Thumps

Been changing my dash LED's to red and figured out a way to change the '08 premium radio display from white to red:



Will post up a little DIY on it shortly.

(I have a 1st gen xB that I updated with the '08 premium radio)

FlyinLow

Great work! I just got mine and was thinking about changing it to blue. I can't wait to see the diy.
Where the LED's PLCC-2's?

08xB714

read manual page #33.

Whispaz

looks orange in the pic but nice job. i was going to ask what gauges you had until i read that you have a gen1 :D

Thumps

Yep, that will let you change the color of the BUTTONS to blue, but the DISPLAY will still be white.

If you want to change the color of your display to RED, read on.

Step 1: Remove radio from car (I assume that's well covered elsewhere)

Step 2: Remove 2 screws on the edge of the faceplate, and then undo all the clips holding the faceplate on. I ended up using a bunch of thin plastic package strapping pieces as shims underneath the clips to simultaneously hold them open so I could slide the cover off.



Step 3: Once you have the front faceplate loose, you'll see an electronic ribbon connector that connects the faceplate to the body side. On the body side connection, slide the two brown tabs up and then carefully pull the ribbon out of the connector



Step 4: The faceplate is now free of the body. Put it face down (I recommend putting a towel or something to avoid scratching the front of the face) and remove the screws circled in red. Watch out for the screw numbered 7, it holds a thin metal electrical contact that will come loose when you remove the screw - don't drop it, and note how it goes back on.



Step 4: Carefully pull out the circuit board from the face plate and put it aside. You know have just the front fascia/buttons of the face plate left. *DO NOT* turn the fascia upside down, all the buttons will fall out and you'll curse and spend an hour looking for where they scattered on the floor, and then have to painstakingly figure out where they all go back in. Or so I heard.



Step 5: Cut a piece of Rubylith Red Mask Film (more on that stuff below) to fit in the fascia opening for the LCD display.



Step 6: Make sure your piece of Rubylith film is completely free of dust and fingerprints (I recommend wiping it down with microfiber, and then only handling it by the edges), and then drop it into place in the fascia opening:



Step 7: Put the circuit board back in, replace the screws (remember the metal piece on screw #7), reconnect the ribbon cable, snap the face plate back on the body, put the two faceplate edge screws back in, re-install the radio

Step 8: Enjoy your radio with a RED display.

So, what is this Rubylith film stuff anyway? It's basically a thin sheet of transparent plastic, red colored. It's mainly used for lights and instrument panels in situations where you want to be able to maintain night vision/low light sensitivity with your eyes.

You can get it from

http://www.scopestuff.com

for about $12 for 2 huge sheets, much more than you need.

Or you can PM me, and I'll send you a chunk big enough to put in your radio for $3.

I happen to have a little left over....

Thumps

The display in person actually looks deep red, not orange. I think the display was reflecting some of my overhead garage light when I took the pic.

The buttons are still amber though - changing them from amber to red is going to involve actually changing the LED's on the faceplate, I think. I took at look at them when I had the faceplate off - They're tiny, and there's a lot of them, so I think I may send it off to that garage12177 guy, assuming he ever answers his emails....

FlyinLow

Great work! I just got mine and was thinking about changing it to blue. I can't wait to see the diy.
Where the LED's PLCC-2's?

PL_Ramses

i want to change the clock to blue or white i hate the orange clock. Can this be done?

buzzwyzr

Thanks for the write up Thumps. I'll be doing this to HU as soon as my blue film gets here.

FYI: For anyone looking for other colors of film, I found this: http://www.decalfx.com/blue_headlight_film.html
Probably not the quality of the Rubylith that thumps is using, but it should work.

FlyinLow

Hey PL_Ramses,

You can change the LED's out quite easily. Look here:
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=187351

Good luck on the swap!

buzzwyzr

Here's the HU with a blue display.

Before change with stock display:


After change with blue display.

sparcshinobi

nice

Zsanz

o i love that song

FlyinLow

That looks hot! What size of LED's did you use?