay you guys have sold me...looking to grab a 12pack for 5 per side and flush mount them when i get paid on Friday :P

^ Good luck!!

I have them on my GS and you can't see them.  I've had them for almost 3 years and never had a problem and they weren't drilled.

^ way to throw a spanner in the works! haha i think i will just get them and have a look, i can always just dummy them up without drilling and see what i think. 
 
either way i will be at least DIYing the light install if not the wiring, so i guess ill see how they go!

[QUOTE=BEnxD;243758]I have them on my GS and you can't see them.  I've had them for almost 3 years and never had a problem and they weren't drilled.[/QUOTE]

pictures would help.

So what ever happened with this?

LOL , 
1 stock skirts =fail
2 not drilling on stocks skirt look like stick on fender vents = really big fail
3 if you are lowering the car at any point they will rip off and dangle = you know what i am going to say.

i had some damn busy w/ends so they sat a tad longer than expected..!
 
i had a crack at it though yesterday, but was also running round organizing things for a show my car is in this coming w/end so i didnt quite get them wired up yet.
 
But i decided drilling into the skirts was indeed the best option upon looking at them. So i have drilled them and mounted them and just have the wires dangling in the footwells at the moment. I had intended to take pics for other peoples reference but due to having to keep dashing off all day between doing the job i didnt get a chance!
 
I dont have time tonight but tomorrow (Tues) night i will wire them up and take a few snaps. I did throw the wires onto the battery to test them, turns out my lining up was a bit out of whack with my going away then coming back to it so they're sort of curved in-out-in haha but it almost looks intentional so ill live with it.
 
anyway pics to come but the moral of the story is drilling into stock skirts is easy, neat, and i would recommend it over trying to mount brackets.

to do it right....you should make brackets

i think i plan to eventually drill some into my stock skirts. why not!?!?! i cant see it

the brackets they come with are plastic and look a bit flimsy. and making up brackets seems to be a pain in the ass.
 
the stock skirts are like:
 
Out side of car this way --->   (/-| 
 
but that Dash is at the top not in the middle! so the slant is under the car, then it goes straight across, then that straight edge is the metal pinch welded sill bit. So its like a 'valley' in there. I mounted mine to the slanted out bit closest to the edge of the car. Then they just shine down to the ground really well and they;re well hidden and protected up on the angle in the valley part so they could never get scrubbed on anything

^any pictures of what you're describing?

sorry for no pics in this topic, always mean to take pics and dont end up doing it.
 
i will get some tonight, it took me from 7.30pm - 1.30AM to wire them all up last night!
 
i wanted them to come on with the courtesy lights (come on when i unlock car, go off when i lock, come on when i open doors, dim out with the inside lights) but also be able to turn them on manuallly.
 
since i didnt have a relay i just wired them into the footwell lights in series and then used 1 direct ground and the two grounds from each side to the 1 switch (my courtesy lights work electronically by making ground so they always have 12v power). 
 
This worked but is obviously sharing the circuit power, so when functioning as part of the courtesy light circuit, the footwell lights are probably about 30-40% of brightness, and the puddle lights are about 70-80% brightness. Then when i manually switch on the puddle lights they're 100% brightness and they cut the courtesy lights so they dont stay on too.
 
Ideally i will install a relay down the track and a direct power source, so i will be able to switch the puddle lights into the courtesy light circuit in parallel (so all lights are 100% brightness and function as normal) and then flick the relay over and the puddle lights draw their own power & ground and turn on indepedantly. But as i say, it was 1am and i didnt have a relay on me to do it this way last night. just want them in and working for the show this w/end
 
i will post some pics of underneath the skirts & of the lights etc tonight

[IMG]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e6/ant_s13sil/GS300%20Project/puddlelights003.jpg[/IMG]
 
[IMG]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e6/ant_s13sil/GS300%20Project/puddlelights002.jpg[/IMG]
 
[IMG]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e6/ant_s13sil/GS300%20Project/puddlelights001.jpg[/IMG]

looks good. I always liked the way puddle lights look on big body cars.

When i put my puddle lights on, it showed light from the side and it looked ghey. What i did was use 3m black electrical tape to tape the sides and BAM, it resolved that problem. 2 years and its still working fine. Tape is still on there good. Im going to take pics if i can

Dang your wheels are dope ant

Grundel cheers mate haha everyone tells me they look sweet when rolling, shame i cant see them! 
 
jspec - how do you mean from the side? mine seem to be fine since the way theyre mounted onto the skirt underneath they actual angle inwards and down so the light is focussed beneath the car only

oh no, yours are fine, sorry i should have quoted.. the message was to BIGGZ and how he said you needed to drill holes on the sideskirts so it wont look like pimples from the side . Im just saying for some owners , such as myself without any sideskirts at all, i just mount them on and put black electrical tape on the side of the lights so you dont notice them and light doesnt shine from the side as well.