danglazer

I ordered some blue LEDs from http://autolumination.com for my gauge cluster and map lights. They have the largest selection of bulbs/LEDs I've ever seen!

I have not received them yet, so I cannot say if they are good or not... I will post a message when I find out!

D.

hihoslva

Don't expect blue gauges from those LEDs.

The back of the gauge overlay is tinted orange (unless you have green gauges, in which case, it's green).

Maybe with the green it'll kinda work, but with the orange, all you get from blue bulbs is deep deep red gauges - or so I've been told.

If it works, though - be sure to post results. I knowlots of us would like to have that "VW" look....


~HH

danglazer

I have already sanded off this orange film. I've tried painting the bulb with a blue enamel, but the gauges are too dim. I am hoping that the LED's will do the trick. They are being shipped this coming Tuesday (22nd), and hope to get them within two weeks (shipment to Canada).

I will post some pics if it turns out well.

D.

hihoslva

Soooooo...

How exactly did you get your gauge faces off to sand them?

This has been a major thorn in the side for anyone who wanted to change the appearance of the gauges; getting the gauge needles off first.

Tons of people have broken the needles while attempting to remove them.

Did you cut the stock gauge face overlay to get it over the needles, or do you have a magic secret to needle removal?

"Enquiring minds want to know!"

~HH

danglazer

Unfortunately I do not have a secret way of doing this. Originally I simply stuck a piece of sandpaper on the end of a knife, and slide it under the gauge face. But, trying to get all of the film off, I went too close to the needle, and snapped it off. After I was done, I had broken the temp/ fuel gauge needles. I stoped there, not wanting to break the other more important needles. Fortunately, I still get an indication of a low fuel tank, so I don't have to guess when to fill up! If I had to do it again, I would either (like you said) cut the gauge face, or purposely break the plastic needle head which has a large plastic surface that could easily be superglued back together. I have the fun task of glueing the small needle back together - which is a pain in the a@@. I have to make sure that it sets perpendicular to the gauge face so that it still pivots correctly. I will also be looking for a used gauge cluster (a new one from Mazda is 700-800$ CAD!!!) so that I can transfer its needles to mine (I don't want to lose my km info). The two I broke are held on the board with screws, so I wont need to solder them back on. After all this trouble, it better look damn good!!!

meGrimlock

i order almost all my auto LEDs and interior xenon bulbs from there, great price, great selection. i recently got a superwhite xenon dome bulb to match the bright LEDs in my courtesy but it was cracked! i'm sending it back for an exchange right now. if i wanted to get a brighter display from my gauges, i would just get the bright white 4-LED bulbs because they are already brighter than stock, and i dont have to sand down anything to allow more light through, but i'm just lazy that way.
-meGrimlock

hihoslva

I can't understand why anyone would want brighter gauges.

Change color - fine. But make them brighter?

All that does is kill your visibility at night and cause serious interior glare.

I already turn my gauge lights down almost all the way at night - and I wish my damn [aftermarket] stereo would dim that low too.

Bright dash lights are annoying and dangerous.

But blue gauges are cool - wish it was easier to do.

~HH

meGrimlock

i actually wouldnt mind a little brighter gauge because in the periphery of my vision, its a little harder to see them when the lighting is dim. its the law in my state to turn on the headlights when you have the wipers on (even though not many people do) and on those rainy days when there is still some sunlight the dash & guages become almost too dim. the bright white LEDs wont create a dangerous amount of glare, there are many times of LED bulbs too, like inverted and single LED, that produce less light than the 4-LED bulbs. most people just buy different gauge faces. if youre gonna pop open your dash anyway, why not just replace the gauge face rather than replace the standard bulb with blue bulbs and sand down the film on your existing gauges. i realize its drastically cheaper, for me its not worth all that work.

being a design student i have seen some nasty dashes and gauges. the hyundai elantra GT has some blue/red gauges and the stock radio has a nasty illuminated display. my friend swapped out the radio with his sony cd player with blue/red lights & display and it almost matches and is a better combination aesthetically. the display on my pioneer cd player is exactly the same color as my dash and gauge lights except its a tad brighter. i wouldnt mind if i could minutely brighten the gauges or dash to match it. in cases like this its not important to me to change the look of something, but as part of my way of thinking i try to see ways to improve what is already there.
-meGrimlock

danglazer

After sanding my gauge face plate, and removing the orange cap on the light bulbs, and then painting the bulbs blue, there isn't enough light that comes through the face plate. Therefore, I need brighter LEDs. If ever they're too bright, I can paint the back of the face plate with the blue glass paint I bought to make it the correct brightness. I just redceived my LEDs yesterday, and I will be installing them sometime this weekend. If it works out, I'll post some picks, if not I'll let you guys/gals know why they don't work. (hopefully I will get to post some pics!! :-))


When I started this little project, I did not really know what I was getting myself into. After breaking two needles (temp / gas), it can't really get any worse, so I'll try to finish what I started, and get my damn cluster blue!!! I have already managed to superglue the needles back on with not problems. Hopefully it will all be over by this weekend. Obviously, if I knew that it was going to be so much trouble, I would have dished out more money to buy a new face plate. I also discovered after breaking the needles that a replacement gauge cluster is stupidly expensive (700$ CAD)

Kopp0041

I don't think blue leds will make a difference. The diffusers (the plastic that speads the light out evenly over the guage) is tinted blue and will absorb the blue light, just having brighter bulbs won't do anything for you, imo.

meGrimlock

for danglazer, here's a website i found while browsing eBay.
http://image-racing.com/page2.html
it'll give you that blue look, but i dont know much else about it.
-meGrimlock