Need your guy's opinions/ideas.

[89HatchbackLxi]

Alright 3Geez, I recently installed underglow on my 89 LXi Hatchback and I need your guy's ideas on how to cover up a little problem I ran into. I love the way the underglow looks on this car for the most part, EXCEPT the way it looks from the rear of the car. I was unsuccessful at finding an ideal location to install the rear light bar so that the bar itself was hidden from view. This was mostly due to how the 3Geez rear bumper is different than the bumper on most cars I have seen. The bumper on this car appears to slant down and then inward to meet the bottom of the car where it then ends instead of a style used more often on modern cars where the bumper will overlap the underside of the car by an inch or so. This results in a tacky looking neon bar visible from the rear of the car. Which is obviously no good...

I need some ideas on what I can do to make it less visible, whether that be moving it to a different spot or adding something onto the bar to make it less noticeable. I'm not gonna just remove it completely or anything, because I think it'll look good if done right, I just need to figure out something to fix this issue and it'll be good to go.

Here's what it currently looks like:





Bleh. Looks pretty terrible placed there... I'm thinking of possibly moving it to near the rear lift point or something, but i didn't know if doing that would cause an overall weak spot in the lift point.

So... anyone have any ideas?

[charliekuney]

Absolutely not.

[ShyBoyCA6]

Ricer

[import racer]

Just use the side one that go under the rockers,and forget about the front and rear.

[Nicktorius]

Underglow is terrible on any car and that bar sticking out for the sole purpose of providing underglow is terrible.

[elpuma]

I guess you could try to move it farther up? So that its not visible from the rear.

[Dr_Snooz]

I believe the gas tank is the big problem in your way. The only thing you can do is tuck up before the gas tank or after. We need pics when it's all done.

[89HatchbackLxi]

Just use the side one that go under the rockers,and forget about the front and rear.

This is probably going to be my last resort if I can't get the rear bar to be hidden.

Underglow is terrible on any car and that bar sticking out for the sole purpose of providing underglow is terrible.

I don't know about that. While oversized spoilers, lawnmower mufflers, and large body kits will look tacky on pretty much any vehicle, I think some cars can pull off underglow kits... Neon bars that stick out ridiculously or are completely obvious like mine happens to be at the moment, I will agree, look very stupid.

I guess you could try to move it farther up? So that its not visible from the rear.

That's what I want to do, but I'm not sure if drilling into the area in front of it (which happens to be the steel bar of the lift support) is a good idea, considering the car's age.. The screws aren't too large though, so maybe it wouldn't effect it?

I believe the gas tank is the big problem in your way. The only thing you can do is tuck up before the gas tank or after. We need pics when it's all done.

Exactly. The gas tank takes up the majority of the middle rear area, but I guess I could try putting it onto the lift support bar if that wont wreck anything.
I will definitely post pics when(/if) I'm happy with the way it looks.

[import racer]

Hey man it's your car,so whatever you like.Everyone has different taste but you asked for opinions and it's up to you which way you go.

[AccordEpicenter]

I believe when i had mine back in the day i tucked it up inside the rear bumper lip

[89HatchbackLxi]

I believe when i had mine back in the day i tucked it up inside the rear bumper lip

This is what I wanted to do... however, for some reason my Accord doesn't really have a gap there. Is there not much of a rear lip on hatchback models, or is my bumper just mis-adjusted?

[89HatchbackLxi]

I think I found a solution... I'm going to try moving it a bit farther back tomorrow, but position it so that the tube holder brackets are extending towards the rear of the car instead of towards the ground which will result in much less space between the tube and the car. After that, the bar will still be visible but after I move the tube I plan on trying to do something similar to a mod some guy on a mini cooper forum did using garage door stripping to add a lip to his front bumper. I'm going to try to copy what he did but use it to conceal the neon bar.

On the off chance that anyone is looking for help with the same issue I'm having, here is the link to the method I plan on trying: http://www.oznium.com/forum/topic16640

I also found another solution using a metal (or possibly even plastic) L-bar (painted either black, or the same color as my car) to hide the neon, which I will be trying next if the first method doesn't work.

Link to that method is: http://www.oznium.com/forum/topic16875

[89HatchbackLxi]

Alright, here's an update of how it looks from the backside now after covering it with garage door stripping. While it doesn't exactly conceal the underglow bar to the point of hiding it from view completely, it does do a pretty good job at helping it blend in. Also, the bar itself isn't visible when it is lit now which was one of my main goals in doing this project. I'll modify it a little bit better in the next few days so that it is even less noticable, but I think it looks pretty good now, when compared to what it had looked like previously.

[MessyHonda]

i was thinking putting it by the sway bar

[charliekuney]

Yeah, dude; the fact that it's not centered is going to kill the look completely.

[stat1K]

for what purpose does this serve?

[ShyBoyCA6]

POS imo

[jesus_charger]

lets get a night time picture!

[Legend_master]

Dude that car is to minty fresh to have underglow. Just remove the rear one, because it looks terrible. Either pull the rear bumper lip down, and tuck it under, or get rid of it.

[stat1K]

i vote get rid of all the underglow as it adds nothing to the look in my opinion.

[89HatchbackLxi]

Keep in mind, this photo was taken from the perspective of about 2.5-3 feet above ground, or what level you would only see at a distance of 4-5 car lengths away or further, were someone who is vertically challenged, or were bending down to look underneath the car. Not what you would see if you were standing near it.

i was thinking putting it by the sway bar

I didn't think of that... It seems a little too far forward, but I'll take a look at it, and see if it would fit there.

Yeah, dude; the fact that it's not centered is going to kill the look completely.

Tell me about it. The muffler kinda ruined anywhere that looked like a good spot to place the light bar. I was thinking of messing with reflective material to bounce the light from the lighted side to the dark spot, evening it out a bit. The good thing is, the glow is bright enough so that it doesn't look too off-center when the vehicle is moving.

for what purpose does this serve?

Ideally, to achieve a somewhat decent underglow look. I haven't got to that point yet though.

POS imo

Really, it looks that bad?

lets get a night time picture!

Will do. It actually looks pretty cool from the front so far.

Dude that car is to minty fresh to have underglow. Just remove the rear one, because it looks terrible. Either pull the rear bumper lip down, and tuck it under, or get rid of it.

I tried. There isn't enough room there. The mounting hardware is what causes the problem with that.

i vote get rid of all the underglow as it adds nothing to the look in my opinion.

I will, but only as a last resort. I can't return it now, and I've put too much time into this now to just scrap it.

[ShyBoyCA6]

yeah it does it looks like a broken part is hanging on there....so heres what you can do. Get smaller lighting tubes, like 2 of them bolt on side on to the rear bumper and ziptie or bolt it on the other side. the higher the inner bumper is the better and more lighting too. even if you have to drill a couple of holes on there to make it look legit and pro install.

[89HatchbackLxi]

Here's a still-frame from a video I took of it. This kinda shows what it looks like lit up from the rear. I'll get a better picture of it later.

[stat1K]

yeah i don't get it though, does it look cool to you?

[89HatchbackLxi]

yeah i don't get it though, does it look cool to you?

Let me put it this way. I don't think I'm really a really a ricer, even though underglow usually screams rice. I'm not going for a fast and furious customized streetracer look. I don't like the look of carbon fiber parts, huge spoilers, loud mufflers, spinning rims, or stick on chrome. However, I do like things that light up. Especially when they are colorful, and not just on cars. I like Christmas lights, stage lighting, fire, and yes, even underglow. So that's what I want to customize my car with. Lights.

Do I think underglow makes the car itself look cool? No, not really. But I do like the unusual lighting effect it creates when the car is in motion.