I'm probably going to try your lighting trick when I get a chance. Thanks dclin

 

FD3Boost,
Hey man sorry it took so long to get back to you on
those prices on the Mazdaspeed, did you see the prices in the JT-Imports section?
Jason

 

Some more pics I took last night, really hard to take pics of a lighted subject, but this is a better representation of how it looks:



Sorry about the blurry pic, but here is an action shot hehe


BTW, ever been in an accident and wished you had photographic proof that you were in the right? Caught this lady in a red Explorer thinking about rolling thru a yellow way too late. Of course, the responding cop would have asked me "Son, what the hell are you doing taking pictures while driving, and why hell are you 10mph over the speed limit?" Little bit of trivia - the Enron guy that 'committed suicide' parked in the middle of the road did so three blocks further down from this intersection.

 

Your lights look awesome. You've inspired me to redo mine when I get my car back from the bodyshop. Can you send me a specific list of materials and instructions. I would love you for it. Errr does that make me a Moe?
Ha...J/k So could you though, I'd appreciate it.
Dave
BTW Jason no I didn't look yet. I'll do that in a sec. Anything on that 99 spec wing yet?

 

here's a better pic of how they look w/o modifying them during the day

 

i used red bulbs for a while and they look sweet in red at night but it's kind of hard to see the red needles against the red backlight. here's what they look like noramlly w/ clear bulbs

 

Wow, the guages looks great...is it possible to have like a blue color gauge with blue needles..that'll be awesome...but what you have looks great already..

 

Fd3BOOST: PM me your mailing address, and I'll send you the acetate. I should have enough for another set. Worse case scenario, you will have it for reference if you need to go to the art store for more.

Bulbs were Polargs I believe. Should not make a difference for this application, as long as it puts out enough light hehe. I cannot remember the bulb number, but it's a standard dash bulb like used in Hondas if I remember correctly. The ones I got were a very dark red. I remember I replaced only two. The one by the oil/water gauges were a different size, and I can not remember why I did not try to find that in red too. Anyways, it looks fine now and I'm not going to bother.

The red acetate was basically cut to match the outline of the gauge face. You just have to worry about it covering any part that illuminates - which is basically all the letter/numbering.

Leave a little uncovered space where possible so that you can use clear tape to make sure it stays in place (again, on the back side of course). You do not have to be too concerned with taping every corner, as that there will be natural pressure from the guage assembly once you reassemble it. Do not worry about the clear tape covering part of the lettering/numbering - does not show up at all when installed.

You could experiment with multiple layers of acetate, and maybe get away with not having to buy red bulbs, or change the shade of red to your preference. As it is now, it's a nice bright red, kind neon. This is with one layer of acetate and the red bulbs mentioned above.

potatobbq: Yeah, a bit of contrast is lost, but it's workable. Nothing to make me want to try another color. Did I mention I think red is sexy?

tinfan82: The best and easiest way to achieve blue lettering/numbering is just to order blackcatcustom gauges with that backlighting. The needle comes in red, so blue needles may be difficult. Find some clear needles off a Civic or something, paint them with clear blue paint (RC/model hobby store) maybe? Not sure if the needles will fit or are the right length.

 

hehe, red is definately sexy... damn, seeing pics of your cluster makes me wanna put the red bulbs back in. i wish there was a painless way of changing the bulbs on the gauge cluster

 

what is this blackcatcustom you speak of? where might i search their inventory?

 

 

more pics of bcc's if anybodys got any, i want to see if they are worth the price?? anybody had any trouble with these??

seen loads of color options for these, it that just the backlight color??

 

This thread is back from the dead.
I would also like to see the black cat customs though. I have never seen them.

 

There some pics in this thread, but you really can't see anything.

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...light=interior

I got a close up of the gauges from Black Cat Customs but I'll have to wait until I get home to post those.

 

Yea those are pretty hgard to make out.
Hook me up with the other pics.

 

Well, I only have this one. Its just a sample of what they can do. They can basically make you any kind of font or back light color you want. Go to their website and shoot them an email.

 

Pics of my custom replacement gauge faces for my HKS meters. www.blackcatcustom.com did the work.

Bought an old HKS boost meter (old school) off of eBay, but the backlighting was green and the face looks like it had been out in the sun too long. Found new HKS temp gauges to match at www.hksusa.com, but they only had black face/green backlight. Being second in analness only to jimlab, I needed a matching solution. Blackcatcustom indicated they do custom gauges, so I gave them a try.

New faces top row, orginal faces bottom row. (yes, they're switched. It's late, ok? ) As you can see, the font size is a bit larger for the replacements, as that blackcat could not do them any smaller. Ok by me, as that it makes it easier to read (for these tired, old eyes). If I didn't have the originals, I wouldn't have know better anyways.

The faces are cut out nicely - perfectly round and the holes match up exactly. They did forget to drill the 'needle stop' hole on the temp gauge (dead bottom center), but no biggie - I have a drill bit that small that will do the trick. The original boost gauge does not have one (mech gauge).

 

Boost gauge. The silver around the hash marks at 500 and 760 is a reflection off the flash. Can't see it normally.

 

Temp face. A little silver off the flash here too.

 

I like these but dont know who makes em...anyone can you help me...

 

All in all, the lettering and hash marks are sharp, except for a few places. You can see the labels for the 'war(ning)', 'set', and 'select' is not quite as sharp as the orginal. Keep in mind that the letters stand 1.5mm tall. Once they go in, I'll never notice again. The originals were not perfect either, anyways.

I'll have to get around to putting them in, but more important things need to be done at the moment - like painting my car and putting it back together so that I can actually drive it again!

BTW, the pics I posted earlier in the thread are (obviously) missing, so I'll have to go find them again and attach them to the thread for future reference. I'll do that when I get around to putting the faces in and taking new pics.

 

I've seen them on eBay. Search there for 'rx7' or 'rx-7' and 'gauge face(s)', or some other terms.

 

and at night...

 

Oh, and here is the proof they sent me for approval before finishing the job. Very professional.

 

Mine may be older but they look nice.