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Alright, due to popular demand, I'm posting a DIY for everyone who wants to know how to change their dashlights.

*Note: As soon as I find someone with a digital camera I can borrow, I'll take some pictures and post them as well

First off, you will need:
1x Philips Head Screwdriver
1x Flat-Head Driver (or other prying device) wrapped in electrical tape. This will keep from scratching the dashboard
1x sheet (aprox 1 square-foot) of colored lens paper. I suggest going to a local music shop and asking them for a colored "gel." It's a sheet of colored transparent plastic used in stage lighting. These work really well because they're designed to withstand high-heat and will not fade over time. It should only cost about $6 for a 2' x 2' sheet, which is more than enough.
1x X-Acto knife
1x Cutting surface
Glue, or other adhesive

Step 1.
Using your flat-head screwdrive/prying diveice, follow the instructions for removing your head-unit.

Step 2.
Pull off the 3 A/C control ***** (they should come right off). On the inside of these you'll see a green-colored (some might be orange, depending on your vehicle trim style) square-shaped piece of plastic. Using the X-Acto knife, carefully pry up each piece of green plastic and set these aside. They should come off pretty easily. Place one of these pieces onto your new colored lens sheet, and using your X-Acto knife, cut around it so you have that same shape. Repeat this for the other 2 *****.

Step 3.
Using your glue (or tape, though it doesn't work as well), replace the stock lens piece with your newly made one. Be careful, because the glue will make the color on the gel paper run. Once these are finished, set them aside.

Step 4.
Go back to your head unit. Using your philips-head screwdriver, remove the 2 screws on the mounting below the CD-Holder. This is the mounting that houses the three defrost switches (interior circulation, defrost, and rear defrost). Set these screws aside and pull out that enitre mounting assembly. Now, each of these three switches will pop off. The easiest way to get them off is to pry them up on one side - if you look closely at the base of each, you'll see they're secured on 2 sides by tabs - and they should come off fairly easily. Their pretty sturdy, and I had to apply a little pressure, but they didn't break. Just be careful when you're doing this - they do come off though, I assure you.

Step 5.
Once you get these switches off, you will again find more of those puke-green (or orange for some of you) colored lens things inside. These, thankfully, are not glued down, and you can just pop them out with your knife. Again, make three cut-outs of that shape on your gel paper, and replace them. You won't need any glue, since there's tabs to hold them in place. Once the new colored lenses are in, snap the switch covers back on and set that whole piece aside.

Step 6.
This is the fun part. Oh wait, no it's not. Alright, back on the main head unit, there's three screws holding on the A/C controls, and you'll have to remove them. Pull out that whole assembly, and set it aside. Now, look at the part of the head unit you've just exposed. There should be three semi-circle lenses, one for the vent setting, one for the temperature, and one for the fan. The temperature one (in the center of the three) is best left alone, since you'll probably want to keep the red part to identify the heat. The other two green pieces can come out. They're glued down, but if you pry up one corner, they peel off. BUT BE CAREFUL!! They can tear, and that makes it difficult to cut a new piece. Once they're out, you'll again want to use the X-Acto knife and cut out new pieces. Make it as accurate as you can, because if it doesn't fit properly, you'll get an uneven look in the color of your dash lights. ie, some parts will look lighter than others. You might have to use trial and error until it fits properly. Another warning, if you cut too much off, and there's a gap, that will cause some of the orange light from the bulb to shine through, and it will not look good. This process is a bit of a pain, but it looks really good when it's finished. Alright, once you get the pieces in and they seem to fit properly, replace the A/C control assembly (that you took out at the beginning of this step) and tighten the screws back in place.

Step 7.
Replace the other assembly into the head unit and tighten the 2 screws in place. You can also put the 3 A/C control ***** back on. Now, take the head-unit and plug the wires back into place. I would suggest not fully mounting the head-unit back into the dash until you get a chance to see how the new lights look. Drive the car into a dark garage or something and turn your parking lights on. If you did it right, you should have all your dash lights in a new color, and there shouldn't be any other colored light bleeding through around the edges. If there is, pull the unit back out and you'll have to re-cut another piece to put in wherever the bleed is. If not, then congratulations, you've successfully changed your dash-lights! Now if you want to save your stock colored lenses, set them in a safe place. Put your tools away and go drink a [IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG]. Or, if you're still in the mood to continue your light-changing craziness, move on to Part II of this DIY - changing your cruise/moonroof/mirror lights ..

Otherwise, Kudos to you for a job well done.
If you're having problems, or if you have any questions, please feel free to lemme know. As I said, I'll try and get pics up in the next couple days.

Cheers! [IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG]

- Josh
<< civicracer@mindless.com >>

 
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Um... I think this is why they have the mega DIY thread at the top of Tech Stuff... This is even listed in there with pictures... Link

 
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actually, the one DIY has no pictures (and thus no instructions) and the other one has a broken link. So both DIY are inactive and don't tell you anything. That's why I posted this one.

 
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ahhh I see... my bad. I just figured that the links were still working and the instructions were too. I forgot that pimpedcivic had it all on his site... good job. [IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG]

 
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We need to get this moved into the Mega DIY..

 
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Thanx a lot for posting this. One question though...since I've done a lot of theatre work, I know that stage gels come in so many colors it's mind boggling. I was wondering what specific color'shade you and others that have done this used to get the blue color they wanted. Thanx.

~ DaCurryman

 
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I just looked through the various colors that the music store had, and picked out a very nice deep royal blue. I like the way it turned out. But like I said you can do any color you want.