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Impulse, I mentioned above that I just used parts from the 01 cluster and moved them onto the 02. I'm still using my 02 cluster on the car--the only difference is it has 01 needles and 01 gauge faces.
I repainted the needles, this time only on the bottom. Now they look white during the day and still seem bright enough at night.
I also ordered some blue bulbs for the backlight. Amber just doesn't look right. I'll just leave the rest of the dash amber. I think this will look good, like I just have some reverse gauges and the rest stock.
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I repositioned the LEDs so that they're sitting below the needles, and this took away that glow around the bezel. I don't know if I'm gonna move them back of not. I'll let you know what happens. It's frustrating cause nothing is working right and one is purple. Ahhhhhh.......
Thank you guys. I just finished soldering in the new LED and it matches thank goodness. I've had my cluster in and out at least 20 times already.
IMPORTANT NEW ADDITIONS:
1) When you shave down the LEDs with sandpaper to get them flat, go from large grain to small. Use very fine paper at the end to smoothen it. Then, you'll want to pick up some Meguiar's clear plastic polish and apply that to the LEDs. This will help make them shinier. I've found that sanding them down makes them alot dimmer than the original. You still need to do this to diffuse the light. The unsanded ones do a great job of focusing the light exactly upwards. Well, the needles have light guides as well, and using unsanded LEDs will cause the needle glow to get brighter and dimmer as the needle moves. You must sand them, even though you'll lose some brightness.
2) I repainted the needles, this time only painting the bottom and using one medium coat. This makes the needles look white during the day instead of clear. Leaving the needles all clear will not light up at all!! You must paint them. Paint only the bottom portion that is exposed. (Not the part under the sheath.)
Impulse, unless you have bigger bulbs back there, you can't make the backlight hyperwhite. The gauges have some kind of paint on the front that still makes the light amber. I held them up to my halogen light and they were still amber. Then I held them up to my 194 hyperwhite dome light and it lit up white. You really need a brighter light to do this.
If you use colored bulb replacements for the backlight, you may be able to just clear the needles and let the backlight channel through to the needles. LEDs will be brighter, though, especially in blue.
I would also recommend positioning the LEDs upwards, so they're even with the plastic shield. Don't put them down on the needle base. If you bend the cable up, you should be able to just position the LEDs in the holes without glue.
I remember that DIY up there. But he used something like 2 for each hole, and I believe it looks blue. That would cost nearly $40 just for LEDs.
I finally finished the needles. If you push them all the way down (but not too far), you won't get that uneven sideglow. Right now I'm just running the needles and no backlight. Looks clean, but hard to see. I'm waiting on blue cluster bulbs I got for only $6 shipped. We'll see how that looks.
Have you thought about the shift indicator light? There is a piece in there that makes the light red and green for the D,R,N... numbers. I first used that red lens repair tape to change them all to red, but now it's off and it lights up a bright amber. I got a blue folder to try, but it didn't give a good blue until I had 8 layers on it, and then the light was too dim to see. I'm thinking to just leave it clear (amber).
If the blue gauge lights work out, I'm just leaving the other dash lights amber. Everything blue may look weird. This way it looks like I have reverse gauges or something and evereything else stock. I'll post pics when they come in.
Here's the one you were talking about with white light. Looks okay. Maybe you should just follow his diy I guess they have replacement LEDs that fit in the stock bulb holders. You could technically buy 5 LEDs from autolumination and swap them in. Don't know how bright they would be. I would advise on getting the opaque ones, otherwise you're just gonna see bright spots where the LEDs are.
Yeah, the pic I took was with just the needles on and no backlighting. I'm still waiting on the blue bulbs cause it's too dim.
For the P, R,N indicator on the gauges, I just took out that colored plastic piece so now all gears have an amber box around them. The bulbs are too small to change to blue, and bulb covers or plastic makes it too dim to even see.
^^^dayum u keep changing around ur gauges!!! everytime i check this thread there is something new. SO have u figured out the best way of doing it yet. Im gonna do mine soon..ill prolly just horse around with different styles and see what is best. What do u think is the best way?
Well, I'm done with the needle part. I'm gonna post an update soon with the changes (like painting the needle bottom instead of top to make them white). I'm gonna see how the blue or red bulbs look for the cluster backlight. If they don't work, I'm just gonna leave it amber. I hope those bulbs come in a week, cause I'm headed back home after that.
ohhh okay sounds good....let us know how the blue bulbs work! Hopefully they will be as bright as leds. Im trying to slowly make everything blue in my interior...and the cluster is one big part i need to deal with! You in school right now?
In school, with one final tomorrow and I'm done. Leaving next week. If the blue looks good for backlight, I'm just gonna keep the rest of the dash amber color. I may do red depending on what happens. Hopefully this week. I've already got a gauge pod finally coming tomorrow, so I'll get some pics of that as well.
sweet good luck on ur final...u should be studying rather than playin with ur gauges!! hahaha...ive got one left on thursday then im finished...and am prolly gonna start my cluster project! What guages are u going to put in?
I just got a voltmeter by Isspro. It exactly matches the stock gauge cluster I have. Depending on the colors, I may leave it amber to match the rest of the dash and just have the cluster blue.
The bad thing about red lights is during the day when it's cloudy or something, the red looks more like a light pink. It only looks nice at night.
If the small #74 bulbs don't work, I may have to try putting in 194 bulbs to make it brighter. This will really suck and take time, so hopefully not.
so you got a single gauge pillar pod for the voltmeter? should look nice! Yah i hate how in certain lighting conditions the colour changes of the leds...i think when i went to get mine the guy gave me two different colours....some of them look blue and some look green....do u think it may be a wiring problem?? They are all to the same source, so i dont know what may be wrong. It seems as though u know alot about bulbs.
I don't know, but I was sure one of the LEDs was purple. Took it back and got another one, only to see that another needle looked purple now. I wonder if it's just me or maybe I soldered a spot too long and the resistance changed on one of the resistors. Maybe some of the LEDs aren't getting enough power? The funny thing is when I used to have LED washer nozzles, the first pair had one aqua blue and one purple blue. This is why I hate LEDs, so it's a good thing I'm only using them for the needles. I'm really at the point where too much time has gone into this.
I hope that single pod works out okay, since nothing seems to fit the sedan properly.
Oh and the red looking pink happens with the regular bulbs. Maybe it's the white icons mixing with the light. With just amber it's not too bad, since it's natural light (all colors mixed).
Yah leds seem to be different each time....the ones i have a noticably green compared to the other ones. I can tell forshure that the bulb is a different colour, but i dont know if the guy at the shop gave me the wrong ones. They sell them without packaging if u want lots, so maybe he screwed up. Its just annoying cuz i want everything perfect. Yah i was thinking that maybe the leds arnt getting enough power, but they are all wired to the same source. I might just go back to stock if i cant get it right!!! but the blue definately looks clean!
One thing I'm thinking is how to change the color on the LCD. There is a piece of plastic or something that has paint on it to give a greenish light and diffuse light from the bulb. Without it, you can see the bulb outline through the LCD. Now I tried to get the paint off but ended up breaking the piece. I'm using the one from the 01 cluster now. I wonder if putting a piece of paper would work to diffuse light and make it amber instead of green?
I may have to open everything up yet again. Ugh. I'll play with it tomorrow after finals.
^^dayum ur busting everything up!! are u talking about the odometer thingy? I read somewhere on how to change the colour of that...but i dont remember where!
I can't believe how much I've wasted on stupid stuff for this DIY. Spent $20 on red lamp covers that don't even work. Makes the light so dim you can barely see it. And the blue covers make the light greenish. But yeah, the odometer thing I wanna try and make amber instead of green. I already have the shift indicator amber as well. I don't know. I may have to try the paper idea. And that pod better fit tomorrow or I'm gonna get pissed. Already waited 3 weeks for it.
Oh and I just totally unplugged the light for the shifter down below where you change gears (auto). The numbers and green paint is all on the bottom, so using acetone will leave you with a clear piece of plastic. There is no way to make it match.
I guess they have replacement LEDs that fit in the stock bulb holders. You could technically buy 5 LEDs from autolumination and swap them in. Don't know how bright they would be. I would advise on getting the opaque ones, otherwise you're just gonna see bright spots where the LEDs are.
