Neon as Auxilary Lighting?

I've seen large packs of Neon selling on ebay cheap lately and I've been wanting some neon running lights and interior lights for my 73 VW Bug, but I was also curious to see what you all thought about the possible use of neon lighting for underhood, cargo, and undercarriage lighting.... I wouldnt do the Cherokee up with running lights, black lights, or strobes... but I was thinking switchable underhood lighting, cargo area lighting, and emergency undercarriage lighting so if I gotta pull off the side of the trail at dusk I would have lighting right at the suspension, steering, and other critical points......

...I guess the question is, how much usable light comes from say, a 9" neon tube.....

No where near enough, IMHO. Neon works fine as a sign, but doesn't put out enough light to illuminate. And I don't need any more high voltage wiring.

Here is 2 pictures of (2) nine inch blue neons inside.



In my opinion, they give off a lot of light, but it probably won't be very useful light if you need to repair something. You could always try though.

85Chief

it illuminates, but is not good anything else. not to mention distracting IMO.

What if you changed the bulbs to white? I would think that they would be better for rocklights and interior lights then.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=248187&highlight=neon+light

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=303146&highlight=rocklights