Dash Light Mod

[StriperKing]

It has been a while since I have posted but I did a new mod that I thought I would share. The bulb went bad for my temp gauge so I removed the front dash cover to find that the bulb they used was an LED type that can be used in place of a regular bulb in the same socket. I am going to add some black light underglow LED strips this winter so I thought why not replace these with UV blacklight instead of the white lights for the fuel and temp gauges. I ordered these in a 5-led cluster bulb because the UV is so much dimmer to get the light needed to light the gauge. It looked great but the center cluster looked out of place with the white back lighting. I said what the .... and removed the center cluster to see how that was done (much more work to remove but not bad if you have been there before). You then have to disassemble the cluster to see what you have. It uses soldered in LED`s in the main curcuit board and a fiber optic tube to deliver the light to the speedo and another for the tach. I knew I could not just replace the led that was there with a UV one because one would be to dim. I bought an LED strip that can be cut every 3rd LED to make what you want. I used 9-LED`s per side, soldered wires to them and then soldered the other ends where the old LED used to be before I removed them. There is a lot more you have to do but this is a quick overview. To be honest this is not for the faint of heart, you are working with your $800.00 gauge cluster. If you mess up that is what it will cost to replace it. With what is out there today you could do this in just about any color. The pic looks more blue but it is much more purple blacklight looking than what it shows. If you think this is for you I can help you but if your first question is how to get the cluster out don`t start!!!!

 

[Spy+]

Sweeeeet!!!

 

[Phil]

Veeeery nicely done. Out of the box. Great project.


Phil, Tyler TX- from my iPad3.5 using Tapatalk HD

 

[Bob Denman]

:shocked: AWESOME!! :bowdown: :firstplace:

 

[StriperKing]

Thanks for the comments!!!

 

[Laila's Dad]

very nice...:clap:

 

[lookerjdc]

very very cool:clap:

i've been thinking of doing something similar

any further info on the installation would be much appreciated:thumbup::bowdown:

 

[rcdurango]

Ok you got me at LED

That's nice looking. That would be a nice touch with all the other blue LED's on Judy's Spyder:clap:I like to see that for live before I start cutting wires.

 

[Bob Denman]

Do you deliver???
Seriously; Is there any way that you could put together some solid step-by-step guidelines for just how you did this?
Thanks! :thumbup:

 

[StriperKing]

Just got in from a dinner night ride with friends. I will post more details when I have some time. Richard you live close enough we will just do yours this winter. We can even do pink for Judy and you will just have to live with it, lol.

 

[Ivorspyder]

Thats very cool:thumbup:

Ivor:spyder:

 

[laviothon1]

That is very cool.

 

[rcdurango]

Ouch!

Just got in from a dinner night ride with friends. I will post more details when I have some time. Richard you live close enough we will just do yours this winter. We can even do pink for Judy and you will just have to live with it, lol.

Judy would like the pink but I'm thinking it wouldn't go with the blue glow that now surrounds the Spyder. :lecturef_smilie:I'd like to see yours sometime.

 

[SilverFox1]

Talk about thinking out of the box!!! I like this a lot.

SilverFox

 

[Schnauzer]

Thanks for the brief description

I've already changed the 2 outside bulbs. Gettiing ready to take on the cluster. Did not know that it was fed thru fiber optics, :yikes:But now I know what to look for..

 

[StriperKing]

I've already changed the 2 outside bulbs. Gettiing ready to take on the cluster. Did not know that it was fed thru fiber optics, :yikes:But now I know what to look for..

It is not that bad if you kinda know what you are doing. If you use the strip like I did you will have to remove the plastic fins that support the optic tube but that is pretty easy also. Just a heads up, the speedo and tach needle just pull right off and you do not have to be so perfect putting them back on. If you notice when you turn the key on the tach and speedo needle go from top to bottom. This is to calibrate there position. Also if you need more brightness just paint the inner plastic radius that seperates the centers from the actual speedo or tach with white touch up paint. The strip will be stuck to the outer radius. If you do this remove the plastic inserts with the MPH and RPM printed on them with an exacto kife or something and it will be SOOO much easier! They pop in and out fairly easy.

 

[StriperKing]

Do you deliver???
Seriously; Is there any way that you could put together some solid step-by-step guidelines for just how you did this?
Thanks! :thumbup:

I don`t really want to do a step by step. I could have with pics but it is to late for that. If you dive in I can answer questions as you go. I am afraid someone will be upset if something goes wrong using my info or misunderstands something.

 

[StriperKing]

Judy would like the pink but I'm thinking it wouldn't go with the blue glow that now surrounds the Spyder. :lecturef_smilie:I'd like to see yours sometime.

If you want to do yours we can do it at my garage but if anything goes wrong I would have to plead the fith, lol. Don`t think anything would but there is always that slim chance. It is cheap to do and fairly quick now that I have done it once. Come see mine any time you want.