I’m beyond thrilled to be the new owner of a 1989 Chevy K1500. The Chevy 350 under the hood, the five-speed manual, the chiseled good looks, the surprising ride comfort — it all makes for such an incredible machine, especially for just $4,900. But there’s one feature that I’d like to highlight today, something small: The under-hood work-light.
I know that nowadays we all have cell phones with LED flashlights built in, but those are a pain in the ass to try to prop up just right so you can use both hands to fix something under the hood of your sad, broken-down car. That’s why I’m such a huge fan of under-hood work lights.
These have been around for a long time, with the most famous example being the World War II Jeep. It used the vehicle’s headlights, which could flip 180 degrees, to light up the vehicle’s legendary, torquey Go-Devil 134 cubic-inch inline-four. Check it out:
Early Jeep Cherokee XJs also had an under-hood work light, but it was retractable. In fact, it used some kind of spring mechanism to pull the light back into the housing bolted to the bottom of the hood. You can see the light here on this 1990 Jeep XJ that was auctioned on Bring a Trailer:
Here’s a closer look:
And here’s an even closer photo, but from an eBay listing:
The Bishop notified today about a similar contraption in old Datsun 280Zs like this one:
That little light pulls out of the body, with a green wire as the “leash”:
But today I want to focus on the under-hood work light in my newly-acquired 1989 Chevy K1500. Just look at this marvelous device that the Chevy 350 has the honor of sharing an underhood space with:
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It’s like a little fishing reel bolted to the passenger’s side fender. You open up this little “gate” to unlock the light from the “reel”:
Then you unreel the reel a bit to give the light some slack:
Then you just pull the light out.
Let me go outside and check how long this thing is…
Holy crap! That’s amazing! That’d come in clutch during a late-night tire-change.
When you’re done, you just reel the wire back in and close the “gate.” Boom:
How awesome is this? The downside over your cell phone is that this wire might get caught in the radiator fan, but the benefit is that the wire lets you hang the light where you need, and the dome nature of the light means you really don’t have to aim it that well to be able to let go and use both hands for wrenching.
This thing is an absolute masterpiece, and I wish more modern cars came with under-hood retractable work-lights, even though I know most people rarely pop their cars’ hoods, anyway.
either one or both of my 1988 325ix and 735i had rechargeable flashlights the were plugged into a socket in the glove box
Yeah, when cars broke down at 30k, this was a necessity. After 1990 or so you just don’t need one of these.
The check engine light we deserve.
That’s gold.
My parents 1964 Bonneville had this. I thought we were rich. I spent years wondering why every car maker didn’t do this.
> I’m beyond thrilled to be the new owner of a 1989 Chevy K1500
Didn’t we talk about this?
About what?
:p
I think that light is only on the nicer ones. My son’s 96 Suburban with SLT had it his 99 K2500 base model doesn’t. This truck also has hand cranked windows and the black plastic WT grill with 2 square headlights.
“…of a 1989 Chevy K1500…especially for just $4,900…”
*le sigh*
Our 2014 Town and Country has a rechargeable flashlight in the back. Rarely used it though.
I installed that same GM underhood light on our Jeep and swapped out the glow-worm-in-a-jar for an LED that’s about 10 times as bright.
Search for “1156 Led Bulb Reverse Light, 1141 1003 7506 BA15S Bulbs, 12V-24V 54SMD” and up your lumen game. You will thank me.
My dad’s 88 Chevy had one of those, it is a nice concept but the light was never really strong enough to see anything clearly and the magnetic base meant it would stick somewhere that would shine in your eyes. A much better solution are the rechargeable headband lamps. Always points where you look.
I was curious about getting some kind of under-hood light installed in my Prius, but finding ones with a wide operating temperature range is tough, plus I don’t yet have the wiring knowledge to hook up a switch myself.
I know the Patriot/Compass aren’t the most beloved Jeeps, but still surprised their rear dome light/flashlight didn’t get a shout out.
https://www.justforjeeps.com/dolifl.html
This little car hood light of mine, I’m going to let it shine
That is a peach of a truck! Some of the GM trucks also had an underhood storage box on the driver side. Comes in handy to keep extra oil and random tools in.
That 3rd gen. Top Shot (had one) is messed up. You got a 4th gen. that looks like it never saw salt. Well done!
Yes! I just got one of these for my comanche- 2, actually. The first had a broken winder, but the second is mint! So excited to hook it up
Forgot to mention the base of the light is magnetic so you can stick it on you fender while changing a tire. If your Chevy has any fenders left
I was gonna say, it’s probably magnetic.
You could also keep some magnetic hooks under the hood, to manage the wire as needed and keep it out of the fan.
My grandads 95 silverado that I inherited has a retractable one by the battery. First one I had seen like that. My 98 cherokee has one but it’s stationary.
I like the Chevy version more than the Jeep version. My 90 Comanche has one and the first rull to the pull out lights is don’t pull it out, it may not go back in. The Chevy version has a crank to recoil the wire as opposed to a spring.
I also leave it unplugged such that the tilt switch can’t accidentally leave it on and kill the battery. If I need the light I plug it in.
<daily drives 1987 Suburban and has used the retractable work light. The stock halogen bulb is nice but grab a modern LED replacement.
Well poppin’ the hood now only shows you unserviceable electronic components, so I get why we don’t have it anymore.
Makes me also wonder: what were the last vehicles to include standard tools beyond just a lug wrench?
BMW held onto the standard tool kit pretty late into the game. My quick research indicates somewhere around 2010 was when they stopped putting tools in the tool kit of US market cars.
I’ve been happy several times to have the tool kit in my e36, thought usually to help other stranded motorist.
I believe Porsche had a rudimentary few extra items included at least into the 2010’s, because I want to say I had a roommate who had access to some of their cars, and used the tools to assemble some Ikea stuff.
There’s some cars that still come with a shitty phillips head screwdriver…
Jeep Wrangler/Gladiators come with a small socket set with some torx bits, but not sure if that counts because it’s for the top and doors.
Quite an illuminating feature. Thanks for shedding some light on it. It’s a shame these things were kind of a flash in the pan. I can definitely see the glow on you writing about it. One of the bonuses is that it probably doesn’t weigh that much – I’ll bet it’s pretty light. But it’s articles like this that let these things shine. It would be cool to drop that thing into a little canister and gentle lower it down so you can see an in-can-descent.
I can’t stop. I have a bank of these gawd-awful puns. Enough to fill-a-mint.
Somebody make my brain stop.
Please keep going, I’m enjoying this well-lit yet retractable comment 🙂
You are delightful!
I’m not bright enough to understand your comment.
Such a great feature! I remember my dad’s 91 Cutlass Supreme having a retractable hood lamp also. When I found one of the truck ones from a junkyard I grabbed it for my Tahoe, since the SUVs didn’t come with it.
Love this feature on my K2500. I replaced it and the hood light with super bright LED’s. And since it’s a 30 year old pickup, both get used pretty often…