Gauge Lights

[gabriel_dsm]

im planning to change me stock gauge lights to give them a red glow i just want to know if when i pull out the gauges do i have to take out the panels or anything or jus pull it out and just change the bulbs? can someone explain to me its my first time doing this

 

[91_talon_tsi_awd]

A few ways to accomplish this. First is take it apart and clean the back of the gauges up make sure the crap cleans up an gst the orange off (paint thinner) you can remove the lights that are in there and go with leds or use a tinted plastic cover for the color you desire

 

[Blurred Talon]

For plug and play LEDs I'd go with VLEDs. I've got them on my daily driver and love them. Great quality and plenty bright.

Just remove your cluster, take it apart and sand the orange coating off the back of the gauges first.

 

[97 eclenger]

remove top 2 screws in the trim piece around the gauges. lower the steering wheel and pull it out. there's 4 screws that hold it in. take the out and pull on the gauge cluster. the bulbs are small and they just twist in. not too bad

 

[ZyXEL]

Just don't buy the ebay LED equivalent of the small bulbs (type 74) as they are too tall to fit in place of the stock ones.

 

[slick122]

Superbrightleds. Com has the bulbs you want. My buddy just swapped his out and they look great! Hell.. He didn't even sand off the amber film off of the back of the gauge cluster.

 

[renovatdkitchen]

Like slick said, I went with the red LED's from superbright (there's a thread on here about it somewhere with the bulbs to use) and they looked great, no sanding needed. Just plug and play.

 

[303_2G]

Don't u need a led strip to make it a consistant brightness across the gauges? I've only heard that if you just replace the bulbs with leds that you can get real bright and dark spots due to the brighter led bulbs. Is this true?

 

[303_2G]

Like so.

 

[ZyXEL]

Don't u need a led strip to make it a consistant brightness across the gauges? I've only heard that if you just replace the bulbs with leds that you can get real bright and dark spots due to the brighter led bulbs. Is this true?

If you use "360 degree" ones, with the 3 LEDs soldered in different direction- they distribute light pretty good, but not good enough for my liking... I do have a second cluster and will be going the "led strip" way this time I will do it right as I have a working dash in my car and I use it practically every day.

 

[ZyXEL]

Superbrightleds. Com has the bulbs you want. My buddy just swapped his out and they look great! Hell.. He didn't even sand off the amber film off of the back of the gauge cluster.

You don't need to sand off the lighter color of the same pallet (e.g. orange if you're going red)- it will override if it's bright enough. You will need to sand off the gauges if you're going for the white/green/blue etc. color.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Was quite easy to do. All red.

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[FilmerDude]

Was quite easy to do. All red.

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I love how it matches the gauges and radio. It's the little things that count to enjoy your car more.

 

[spyderdrifter]

I love how it matches the gauges and radio. It's the little things that count to enjoy your car more.

Agreed, I hate mismatched lighting and other things. I purposely got that radio because it matched. I even went as far as contacting Prosport about having gauges made with a red display and white (mine is blue when lights are off and red when on), and they declined sadly.

 

[FilmerDude]

Agreed, I hate mismatched lighting and other things. I purposely got that radio because it matched. I even went as far as contacting Prosport about having gauges made with a red display and white (mine is blue when lights are off and red when on), and they declined sadly.

Well you could always get the color change Glowshift gauges and keep them on red. I would prefer to have Prosports though.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Unfortunately I still have two Glow Shift gauges , will be getting all Prosport ones while doing the final build.

 

[303_2G]

Prosport gauges are great looking but unfortunately they are kinda cheap Chinese crap, (I'm surprised auto zone doesn't sell them)
I really wanted to do a full set up on prosport but with my new set-up I can't have any misreading issues with those crucial safety Gauges. I got the boost gauge and noticed it was delayed and would sometimes read 7psi off when at 25psi. Now that I'm looking for +38psi on my .91 T4 S366 turbo there is no room for error being on speed density and link v3. Altho my buddy has my old T28 on HKS 272's nearing 320hp on 18psi and says the gauge reads well but the response isn't great but they are good looking for a good price.

Remember you can only pick 2 out of 3: Fast, Cheap, Reliable

 

[spyderdrifter]

Very true, So what gauge brands would you consider to not be cheap?

 

[303_2G]

Defi™ hands down the best in my opinion. But they are pricy and for a reason. It's it being digital is what really hurts it. Any good digital gauge should be expensive, Defi doesn't make digital read out gauges, for a reason I'm sure. I have had no problems with my old Autometer C2 gauges (boost, EGT, Oil press.) that I had for 3 years and someone else had before me who knows how long. They are all analog gauges. Matter of fact I'm getting rid of them to whoever wants to buy them.

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[FilmerDude]

I would prefer Pro Comp, AEM, and some other brands out there. AEM is super expensive but they're a very good company and my friends GSX has 3 on the pillar and man they're sexy. But I have a Pro Comp Boost and AF gauge and they seem pretty well built and are quite accurate. I'd rather have tinted black digital gauges like Glowshifts for a stealth look but mine are just so accurate and I got them for a steal. It's mostly a personal opinion when it comes down to it as long as the company is reputable.

 

[FilmerDude]

Actually guys, lets just not get gauges and go off the factory boost gauge. It's very reliable and accurate. Who needs oil pressure, water temp, oil temp, etc when you have the best boost gauge ever made! But I do like the 1G boost gauge over the 2G

 

[spyderdrifter]

I had AutoMeter Cobalts on my first spyder, and liked them, but can't do blue anymore.