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I wanna do something different with my lights. I wanna make them brighter, but still keep the same red. Would it be better to use white LEDs or red LEDs??

What about wrapping RED EL wire behind the gauges?

I wanna brighten up the guages, the center console lights, and the shifter lights.

Anyone have any suggestions?

I was lookin at these LEDs from radio shack http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=276%2D330

or these from ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...527869944&rd=1

What kind of resistors would I need for these? I read that our alternator spits out 14v not 12v. Any suggestions would be helpful thanx!

 
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www.lsdiodes.com has a lot of info

 
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Sorri to side track but does anyone know the bulb number or type in the guages?

 
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On the Hondas they appear to be #74 bulbs. It is possible there is a #194 or #168 being used also.

 
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I think i read somewhere that the 01 civics use #74 and the rest are now 194 or 168, but im not quite sure

 
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The Toyotas used #194s for cluster illumination and #74s for indicators and other illumination, Not sure how Honda was able to use the #74 for cluster illumination they are not bright enough IMO. The #168 is a great substitute for #194 (brighter) The brightest is the #2825 used by VW and others, It could possibly run too hot for certain uses.

 
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OK, i guess the best way to find out is to open it up and find out. Ill take some pics of it as well. Ill be doin it this weekend, since I will FINALLY have some time to do something to my car.

I just wanna make things brighter especially around dusk time when there is still some light, but not a whole lot. Plus, I havent done anything to my car in a while, so im overdue to add something to her :-)

 
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You can clear off the paint behind the gauge face and put red bulb covers on the stock bulbs. This will make it alot brighter, because incandescent bulbs emit alot of color in the red/orange part of the spectrum. I have a huge diy about this, but just look for how to clear off the gauges first, then use either bulb covers from www.partsexpress.com or get some EL wire.

http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=128559

With EL wire, you will need ALOT to make to bright. I wrapped almost 20 feet to get mine looking like stock brightness. And EL will not look like any other light source. So if you do leds for other things, make sure you like a 2-tone color scheme. I think it looks nice actually. You can see in this pic the color difference between EL backlight and blue led needles.



Here is what I mean. That paint on the back is a color filter because the bulbs are stock clear. For sedan, it will look like this. Coupe will have a red one. You can take it off very carefully with acetone, but again read my diy so mistakes don't happen.

 
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Here's kinda another pic. But once you clear the paint off the cluster faces, you can do alot of cool things with it. Just read the diy so you know all the risks involved like pulling everything out. I've had mine torn up and put together over 20 times and everything still works surprisingly.



Also, here is what it looks like with the gauges cleared out and red bulb covers on the stock bulbs. Not bad at all. Mine was all red like this for a while. Even dash lights you can do this with. Just pull off all the ***** and stuff and you'll see a red filter that you can pull off. Then replace it with something like red taillight repair tape. I just did my friend's coupe and the dials are alot more red and brighter, too.

 
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Sweet, thanx gearbox thats the information that Im exactly looking for. I have checked out your DIY, and it doesnt seem to be a hard DIY, so ill be doin this real soon. thanx again!

 
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no problem. lemme know if anything is unclear.

 
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Hey gearbox, these are the bulbs inside the gauges. What kind of bulbs are these?

 
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OK nevermind. I found the bulbs on ebay...they have them in LEDs, so I might just do it that way. I have to take out my gauges again and take a picture of the back, so I know how many to get. I wanna keep the same OEM color scheme, so I know I need to buy like 5-6 red ones and we'll see what it looks like from there

 
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i would not go with leds. They won't give even lighting like bulbs do and won't even be bright enough. Get the red bulb covers.

 
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ok cool ill do that

 
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they are called lamp leads on www.partsexpress.com and pick red. You'll have to measure the daimeter of the bulb and get the correct sizes.

 
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Yeahh, i measured the bulbs and I need the .2" diameter. Only bad thing is theyre out of stock O well, I placed my order anyways, so hopefully they'll get them soon.

Do you think that these are the same bulbs they use for the shifter and the climate controls?

 
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nope they are different. For climate controls, take off the factory filters on the back of the dails and replace with 1-2 layers of red taillight repair tape. Keep stock bulbs. That will make it brighter and more red than stock.

 
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Well, one of my bulbs from the gauge burned out guess I did it when I pulled one out. Anyways, I went to advance auto to find a replacement and I bought 74 and they were too big, so it wouldnt fit back in the hole. So, I saw some 73s and they were a little big as well. I had to carefully sand down the circuit board and they fit snug now. Those OEM bulbs are really small. Its just an FYI for future reference for anyone else trying to change the gauge bulbs.

I looked at the climate control bulbs there were two inside the 3 dials and. Those bulbs are different from the gauge ones. They look like the same diameter, but different lenght. They looked shorter than the guage ones.

 
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read my post above. you don't need covers for climate control. Keep stock bulbs and use red tape instead of the stock filter.

 
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Yup Im going to buy some red tape today and do my climate control later tonite

 
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Hey gearbox, I just finished putting the red tape on my climate control ***** and they're more red for sure. Only thing is stock bulb is not bright enough. Any suggestions?

 
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not bright enough? It should be brighter than stock. You got the red/transparent kind for fixing taillights right? I just did my friends last week and its definately brighter than stock. Did you take off the stock filter on the back of the dial? Cause if you left it on, then they will be dim. You need to remove that filter by prying it off. Its a sticky piece that goes around the back of the dial. Then you put your new tape on.

 
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well, i got "Tail Light Tape" it says on the back "translucent like an original lens". Yes, I took the little square filter off. It doesnt seem brighter than stock to me. I like the reddish color though better than stock.

 
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but its bright enough right? i remember the stock being more dim and pinkish.

 
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honestly, i dont think its brighter. But thats ok ill see what else I can do with it to make it brighter. If u can think of anything else im all ears.

 
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well you can do leds but it will be around the same brightness unless you put alot in there. And its a whole lot of work to wire in leds instead of bulbs. There isn't much other choice.

 
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Yeahh, I looked into the LED thing...I think its too much effort than Im willing to put into it. Partsexpress still has my order on backorder until early august. Thats ok coz im in no rush anyways.

U know on the climate control dials...i think i might have gotten the wrong kinda tape. It says translucent, but its kinda thick and dark red. Im going to look for a different kind of tape thats thinner and brighter looking, so I can layer it like u said.

When I get done with all this ill post up some pics, plus ill get u some rep gearbox...thanx for all the help

 
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OK gearbox, my order of bulb covers FINALLY came in. Anyways, I plan on doin this project this weekend. Are u going to be around just in case I need some help?

Will just rubbing alcohol take out the black part of the back of the gauges? Do I need to get something like acetone or anything?

I have read over the DIY and just wanted to make sure before I start using the alcohol. Thanks!

 
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ya alcohol is very slow, acetone is fast but be careful to only get it on the painted part and not the icons or front of the cluster. Don't let it leak to the front cause then they will be ruined. I actually ordered indiglo gauges cause my el light broke... anyway i'll be in colorado thurs-tues so won't be around. The diy explains everything pretty well.