Inverter for front seats

I disassembled an old 80 watt inverter that plugged into a cigarette lighter and extended all the leads so they could plug into a new fascia I made out of sheet aluminum.



Our welder friend, Paul, had built a simple switch box for us a couple of years ago. Originally, it also contained a three-place cigarette lighter unit but it was not secured very well and could be pushed into or pulled out of the box. In its place, I made the aluminum fascia on the right side of the following picture. Using step drill bits, a dremel and several files, I created holes for the 12V plug (far right), two holes for the seat heater switches with a 5V USB plug under them, and a hole for a 120V plug. I epoxied the 120V plug and the USB plug into the fascia. All the other plugs are held in place with built in clips.

The metal plate in the upper left is the bottom of the switch box. Riveted underneath it is a plastic project box that will hold the inverter itself.




Here it is nearly done. The toggles on the top are, from left to right, roof rack lights, inverter on/off, and interior LED lights. There are two extra holes for later expansion. This will be mounted to the upper dash just above the three gauge cluster.