Musulsa

I hated my green-tinted stock guages but found all the white "ebay" guages to be way too ricey for me. If you feel the same as I do then this cheapy mod is for you.

Behind the speedo-cluster are 4 195/168 bulbs with little blue-green rubber hoods on them, pull them all out and replace them with blue bulbs from http://autolumination.com/194.htm (The bulbs you want for maximum brightness are the 5-led matrix bulbs at the top of that page for $6.99 each.)

Here are some shots of the half-done lights so you can compare:

DAYTIME:





DUSK:




Whole cluster:




If you are too cheap to buy the LED lights (you need 4 @ $7 each = $28+2.50 shipping) then you can just get the $0.99 blue incandescent bulbs at the bottom of that page.


Comments are welcome.

-=-=-=-
BTW: the color in real life is a very DEEP blue. The pictures don't really show the real color of the bulbs, but you can kind of get the picture.

Nato

VERY VERY VERY NICE!!!! so it was taht simple all along... good find.. im going to do that mod now..
but is it half done or something? and can you control how dim you want it?

thirdrail-1

I agree!! Awesome Post. I will be doing the same SOON!

Nato

wow is this only for the CL?..im still so amazed, cuz i know other people on other forums doing led conversions to their cars and it seems like alot of work soldering and stuff...

Littl3Bit

How hard is it to do the conversion? did it take you long to do it??? cause Im very interested, Ive always wanted to do the dash with Red led's to match the exterior, but never figured it would be easy or attemptable.

Musulsa

(1) Re-read my 1st post. These pics are of the mod half-done so that you guys can compare the colors.
(2) Yes. The dimmer switch is fully functional.


It took me about 15-30 minutes.

ingsoc747

can you show us before/after pics with both sides done?

nippon_wa

there were some people who have done this before... like Danman..

and he sold his stuff to me..

mines are also blue too..

nato// yeah it's only soldering.. not hard at all..

Musulsa

No soldering required AT ALL. Unscrew the cluster and just pop in 4 standard #194 bulbs. That's the beauty of it, Nippon.

It's a straight up bulb swap out. No skill required.

If there is demand I can slap together a DIY with pics, but that'll have to wait til next week as I am flying out for a business trip tomorrow.

nippon_wa

I'm talking about the ones that i did

Nato

wow nippon those dash pieces are nice... im so sick of the clock looking green and the climate control buttons.. too bad those are not just plug and play

klepto

that looks hot nippon, I want to do that someday

Nato

okay im going to try this mod.. looks awesome..

one more thing... you said theres 4 bulbs.. is that 4 bulbs all together? or 4 bulbs only per side... basically.. how many bulbs will i need ALL together for the whole thing

ajbent86

man that looks good, has anyone done this in white?? i think white would give a nice luxury car look.

nippon_wa

pix of back of your cluster.


and for the clock and climate control... i forgot.. lol

if you have around 10~15 leds.. then you will be fine..

Nato

thanks for the pics.. its very helpful..
i just took my cluster out last week to install the eurodash.. now i gotta take it out again.. what a bitch..

Musulsa

4 Total. 2 per side.

I would like to warn you that if you get incandescent bulbs (filament type) then it will not be as bright as the 5-led matrix bulbs.

I've also done this mod with the white. It looks really nice as well, but fade/bleed is more apparent. If you want I guess I could put some pics of all white, all blue, and half-blue half-white for comparison....

Nato

those leds are expensive! i think on ebay they are called refractor leds...
Musula did you use bulbs or LEDS...

I wanna see it in red... which do you think would look nicer.. red or white ?

ajbent86

THAT WOULD BE AWESOME, however, if its a lot of work, dont waste ur time just for a few pics.



btw, what do u mean by fade/bleed?

Chiny-J

nato, do you think they sell them at pacific mall??? it maybe cheaper over there too!!?? because i'm definatley interested in it too!!!!!!!!

Nato

they sell LEDs and normal bulbs but i dont think they sell the refractor ones..
im going to have to buy them off ebay at that ridiculous price... it better be super bright.

Musulsa

I used LEDs. 4 bulbs @$6.99 each is $27.96 + $2.50 shipping = $30.46. LED's are WAY WAY WAY brighter than incandescent aka "filament" bulbs. In fact I've replaced almost every single lightbulb in my car with LEDs.

If you get these on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW with combined shipping it should cost you $9.99x2 = 19.98 + 3.79 shipping = $23.77. If they won't combine shipping then you will pay $27.56.

Nato

shipping is more expensive for me cuz im in canada

ajtcl

That is real sweet. I love that blueish look. Would match my car nicely.

Chiny-J

boo to that! plus the exchange rate kinda sucks too...

ajbent86

if you could put together a DIY with some pics that would b really helpful, ive never taken apart my cluster, and i really dont wanna mess it up in anyway cause they are expensive to replace.

cl_jay

^

and lets see some pics of the white leds, if its not too much trouble

97silver2.2CL

so... if we wanna do wut nippon did, then we gotta solder? how did you get to the moonroof button etc

Nato

how come in the pic theres 5 bulbs...
do the two outter bulbs control the gas and temp?.. and the 2 inner ones speedo and rpm??
if thats the case.. i'll make my temp and gas diff colors then the speedo..

dragon084

id just change the bulb sleeve to a different color, say amber

wakeboardfusion

i just did it yesterday with cheap bulbs from shucks and its tight as hell

Time For Sleeep

Ya'll think this is possible w/ the 2nd gen gauges?

EPS CL

What's shucks? I'm wondering if I could pick these up locally from like an Autozone or Radio Shack or some shit.

wakeboardfusion

its like a autozone

$peed])emon

that shit is super easy. i've almost replaced all my stock interior with cool blue bulbs and LEDs, except the dash.... looks way better at night. i even put LED in my parking lights...looks tight...

EPS CL

is shucks like a local thing, or would they just have this at any autozone?

ajtcl

Prolly RadioShack would have the LEDs/

wakeboardfusion

i didnt think it was local...its just like autozone, just look at the bulbs they have there...you can probably just order them on the net or get them from a tuner shop...btw i only paid 1.50 each

wakeboardfusion

well...idk if autozone is like shucks...we dont have one here now that ive looked at their website.if they have bulbs then they should have them

Nato

I just payed 20 dollars for 4 White Bulbs... put and did the mod... and let me warn you guys... it does NOT come out white!! it actually looks the same as before just alot brighter.

the numbers will always have a hint of that greenish.. i guess blue works the best cuz blue and greenish makes a dark bluish green... but white and green makes a brighter green..
anyways not really satisfied with this mod..
still green.. just a lot brighter...