Ok, started my led project, here are some pics

champaned_out said:

ic.. so its not as easy as replacing the oem bulb and putting in the new led?
care to explain how to do the wiring if you have time? thanks
right now those two bulbs that light up the cluster from the top are blank.. which means they dont serve me any purpose right now since i took out the bulbs

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Well, first, lets make sure we there arn't any differences. I don't know between different years of if you have a v6, etc. But when you took the top bulb out, was one side connected to some wires? As in, you had to actually take out the wedge bulb from the holder? If you did, then you might have an idea of what i'm talking about. If not, you might not have to deal with it, maybe there is a difference in clusters.

I pretty much need to take a pic. Next time i have my cluster out, i'll snap a shot.

nah i know what your talking about i have 01 4cyl auto
when your looking at the back of the cluster the right bulb i took out i think was the one that was connected with a wire to another bulb holder

Ok, now for some more. This is where your work really has marginal returns. So...the speedo needle wasn't bright enough.


I used, and have been using this machine. This thing is great for testing things, adjustable voltage. You don't need to solder a resistor for everthing you want to test. I love this thing, deserves a pic




Ok, to get the needle brighter, we have to deal with this part




So, get the led. I wired this in series so no resistor yet. I like to cover the positive in small heatsrink and the whole thing in bigger stuff.



Now glue it or attach it to the peice



This is how it looks lit



Now do the other side.



Now wire it to a 12volt source. I didn't take pictures for a reason. I figure at this point, if you plan to go this far, you should know how to deal with this. And know where to find one. If you don't, you can short something possilbly, etc.

Anyway, it worked, defineatly better light. I want to mess with the needles, full pics up later.

Ok, i had time to take some pics. Much better. I'm not sure if the needles will be at their final color. I do have them now so i don't need to remove the whole thing now, just the plastic. Needles are fine too. With my measurments and marks i was only 1 mph off. So tach is right, speedo is right. Coolant is right but hard to mess up. Fuel is off, waiting to get gas, i kind of screwed that one up but easy fix.

Final pics of guage cluster:



Its so nice to be done. This wasn't a hard project, just time consuming. I don't plan to do anything more with the gauge cluster except possibly redo the needles. And you can't see the blue backlighting from the pics but i think it's going to look really good when i get my gauge rings.

Just to show retrospect.

you know what stock looks like...

Without removing film.


Film removed, no mods








Now i'm only 5 led's away from being totally done. Just have cruise control, sunroof, and window switch. That and i need to find another overlay for the fan speed that i messed up. Then, i may do an led per switch on the hvac.

So, for anyone thinking about doing this, it's pretty easy but white has it's challenges. I wouldn't say it's harder to get perfect, just shows up much more. It's pretty easy if you know what your doing, but took about 15 hours i would guess total. And it's not really a 1-1 1/2 day project as you really need to find out what you want to change. But if you have accouple hours every night, you can drive your car everyday.

dude your crazy. LOL! you cut pieces your gauge like that makes me *shivers*. nice job though.

jdm_dynasty said:

dude your crazy. LOL! you cut pieces your gauge like that makes me *shivers*. nice job though.

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That's the fun part. I do have to say, although i've done this before accouple of times, this is by far the most invovled it has been. But think about all the mods people do to their cars. I don't know why people get so scared of taking this type of stuff apart. It's the one thing that won't affect drivability, safety, or anything of that nature.

so did anyone ever use the uv's? kinda curious

hancockd said:

so did anyone ever use the uv's? kinda curious

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I plan to pick up one or two next time i buy leds for fun, just to see how it looks. The problem is they don't come in all the sizes you need.

man... i cant wait for my stuff to come in. i think instead of going with your route to get the needles brighter i might hit up one of these but not really sure just yet.....



http://www.importintelligence.com/Iglow.html

Yeah, that looks cool but it's a bit much for me.