ctruss

Ok, heres the gauge face mod pics. I'll post what it looks like in the dark tonight.

surfcitylocal

Nice job!

dgHotLava

sweet

ctruss

Thanks guys.

The next step to this is changing the LEDs so it has orange illumination like the dash.

ctruss

Ok, I took the instrument cluster apart again so I could change the color of the LEDs.

The clear cover used to refract the light from the LEDs.


The LEDs.


The color change device.


Color changed LEDs.


Looky, it's orange now.

N2BNHI

Looks sweet Chad! Where did you get the guage?

Jim

XB_BOY_2005

good idea for the LEDS i gotta do mine in blue now,Jim he got them from CHADFO on this site, i got mine from him as well.

ctruss

Just a tip. Find transparent paint if you do this LED mod. The marker burned off in a matter of hours so I took the gauges apart again and painted them with a transparent orange paint. The gauges look better and the color is not fading.

FrankenScion

Nice Chad, I might have to do mine with green.

I have "SpeedFo by ChadFo" too.

ctruss

ChadFo does great work, that face fit right into place. I might order another one from him down the road if I come up with a better idea on a face.

bunburiano_chilepicking

sweet

ctruss

Thanks.

And if you want to change the color with paint like I did, just go to your local hobby shop. Tamiya makes 1/24 model paints and they have several transparent colors available.

I also hear sharpie markers don't cook off like my Crayola marker did. If you use a sharpie though, don't apply it to dark, but if you do remember you aren't stuck with it. The markers can be wiped off with rubbing alcohol.

frday13

looking good bro..i should be ordering my guages soon..going with a Friday the 13th motif. And red led's sounds excellent to me!

ctruss

Red is a great color. Tamiya makes a transparent red 1/24 scale model paint. Hobbytown or Hub Hobby both have it.

oldmanatee

One thing about the Tamiya paints...if you re-coat while it is wet, it will pull the first coat off... if you wait until it dries, you can make it darker...just don't over work it while it is wet.


And the gauges look great!!! I really like the orange.. it all ties in nicely!

ctruss

You are partially right about the Tamiya paint. If you dab instead of brush it on, the 1st coat doesn't have to be fully dry.

Word of caution.....
The clear plastic that refracts the light makes direct contact with these painted surfaces so be sure to let them dry completely. I waited 6 hours just to make sure.

Tool7f

Quick question for you guys...I've been thinking about changing out the led's in my dash to go with the blue interior theme of my xb...would it be possible to paint these too? going from the amber to a baby blue?

ctruss

I wouldn't know until I saw the LED's in the dash.

It is very likely however that our dashboards aren't lit by LEDs but by conventional light bulbs instead. If that is the case, what makes the illumination orange is actually molded into the plastic the lights shine through. If the bulbs are clear you can change tham out for blue ones or get clear ones and make them blue.