anybody done this? I dont want glowing gauges, or white face gauges, but I do want to lose the orange/red lettering on the gauges, and controls. What would be the best way to do this?

 

you can change the bulbs that shine on the gagues to a more red bulb, like a red LED, you can change your needles to FD needles but then you will need a light to light the niddles up red, there is something online that you stick behind the needles to change the color , they have blue and all dif colors and i know they have red. a guy did it here. he changed his needles to FD needles. i'll try to find it

 

You can't unless you replace the ENTIRE panel.
You need to understand how "backlighting" works.
The plastic panel is tinted (orange in this case), and the entire front is covered with black paint.

To get the numbers and stuff to light through, the front black paint in uncovered.
This is how everything shines orange.

Now there are blue (high lights) and yellow (shift up light) "lights", and these parts of the panel are those exact colors.


-Ted

 

i was talking about the bulbs that shine on the gague cluster, i know they dont shine from behind, my dad did it on his corrado. he got some red LED's and had them shine down on the gauge cluster

 

red leds wouldnt help me anyway, I dont want it to light up red, it already does that, they are even red when the lights are off, thats the part I don't like. SO I have to figure out some way to make new panels?

 

the gauges, have all the bulbs in the back of the gauge panel, so they are luminated from behind as well as there is a light tunnel that sprays a minor amount of light on the front, but the bulb is still behind in back of the gauges.

but to answer the original post'rs question.

The only way to get rid of the orange lettering is to replace the stock panels

 

any suggestions on materials to use to make panels?

 

I have used 3M multilayer vinyl for replacement panels on Logicons, but that wouldn't work for gauges.

I suppose I would some acrylic sheet and 3M DBEF (Dual Bighness Enhancing Film) to start with and then probably screen on the black background and lettering.

 

If you're really serious about this, instead of making incorrect assumptions based on a completely different car, you should pull out and disassemble the gauge cluter so you can see for yourself how the lighting really works. Listen to what Ted and Mark have told you.

 

I completely believe them about how the lighting works, I'm not trying to change the lighting though, I'm just trying to change the way they look when the lights are off. I dont really care if they light up red, as long as they are white when they are off :P

 

ok but even so, the panel is tinted, per what ted said.....its not like the tint goes away when the lights are off. The panel itself is a base orange, with black over it, its not clear with colored lighting. Thats why they are orange when off, and just brighter orange when lights are on. To get it white youd have to have a white (or clear i guess) panel itself.

 

try the ebay white face guages. what you are looking for?

 

i think he wants the lettering in white and then turning red (or whatever color) at night. So, pretty much the custom fab they've been describing is what you need. And then sticking red leds behind. (current bulbs are white, btw)

 

yeah ebay has some nice guages. sound like what your looking for. I jsut ordered mine!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWN%3AIT

 

I understood that part, thats why I asked mark for suggestions on a material to make new panels out of.
and I dont want glo gauges

 

i have never seen them for a 89-91 though

 

good luck with it then, it will take some good overlaying skills and the right materials.

 

You should try and live with it.
Even if you do get an overlay, you're still required to pull the needles off the gauges to stick the new color overlay on.
90% of the time, people **** up their gauges cause the needles don't go back on right, and the gauge(s) are damaged or the needles don't sit right.


-Ted

 

how about this: very carefully hand-paint all of the "text" on your guage face with a semi-transparent white paint. transparent enough to let orange light thru when the backlights are on (although it might come through a little pink), but opaque enough to look white in the daytime. it would probably also be impossibly difficult to hand paint all the info on the guages without looking like garbage... but technically this would get the job done, yes?

 

No. If you made it white enough to look white during the day, you'd get hardly any light though it at night.

Like Ted said, live with it.

 

i like the gauges... my only thought is some way to make them brighter, they are pretty dim unless its DARK DARK out...

i swapped out the #158 bulbs from the twist in bases for #194 (higher wattage) bulbs, but theres no difference...

 

seems like a LOT of work for something so stupid.