Topic: How to: Make a custom gauge install more difficult

[2kwk4u]

First, a few pics of the gauge overlay I settled on:









Now for the "increased difficulty" part.  You'll notice that the needles in that last shot are all slightly different brightness and shades of red.  When I ordered the gauge face, and LEDs, I told them I would like blue illumination, but I wanted to keep red needles.  I gave Volkswagen stock gauges as an example of what I was going for.  They told me that to achieve that, the needles are lit separately in their own compartments on VW's.  The best that they could do was do the overlay with a "red enhance" where the needles come through.  They recommended for the most vibrant blue that I get the blue LED kit, and assured me that the needles would still appear red. 

Here's the result of that, compared to my mod (of the mod) on the spedo:



I could have tried to simply paint the backs of the needles, but I was afraid that would just make them dim.  Instead, I took it to a whole new level of anal retentive.  I'm still tweaking, but I'll let these pictures tell the rest of the story.

[JimmyBaja]

Did you put down Scientist for your car enthusiast type because I believe you're there! 

[DickW]

Fantastic. You da MAN.

[TomatoSoup]

Way to go!  Very cool.

Did you already put everything back?  If so too late, but if not, I recommend 'dimming' the gas gauge leds a bit - either with a filter or a resistor.  Otherwise (as in mine) the lighting there is much brighter than the other gauges and doesn't match.

I will do this next time (if ever) I have mine apart again.

[2kwk4u]

I figured out that you can get the cluster out WITHOUT removing the boomerang dash trim piece.  It's tight, but possible.  It requires disassembling the cluster while it's still bolted in, but it's less invasive than dealing with pulling that whole dash cover out.

My fuel gauge is brighter, and that's another thing I'll tweak, probably with a resistor, if/when I redo the needle lighting.  Will have to contact BlackCat tomorrow and see if they made a mistake on my DIC lens.  The DIC in mine looks orange, even though I requested red.  Also I notice that the "1" in 160 on my spedo isn't lit at the bottom.  Looks like it sits over the plastic triangle-ish part of the backing plate.  If they agree to make another overlay to change my DIC window to red, I'm not sure if I want the 160 scooted up like it is on yours, or if I want to file away some of the plastic behind it.

Oh, and I totally hoarked your trunk open icon.  I hope you don't mind

[2kwk4u]

Did you paint the backs of your needles, Tomato?

[TomatoSoup]

Did you paint the backs of your needles, Tomato?

Yes.  I scraped off the white paint and painted them red.  Then I painted the 'window' at the hub with red transparent paint from a stained glass kit.

Oh, and I totally hoarked your trunk open icon.  I hope you don't mind

No, my pleasure!  Part of the reason I put the time into it was so others could benefit

Oh, my DIC window is kinda orange too.  I guess this is as red as his paint gets (he did say something about not having a full spectrum of colors).  What's worse actually, is that the window is shiny and makes it very difficult to see the display when the top's down and the sun is shining directly into the guages.  I cut a piece of anti reflective scratch protector (for a PSP) and put it over.  Works, but the removable glue it uses doesn't stick well at the edges, so not as pretty as I'd like.

Can see the color better here:

[jonymac]

You guys are off the hook!  Jealousy is setting in...

[TomatoSoup]

You guys are off the hook! 

Is that a good thing?  (Or a euphemism for being "off our rockers"?) 

[jonymac]

Off the hook is AWESOME!

[Gentleman Jack]

Off the hook is AWESOME!

My phone was off the hook once, it was great!  Quietest day of work I ever had

GJ

PS- dash looks great!  I may regret asking, but why the pic of the bic?  Did I miss something?  Did you use that to seal off the needles and then wrap in tape?  Guess I need more photos....

GJ

[1LILNDN]

jonymac  If the Clusters were like that from factory These two would have to figure out something else to Change.. Both are Very Stuning.        

                                          MY Hat is Off to BOTH of YOU
  Can't wait to see them in Person

[DCLocal]

Wow these both look great!

[2kwk4u]

My phone was off the hook once, it was great!  Quietest day of work I ever had

GJ

PS- dash looks great!  I may regret asking, but why the pic of the bic?  Did I miss something?  Did you use that to seal off the needles and then wrap in tape?  Guess I need more photos....

GJ

Yep, I cut the body of the bic into short segments, and drilled a hole in the side of each segment for the red LED to poke through.  Then wrapped them in tape to keep the light from "leaking" in or out.  I think my uniformity problem is b/c I wasn't careful enough to make sure they were the exact length needed, or that the holes were placed in the same locations.  It's OK, though.  BiC's are cheap

[Treeman]

Definitely Scientist type.  Man o man, top quality job!

[Critterman]

That is an understatement, a perfectionist.

[2kwk4u]

Oh, my DIC window is kinda orange too.  I guess this is as red as his paint gets (he did say something about not having a full spectrum of colors).  What's worse actually, is that the window is shiny and makes it very difficult to see the display when the top's down and the sun is shining directly into the guages.  I cut a piece of anti reflective scratch protector (for a PSP) and put it over.  Works, but the removable glue it uses doesn't stick well at the edges, so not as pretty as I'd like.

OK, I also found the glare annoying, and the fact that you can't read the DIC in daylight I found unacceptable.  Just got done "modding" that as well.  I went to a drafting supply store and bought a sheet of 'Rubylith.'  It's more or less red-tinted mylar, from what I can tell.  I say that because like drafting mylar, one side is glossy, and the other side is matte.  Where it differs from mylar, though, is that it is more transparent.

I wound up peeling the red off the window in the BlackCat overlay, and it IS red, not orange.  The problem is that a Solstice DIC display lights up green (as in INSIDE the display it's green).  There's only so much you can do to make green look red.  Where you wind up is... Orange.  Surprise!  

I then CAREFULLY cut the window out with a straightedge, x-acto and razor blade.  The rounded corners were tough, but I'm satisfied with the result.  I replaced the window with a piece of the Rubylith that I taped in from behind.  The characters still look orange, and I'm convinced there's not much to be done for that.  But the glare is gone!  I'll try and drive it tomorrow with the top down - just to verify, of course

[Critterman]

You could always change the display

[TomatoSoup]

I then CAREFULLY cut the window out with a straightedge, x-acto and razor blade.  The rounded corners were tough, but I'm satisfied with the result.  I replaced the window with a piece of the Rubylith that I taped in from behind.  The characters still look orange, and I'm convinced there's not much to be done for that.  But the glare is gone!  I'll try and drive it tomorrow with the top down - just to verify, of course

Great - you da man.  Please let me know how it goes.  Given you have the blue LEDs, had you thought about a blue filter instead?  Probably much more light in the blue spectrum from that vacuum fluorescent display, than in the red.

I had had similar ideas and even thought about reusing the filter part of the factory gauge face and thus go back to the white display, but I want to keep the original intact so I can 'go back to factory' should the need arise.

Are there other colors of similar material - maybe pink-purple (to get the white)?

[2kwk4u]

I would really like it to be red to match my needles, and tie in with the rest of the dash.  I did hack the window out of my factory overlay, and I might wind up going with that if the orange gets on my nerves or isn't bright enough. 

I think Rubylith only comes in red, but I'll bet there's something similar out there in other colors.  I have some tinted 3-ring binder sheets in various shades that I could cut up and try.  I bought them for the blue, in an attempt to try and change the color of the HVAC knobs.  I didn't like the results, though, and went back to red.

[Critterman]

Let me know what you come up with I hate the orange as well and you can't see it for 20 hours in a 24 hour period

[2kwk4u]

It's still orange with the rubylith, but a little more toward red.  The good news is NO GLARE!  In bright sun with the top down it becomes unreadable just before the radio display does the same.  If there's a little shadow over the DIC from the gauge hoods or anything, it's readable.

I finally got the needles matched, and dimmed the gas gauge LEDs to match the brightness of the other two gauges with a 220 ohm 1/2 watt resistor.  YMMV

[2kwk4u]

Here's the final result:



...if only I could figure out how to get my pictures as clear (without all the noise) as TomatoSoup's 

[TomatoSoup]

Here's the final result:

Very nice!  Looks great and I see you cut down the plastic under the "160".  The DIC does look much more red than the original - at least in the photos.

...if only I could figure out how to get my pictures as clear (without all the noise) as TomatoSoup's 

Heh. I had to break out the 'big guns' - my Canon DSLR - to get the lower-noise dark piccies

[Critterman]

Filters-   That does look cleaner, looks like you made yourself some more work .  but it doesn't have to be right away