TVR Griffith Auxiliary Sockets
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12 Volt Socket Installed in place of Instrument light switch
The 12 volt socket on the drivers door was no doubt intended to light cigarettes but as an auxiliary supply it is most inconvenient as cables trail across to the dash to power Sat-Navs, Dash camera's etc. The Instrument lights switch under the dash to the left of the steering column is in my book an unnecessary complication as if the headlights are necessary then so will the instrument lights. Many years ago I replaced this switch with a waterproof 12 volt socket obtained off eBay for a few £s. While this tidied things up a great deal power cables for dash camera etc. still had to trail a fair distance so I decided to install a second socket on the passenger side.
As Sat-Navs and Cameras can now routinely be powered from a UPS ( 5 volt) socket I decided to fit a dual UPS socket again bought from eBay for a few £s
The position has to be chosen carefully as it is close to the passenger door handle and within the dash care has to be taken to avoid fouling the air vent.
Cutting the hole for the socket had to be tackled very slowly and methodically to avoid damaging the dash trim. When the optimum position was decided I drew round the socket on the dash with pencil to outline where cutting needed to be within. Then very carefully with a sharp stanley knife cut six segments from my pencil outline to the centre of the cut out avoiding cutting outside of the pencil line. The segments could then be folded carefully back to expose the foam underlay of the trim. The foam was then carefully removed before drilling the hole. So as to locate the hole centre accurately a suitable sized washer was placed in the void and the centre marked with pencil. A 25 mm hole saw was then used very slowly to drill a 25mm hole in the fibre glass dash. The socket requires a 28mm hole so this was achieved by carefully filing the fibreglass for a snug fit. The socket was connected to the permanent 12 volt supply via the original fuse that protects the cigar lighting socket in the drivers door. As I always isolate the supply when the car is garaged connecting to the permanent live supply is not a problem. To avoid battery discharge where the supply cannot be isolated it would be better to connect both auxiliary sockets to an ignition switched supply. Both the Sat-Nav and dash camera may now be powered conveniently without long cables or those large cumbersome 12 volt plugs ( large because they reduce the 12 volts to 5 volts for powering cameras etc,). The only drawback is that when connected the UPS plug may foul the passenger door handle but if a right angled UPS plug is used and the socket is carefully rotated to a position that gives clearance then the passenger door release handle can clear it easily. See pic below:
