2G Gauge cluster LED project

[cotsi95]

Those look amazing!

 

[azdave]

Great pictures!

Right now I'm trying to figure out how to change the color of the needles. I've tried a few different things but I'm not satisfied with the results. Do you have any advice for me?

I removed the factory needle coloring (scraping gently) and then re-coated with day-glow orange and then a layer of white over that to brighten it up. Another PIA project but it made a big difference to me. I used latex hobby paints so I could wash it off if I messed up. I was afraid to use a solvent-based paint for fear of causing crazing in the clear plastic.

 

[turbosax2]

I removed the factory needle coloring (scraping gently) and then re-coated with day-glow orange and then a layer of white over that to brighten it up. Another PIA project but it made a big difference to me. I used latex hobby paints so I could wash it off if I messed up. I was afraid to use a solvent-based paint for fear of causing crazing in the clear plastic.

Hm...latex paints - didn't think of that. I tried Tamiya clear orange acrylic paint and it didn't work very well. At first I thought I needed a transparent paint but after comparing the stock needles to the one I painted, the stock needles were much brighter. I just don't like the color they look now. I'll look into the latex paints and report back if I find anything - otherwise I'll be begging for help again

 

[azdave]

Hm...latex paints - didn't think of that. I tried Tamiya clear orange acrylic paint and it didn't work very well. At first I thought I needed a transparent paint but after comparing the stock needles to the one I painted, the stock needles were much brighter. I just don't like the color they look now. I'll look into the latex paints and report back if I find anything - otherwise I'll be begging for help again

The paint I use is like the kind they sell in craft stores for painting on T-shirts and fabric. As long as it is water-based you have the luxury of wiping it off if it looks bad. Of course you only paint the bottom of the needles and adding the white layer after the day-glow layer really helps brighten it up. Don't apply the day-glow too thick either or the white won't be as effective.

 

[jemsoccer]

So by scratching away the stuff behind the gauges, we can make the gauges any color light we want? Will blue leds show through nice and bright? Also, how do you get the needles off the gauges?

 

[turbosax2]

The paint I use is like the kind they sell in craft stores for painting on T-shirts and fabric. As long as it is water-based you have the luxury of wiping it off if it looks bad. Of course you only paint the bottom of the needles and adding the white layer after the day-glow layer really helps brighten it up. Don't apply the day-glow too thick either or the white won't be as effective.

Thanks! I'll be making a trip to a craft store this weekend.

 

[turbosax2]

So by scratching away the stuff behind the gauges, we can make the gauges any color light we want? Will blue leds show through nice and bright? Also, how do you get the needles off the gauges?

Yup, once you sand off the backs of the gauges, pure light is free to shine through. So if you put blue led's in the cluster, you will have blue gauges. I'm not sure how bright the blue led strips are compared to the white ones I used but even if they're half as bright you will be pleased. These things are bright!

You take off the needles using a fork. Slide the needle between two of the teeth on the fork and gently pry upwards.

 

[jemsoccer]

You take off the needles using a fork. Slide the needle between two of the teeth on the fork and gently pry upwards.

So the needles are just pressed on there? I have broken needles before in other cars thinking they would just pop off. Is this the same way all needles are on? Say a Del Sol? Because my g/f wants green gauges and we have never found any aftermarket ones she likes, so this technique would be great... if i can get the gauges off.

 

[turbosax2]

So the needles are just pressed on there? I have broken needles before in other cars thinking they would just pop off. Is this the same way all needles are on? Say a Del Sol? Because my g/f wants green gauges and we have never found any aftermarket ones she likes, so this technique would be great... if i can get the gauges off.

Yes, the needles are just pressed on there. I don't know if this true for all cars but my Corsica was the same way. Except when I was taking those gauges apart I didn't even think of using a fork.....I just pulled really hard.

 

[1gcrazy]

Finally can upload some pictures!

What did you glue the SMT lights to? Paper? Thick paper is what it looks like. Like posterboard. How did that hold up against the soldering? or did you solder then glue?
Have any clearance issues with the needle and the SMT lights?

 

[turbosax2]

What did you glue the SMT lights to? Paper? Thick paper is what it looks like. Like posterboard. How did that hold up against the soldering? or did you solder then glue?
Have any clearance issues with the needle and the SMT lights?

Good questions! In fact, figuring out how to wire those smt's lights up was the hardest part of this whole thing. I used Great Planes thin super glue (very fast acting, dry in 10 seconds or less) to glue the smt's to .010" Evergreen plain sheet styrene. (Styrene is sheet plastic, used for modeling. I make model cars so I have a ton of the stuff.) I wanted the thinnest styrene I could use so I didn't have clearance issues with the needle so .010" is the thinnest I could go reasonably.

First, I traced the hole in the middle of the gauges where the needle goes onto a piece of styrene. I cut the circle out slightly inside of the line I made. Next, a hole needed to made in the middle of the circle so the needle could go through. The hole needed to be big enough for the needle to go through without rubbing, but small enough so I had enough space to glue the smt's on. I used a hobby knife, small files, and a drill bit to make the holes. Once I got the hole finished in the first circle, I made a template out of .080" styrene by cutting the same size hole in it. For the rest of the rings, I used double sided tape to stick the ring to template and then just used a knife to trace around the hole and a file to clean up the edges - the template made it very easy.

Now the smt's were glued to the rings, one at a time, using tweezers to easily place them exactly where they need to be. Once all four lights were on, it was time to wire them up. Like you, I had suspicions that the heat from the soldering iron would melt the styrene but I decided to try it anyway - it melted the styrene and warped it out of shape . So....I got a little piece of metal, put double sided tape (carpet tape) on it, and stuck the ring to it. This kept the ring flat as I soldered and worked well.

To wire the smt's, first I tried cutting tiny pieces of like 40 gauge wire (very small wire) and sticking it between 2 smt's and soldering the ends. This didn't work so well. Then I tried stripping back a piece of 22 gauge wire, spreading the wires at the end out in a fan shape, and sticking that between the 2 smts and globbing on a bunch of solder to connect it all. Believe it or not, this worked really well. That's why my solder's look like crap on the rings! I did have some problems with the solder not always making a good connection with the smt's but I tested the rings after I was done and immediately found if I had a problem.

Since I used the thinnest styrene possible, the rings are as low profile as they're going to get. I don't think the needles can sit down quite as far as they did originally, but they go down pretty far and I don't have any clearance issues.

A few quick notes:
- The smt's are rated for 3.4 volts. A car runs on 12 volts. What this means is that four of the smt's must be wired in series for them to work properly / not blow up.

- Once you solder the smt's on the rings, it would be a very good idea to immediately check to see if the ring lights up using a 12 volt battery. If the ring doesn't light up, you have a bad connection somewhere. I accidentally found out how to easily check each connection to quickly pinpoint your problem. Set your voltmeter to measure resistance to 200 ohms. Then connect the pins from your voltmeter to either side of the connections on each smt (remember led's are polarity specific so you have to connect the positive wire from the voltmeter to the positive terminal of the led.) If you have a good connection, the led will light up just a little. If you have a bad connection, nothing will happen.

 

[n2orbit]

Here are a few other shots of the interior LED conversion. The LED strips inside the HVAC controls is nearly the same as the main cluster except that there are on 40 or so in there.

Nice and bright.

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Replacing all the needles accurately took a few tweaks to get exact. I used GPS to check MPH, OBD2 to confirm RPM, etc.

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Single white LED hidden in the door panel lights up the window and lock switches at full brightness wheneven the car is running. The LED then dims with the dash control when the headlight are turned on.

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HVAC. Lots of work required to remove this assembly before opening it up.

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Four SMT LEDs under the needle hub gives a nice "solar eclipse" graphic to the gauges.

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CC and fog switches are a bit of a challenge to light up brightly but here they are.

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if i got you a cluster would you conider doing one for me???? and yes money would come your way

 

[azdave]

if i got you a cluster would you consider doing one for me???? and yes money would come your way

No thanks. I'm asked all the time to do LED gauges, tails lights, HID projectors, etc. but I decline. That would take the fun out of my hobby.

 

[InfiniteGSX]

Dave, do you have pictures of you doing the led conversion to the buttons and switches? I did it on my accord, but that was an 87 honda accord, easy to do.. I have been having trouble fitting led's in the switches. I got one inside the AC Switch... but too much of a hot spot...

 

[Artago]

Wow, amazing work.

 

[AndrewD5418]

I wonder how it would look with a "tint" effect like the JDM sti cluster.

 

[turbosax2]

I tested the cluster out on the car this weekend and everything works fine. There is no way anybody could drive around at night without having the cluster dimmed down all the way - the lights are so bright! I picked up some orange and white fabric paint too so I'll be experimenting with that on the needles.

 

[InfiniteGSX]

So you could tint the entire housing... so you don't see the gauges until they light up?

 

[95CarbonEclipse]

Yea, how would that work during the day??

 

[turbosax2]

Not sure if you guys are talking to me here, because I don't get what you're saying. You mean like put window tint or something on the clear plastic that covers the gauge cluster?

 

[95CarbonEclipse]

Naw... my question was focused to Morpherex. If I WAS to tint my cluster, i'd go with the spray on kind that they use on tailights to black them out.

 

[snowborder714]

Not sure if you guys are talking to me here, because I don't get what you're saying. You mean like put window tint or something on the clear plastic that covers the gauge cluster?

That is what I'm getting out of it. Either put window tint or nightshades on the plastic gauge cover.

As for how that would work in the day, you'd just have to run with your parking lights/lights on all the time.

The only question I would have concerning that would be (pending on which way you were to tint it) would it distort the bright white color that the LED's are producing? I don't know how nightshades works, but I'm pretty sure that window tint would. And I'm not sure I'd like that. The gauges look sick with the bright white!! I can't wait until they're done

 

[1gcrazy]

That is what I'm getting out of it. Either put window tint or nightshades on the plastic gauge cover.

As for how that would work in the day, you'd just have to run with your parking lights/lights on all the time.

The only question I would have concerning that would be (pending on which way you were to tint it) would it distort the bright white color that the LED's are producing? I don't know how nightshades works, but I'm pretty sure that window tint would. And I'm not sure I'd like that. The gauges look sick with the bright white!! I can't wait until they're done

Or you could wire the dash lights to come on when the key is in the ignition... Doesn't the Chrysler 300 do that? The dash is black until you turn the car on.

 

[snowborder714]

Or you could wire the dash lights to come on when the key is in the ignition... Doesn't the Chrysler 300 do that? The dash is black until you turn the car on.

That's another possibility. It seems a lot of newer cars are doing that (both of my parents' Honda SUVs are like that).

 

[turbosax2]

Update: IT'S DONE!!!

I used "Fluoresecent Orange Shiny" and "Bright White Shiny" Polymark brand fabric paint to paint the needles. First, a semi-light coat of orange, then let dry for about 30 minutes, then a medium coat of white. Thanks azdave for the great idea on that!

Now we just have to get my brother's car running again so I can calibrate all of the gauges....

If anybody wants to see more pictures, let me know and I'll post them.