How To: Make your gauge cluster brighter and clearer.

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Cool Thanks man! Definetly have to do this next time i get a chance!
 
As long as you've got a small screwdriver, do it up. Thats all you need.
Just yank the light-diffuser out and enjoy brighter gauges.
 
haha i just went out and checked to see if i did have the small screwdriver to do it and I do...Im so doing it on my lunch tonight lol! Thanks man!
 
yeah for real I did it in my work parking lot 15 min before work because it would be night when I got out and I'd be able to enjoy it :)
 
So i just did the easiest mod in the world to my car! Thanks alot Andrew!!! It looks so much better even in the daytime...I can't wait to drive home tonight...ill be watching my gauges more then the road haha! Thanks again man!!!
 
Nice writeup, I did this before.
I just never thought of adding LED's
then again I'm lazy and really don't like adding stuff like that.

A lot easier to see the gauges.^_^
 
Wish I had taken pictures, but oh well.
I did this last week and couldn't stand the glare I got from the bare bulbs of the black background. Over the course of the week I scrounged around the house and garage and found some semi-clear plastic for diffuser, blue plastic for color change, and some reflective tape.

I roughly traced the pattern of black on the stock diffuser onto the reflective tape and used that on my new set up. Helped a lot w/ the glare. What I ended up w/ isn't any brighter than stock, really, but it's a sweet blue now.

Now, if only I could figure out how to get the numbers blue to match, that would rock. I'm considering taking out all the colored bits for the dummy lights and turn signals and turning them all the same shade of blue. Does the door open light really need to be so red?
 
You know that you can just pull the cluster out, pull the bulbs out, and paint them with acrylic paint and it changes the color, but it dims them a little bit.

I would recommend just exchanging the back bulbs with, IIRC #74, LED's and you'll have a nice clean backlit colored cluster.

It also works on the Climate control, clock, and cig. lighter.
 
74-2.jpg

those the ones your talking about?
 
paint them with acrylic paint and it changes the color, but it dims them a little bit.

Based on the acculmulation of dust in there, I'm sure that I'm the first peson to pull the cluster out. When I did, I found that all the little bulbs in the back already have little blue 'condoms' on them that change the color...but since the numbers on the guage are white, they change the color back. WTF, Honda?


I've had only partial success w/ LED's. They are just not bright enough to work as brake lights, for example. Then I saw this:
t10-pcb-w24.jpg

Hmmm...there might even be room in guage cluster for a couple of these....
SUPER BRIGHT LEDS home
 
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