Honda Civic DIYs and Civic Tech ChatHonda Civic DIYs and Civic Tech Chat - for the true gearheads! Bring your wrench, it's time for some Honda Civic DIY projects! Questions about problems with your car do NOT go here.
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Awesome stuff. I did my console lights and left driver controls with the same white. I really wanted to get rid of the orange on my gauge cluster but was too paranoid with destroying the cluster itself.
This doesn't seem bad at all, except i'm not too sure what you mean by SMD LED strings.
Here's a question, i noticed that the light doesn't diffuse as cleanly as OEM with the white LED's (your second attempt at the cluster i assume). The same effect goes for my console heating lights, i was wondering if i could use a clear theater transparency to diffuse the light some more (ie. mimic the original effect)?
You could also use your dremel to buff the LED tips a bit to make them less directional - another member on here did that.
Long time no see on here Wally.
What size are the bulbs that get twisted into the gauges. I know they make 168 and 194 LED, so couldnt you get ones that plug right in without soldering any extras.
I used VARAD LEDs on my Saturn and they were tight as shit. I would buy those again cause they have the little resistor chip already included with their LEDs
__________________ You know how life goes, sometimes your the bug, othertimes you the windshield...
I thought "168 and 194" bulbs were the kind that were for like interior lights and the driving lights? I dunno, somewhere on ephatch I did a rundown of what bulb numbers you need, but don't have that for the 7thgens... I think if you goto the philips (phillips?) homepage and look for car lighting, they have a neat interactive page where you can figure out what size bulb you need...
About diffusing the light, I used a file to sand down the tops of the 5mm LEDs, and that helped ALOT... though I think AznBond is right, there definetly is something to diffuse the light on the oem cluster that when you take that off with acetone or whatever, it doesn't diffuse correctly... maybe I should go out to this theatre lighting store that I've been meaning to get to... hmmmm they gotta have some paint or something, or maybe clear filter stuff might work...
I recall there are some plastic films that have diffraction gradients on them, but i have no idea where to find them and how cost effective.
But i'm sure the theater films are viable. Though i'm unsure if they sell clear ones. Though there must be other substitutes, ie. overhead transparencies or folder covers. Maybe spritz a little acetone or hexane, wipe off quickly to get a little haze.
I made a 1 meg scan of the SI gauges, I can upload that or email that if you want it... but I don't know of any 7thgen gauges uploads... the actual gauges are a tiny bit too big to print out on a regular printer, even with legal sized paper, but people have been talking about getting it printed by some vinyl graphics people or something...
So the call has been made :-) glad to see somebody interested in the photochopping, I tried to get some SI peeps on that, and had a little rok here and there, but not seen anybody pull it off, would be sweet...
So any 7thgen witha scanner, when you do the swap, be sure to do a big ass nice .BMP full res scan, and then save a same sized jpg scan high quality, i think with the best quality JPG compression it was 1 meg, or maybe PNG is a lossless compression version? I dunno, I think starting with the best quality scan is important.
I went to a DJ shop for my Saturn gauges. I bought some high heat transparent film, the kinda stuff they put over studio lights so it withstands temperatures. It comes in many colors I just pull the gauges off and cut this to shape and put it on. Here are the results.
The mechanical odometer shows the old orange whitish color. It wasnt as burnt orange as the civics are now, but it was like a pale orange color. Fugly, the red worked better.
I would love the S-7 gauges, just wish they could do the bumbers in silver or something. I like the way mine look stock in the day, so changing the color behind might have to be a good winter project.
__________________ You know how life goes, sometimes your the bug, othertimes you the windshield...
Originally posted by Ocelaris I thought "168 and 194" bulbs were the kind that were for like interior lights and the driving lights? I dunno, somewhere on ephatch I did a rundown of what bulb numbers you need, but don't have that for the 7thgens... I think if you goto the philips (phillips?) homepage and look for car lighting, they have a neat interactive page where you can figure out what size bulb you need...
About diffusing the light, I used a file to sand down the tops of the 5mm LEDs, and that helped ALOT... though I think AznBond is right, there definetly is something to diffuse the light on the oem cluster that when you take that off with acetone or whatever, it doesn't diffuse correctly... maybe I should go out to this theatre lighting store that I've been meaning to get to... hmmmm they gotta have some paint or something, or maybe clear filter stuff might work...
The twist-in ones are 74, but I'm really not sure if you can remove the ones on the 7thgens....the ones on 6thgen can be removed and replaced.
Anyone know if changing the top speed on the speedo in photoshop is feasable?
I know I could change the speedo gear on my Camaro when I switched to 4:11s. Is there some way to recalibrate our civics with a gear, or would we have to get someone to program the ECU? If so, what would something like that cost? Under $50?
Still would probably cost less than buying those overlays from a retailer.
Ocelaris is supposed to send me the scan, so ill start working on it this weekend probably, I got a ton of homework to do. Probably need to buy a laser mouse for this because mine is at farked up.(Damn ball mice!)
So if anyone has any input or ideas for the design, let me know.
Especially about the changing the top speed.
If any 7thgener wants to scan their gauge thingy, please do it an upload it somewhere so I can download it. Not in a rush though, gotta do the Si one first.
__________________ '98 Civic EX 5 Speed
'99 Z28 M6 Hardtop
plus numerous other domestics BecomeAPimp
Lamers could just leave it uncalibrated so it feels like your hitting 0-60 in under 5 seconds, and 100 in under 9. lol I would try it for a couple days just to mess around till I got it calibrated.
what if I got the LED replacement bulbs with resistors built in, cleared out the gauge numbers and sanded the LEDs down so the light was more diffused.
Take that a step farther and put some opaque clear covering over the gauge numbers once they were cleared and then sand down the LED so you get a nice even color.
Or take the cheap way and buy some $8 film from a DJ shop for studio lights, clear out your gauges and stick the film behind them.
__________________ You know how life goes, sometimes your the bug, othertimes you the windshield...
The replacement bulbs, if you have them for backlighting purpouses on your gauges (which I do, and I believe most civics do) are 3mm LEDs... I sanded them down, and it was unacceptable with hotspots and dark spots... the thing with bulbs, is that they are very diffuse, putting light out in every direction... LEDs at best have a 120 degree output...
Best way to go is get many strings of the SMD LEDs (the PLCC package onesn are the same size and difficulty as the 5mm LEDs) and put those behind. I put 24 total white SMD LEDs, strings of 3 with like a 120ohm resistor in line. cheap fun.
And about the DJ film, actually the best way to go if you want multiple colors, is just do white LED backlighting since it's so "crisp" pure whatever you want to call it (high color temp actually), and just use the film where you want the color. That will give you stunning blue/red/whatever in very defined areas, as opposed to trying to use different LEDs which will bleed into each other. I have a friend who did a prelude with the white SMD backlighting and the theatre/DJ film, and it turned out very nice.
For all you 7thgen'ers out there... I'm planning on doing this mod and will document every step with digital photos. I'll write up a full DIY for the civic cluster. I have a 1.7EL, but our gauge clusters are very similar. If possible, could someone post a pic of the cluster at night, lit up, so I can compare it to mine.
I had a buddy with a Civic LX coupe. I seem to remember that his gauges lit up white (mine light up orange)...
I'm taking my cluster out this week to see what's inside and figure out what LEDs and such I'll need to order. Look for a DIY in the coming weeks.
Ocelaris - props for answering my questions and putting putting up a kick-ass DIY... I know you did yours to an Si cluster, I want to see how different it is to do it to a civic... pics and DIY to follow!
Hello there, your post is very helpful and good and very much appreciated. May I ask... My honda civic is 2005 model VTI-S, dimension body with led illumination already. It was flooded all the way up to the dashboard...(sigh) when i have started it after some repairs and parts replacement, the RPM in no longer illuminated, only the KPH and FUEL/TEMP gauge are lighted. My question is "How to remove the needle in order for me to replace the LED inside" will it be the same that I only have to pull the needle up? I have tried to pull it up with my finger but it's very tight ang I was afraid that I might broke it or I can never return it. As you have said I have to use a flat screw to push up the needle. Can I do the same. I have attached a picture of my cluster here for you to check
Please help...
Thank you very much in advance.
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I may try this, haha 
