i used the needle color change technique in our tech section but at night the needles do not light up so i cant even see how fast im goin. i painted them blue. is there a certain paint i need to use to reflect the light?? ....any help by tonight would be appriciated

 

do you have white leds behind the gauge. what kind of paint did you use

 

Did you paint over where the light shines through the needle?

 

Yep, make sure you painted the BACK of the needles, not the front. And that you didnt paint over the clear portion that the light enters the needle through. You strip the old paint and add the new. Also, a coat of white on last will help them show up more. Even running blue leds with red painted needles they will show up decently.

 

i had to use "flourescent" paint. i used regular red and then coated the back with white but it wouldn't show up at all. i ended up buying flourescent pink (didn't have red but close enough) and it lights up fine now (no white either).

im running blue leds also.

 

Blue LEDs with red painted needles:



Which showed up fine for me and the ones I have done that way. I just use bright red acrylic paint with white behind that. A little touch of neon red acrylic mixed with the red makes it stand out a bit more.

Now I have added backlighting for the needles (not elevated leds, new boards that sit behind the needles) and they look like this:



The boards make it easier to do this:







But, just painting them has worked for me as shown in the first one.

 

Engifineer, do you have a kit together for that color change on needle sweep? If so how much and is it something someone who has already done a full LED swap can handle?

 

you dont need to paint the back of the needle white. just do a light coat of paint of the color you want and itll be fine. also if you have blue leds and have a red needle, you're going to end up with a purplish needle than a red. unless thats what you're going for.

 

if i want to do a blue led swap with blue needles, what blue paint should i go out and buy, i know i was previously told i should scrape off the orange needle color with a razor blade then paint then blue..just so you know my gauge leds are the color blue as in (engifineer's) blue gauge swap, so i want a nice correct blue paint that will look nice..let me know where and what type to buy

 

Here is the link to my DIY for this. You dont HAVE to put white on, but it will come out looking better if you do (just like the stock needles are set up). The white helps to reflect more of the light that passes through the paint, so they stand out more.

http://www.scionwiki.com/How_To:_Nee...nting_Scion_tC



Also, if you look at the first pic I posted above, that is blue leds behind red needles.. they dont come out purple. Not as bright as red leds behind red needles, but still the correct color nonetheless.

For blue needles on blue leds, I use the Neon Blue acrylic from Apple Barrel (either walmart or micheals art supply)

Here is a pic of that setup.



I dont currently have a kit for the way I do the needle backlighting, but hope to get a write up on the scionwiki soon and a kit soon as well. I have kits for everything but that part. I do mine differently than some do, by using separate boards mounted directly behind the needles. I tap power from the circuit that feeds the other leds, but dont tie mine into the dimmer for two reasons. For one, after totalling up the current required for the leds on the board, I feel that adding more to the dimmer circuit is going to stress the dimmer transistor to a point that it could fail down the road. But more importantly, it looks VERY nice to have the needles stay lit if you dim the gauges. Also allows you to still see what your gauges are telling you if you dim the gauges. I will probably work up a dimmer connection that is isolated at some point, but so far people (including myself) have liked them fine this way.

I am going to tie mine to constant ign power next. During the bright daylight, you cant see the gauge lighting when the lights are on, but my lit needles glow like dayglo, so they stand out a nice bright red even in direct sunlight. So I will make them so that the needles are always lit when the car is running.

So those give people a few more options of what they can do. I will try to post up a how to in the near future for them. My procedure is a bit tedious, but in the end you have more light behind the needles and can make them VERY bright if needed. It also makes the color change come out nice, and ensures the needle leds are secured firmly in place right behind the needles.

 

A note to the above..... You also dont HAVE to take the needle apart, but you will find it is very easy and makes the rest of the process much cleaner and easier. You will also ensure you dont miss anything up inside the needle body. I am a bit **** with my work, so I like to make sure I do things as perfectly as I can, even if it means a little more work for me

If you notice, you dont have to scrape or scrub anything. A few minutes sitting on a paper towel or sponge soaked in 90% isopropyl alcohol and the stock paint wipes right off.

 

alright so i went out to but new flouresent paint some white paint and im gonna retry it tonight after work and yes i painted only the bak and not where the light enters and i have the origional amber bak still waitin for some LEDs i order thanks for eveeryones input

 

Just to be sure, which leds did you order? Should be PLCC-2, 350 - 500 mcd. Nice to double check before you start swapping out

 

i purchased the Neon Blue acrylic paint from Apple Barrel, now as for the white paint for the back of the needles do i get the same acrylic paint from Apple Barrel, but only in white, and is one bottle each enough to do the job