[bluefront]

I had my radio bezel off today for painting....easy enough. But while I was at it, I decided to upgrade the OEM lighter socket. I don't smoke, so I prefer to have a standard 12V outlet. Sounds easy enough, and I had a few extra sockets laying around.

What a P.O.S. job. The stock socket is a bear to remove, and once I had it removed, the hole was much bigger than the sockets I had. So off to the parts store.....bought a lighted socket assy, just to get the amber bezel. I had to cut up the stock lighter to use it's outer black bezel also (hard to see).

Then since I couldn't use the lighted socket (it was the lighter type) I had to use a standard socket. But it wouldn't install with it's own back section, which was too long to use with the amber bezel. So.....I had to use a back piece from a third socket.

Then the entire assy wouldn't tighten down correctly.....so the whole thing had to be glued together.

And the Ford harness plug of course was different... so I had to make new connectors.

Last......the little light for the bezel of course wouldn't fit the modded socket. So I had to cut up a fourth socket I had and mod it's holder to fit, not to mention I had to make a new wire harness for the thing.

In all.....painful. Do it at your own risk. [rolleyes]

 

[silversally]

this seems pointless as taking stock parts of to only put stock parts back on...

 

[bluefront]

Look into the socket and you'll see a standard 12V outlet.....rather than a lighter socket. If you use a lighter socket for anything other than a lighter element, the plug can get stuck and/or blow a fuse. That's the reason for all the trouble....

 

[nepafocus03]

hmm i always thought they were basically the same thing. mine just blew a fuse last week while i was charging my cell phone. now i know why i guess lol. good info there.

 

[Mr.Bergner]

Again, interesting......LOL

Very cool, something I didn't know was the 12v thing. And who even uses that thing to light cigarettes anyway?

 

[NemesisEnforcer]

ha, i am about to post up a thread on my latest foray into this....i did green though. ur right, it was a freakin PITA. the green looks sweet at night tho!

 

[bluefront]

FWIW.....had my Focus at the dealer this morning for a warranty repair to a door lock actuator. While fixing that, the jerks managed to break my inner door lock handle. So.....I'm now in their loner Tauras X SUV.

First thing I noticed.....no lighter socket in the dash. But there is a power outlet in that spot (no lighted bezel however). This power outlet looks like it would fit the Focus.....probably without all the trouble I had. [rolleyes]

 

[NemesisEnforcer]

nice foliage pic with ur avatar. i like it.

 

[bluefront]

Like that? Here's the same tree two weeks later....now my desktop.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y159/Bluefront/Ford Focus 2006/FallDesktop6.jpg

 

[NemesisEnforcer]

that is gorgeous, but i have 2 questions.

first, is that a rice 'type R' sticker you have on there? cant see from here. if it is, its gotta go! i doubt it is, as id be surprised if you had one, knowing you.

second, where did you get those black bumper rubber things? i think they look really good with the white. wondering how they would look on my LG ST tho...cheap? where?

 

[evanjfrancis]

this is why ive never tried it =p so much work for so little outcome

 

[NemesisEnforcer]

also, carl, i saw in another pic that you had a 'Turbo' sticker under your zx5 badge....u turbo'd ur car?

 

[bluefront]

The red graphics on the side.....that car needs some color (red) on the side to balance out the white/black. I painted the calipers/drums, but that wasn't quite enough color. The graphics add just enough red......for $5. If anybody has an alternative (cheap), I'd like to hear about it.

The looks of the thing are a totally personal perspective....

The "Turbo" plate on the rear....balances out the OEM "Focus", "SES", "ZX5" plates already there. And it's good for a few laughs. I've had at least three kids in Hondas try to get me to race......funny.

Those bumper guards came from Advance Auto.....on clearance. I don't think they sell them any longer. Cost $2 ea. These things are very flexible....which is necessary to get them to stick around the bumper corners.

 

[GrndZero]

My old 00' red focus sedan had the cigarette lighter in there and I never had problems hooking my radar detector into it. Never did blow a fuse. My new 02 came with the power outlet so I guess I am fine with that. I remember having to deal with that socket to take out for painting on my old 00'. I finally found a trick to it. Alot of people used to just brake theirs out...

 

[bdnld4482]

type r.... lol

 

[NemesisEnforcer]

augh...that type r thing is killng me. u dont need red, the car looks great otherwise! as for the turbo thing, why not get a decal that applies to your car, like a steeda emblem or something to that effect?
honda guys trying to race you may be b/c the type-R is a honda/acura symbol.

 

[CaysE]

Can you please show a side-by-side comparison between a lighter outlet and a 12v power outlet? As far as I know, it's the same for the Focus whether you got the non-smoker package or not. And you can buy an OEM illuminated bezel from Ford since they came on the Focus in 2000. It's even green to match the rest of the interior. I did it on my 2003 SVT.

 

[NemesisEnforcer]

cayse, member how we talked? well, you cant get them from ford anymore. i tried. they are no longer made. so, the only option is the euro one. unless someone has one sitting on the shelf somewhere, but i had them to a regional check here, and nothing. best bet is a junkyard. u can do the UK one i did, but you need to modify it a bit. cayse, look at my thread on this and the decals, to see what it looks like now.

so, i have an extra if someone wants to buy it from me for 12 bucks (it was 30 shipped).

 

[NemesisEnforcer]

carl, are these like what you got? i found them online for 30 for a set of 4. i cannot find them any cheaper.

 

[bluefront]

Not the same.....similar looking though. See the very ends.....they look to be about an inch or so of solid rubber (or whatever it is). My set has the vertical cuts almost to the very ends.

The problem area for attachment is the rear outside edge. The bumper is still curving at that point on both sides. So.....the straight section of the ones in your photo would have a tendency to pull loose from the bumper at the outside edges.

The name on the package of the ones I have.....Universal Heavy Duty Bumper Guards, 68-1495 Black, American Auto Accessories, Corona NY 11368, www.Americanautoass.com.

I wasn't able to find them online however.