Author Topic: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)  (Read 22802 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline fast90trx

  • antrx.com junior member
  • **
  • Posts: 53
  • Karma: +1/-0
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #30 on: Sep 28, 2004, 11:58PM »
thanx for the info rake :). youve been very helpful. i cant wait to do this now ;D
I AM THE NIGHTRIDER!!! I AM A FUEL INJECTED SUICIDE MACHINE!!!

Offline bungs

  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 2401
  • Karma: +53/-25
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #31 on: Sep 29, 2004, 04:20PM »
I'll be changing the colour of mine tomorrow when i go get the leds that i want. I took the cluster out today, hopefully i won't break anything in the process :)

Offline Rake

  • vrrrmm sssssh pstch
  • antrx cruise monkey
  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 3216
  • Karma: +60/-18
  • Gender: Male
  • quack
    • http://www.tldr.com.au
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #32 on: Sep 29, 2004, 06:05PM »
When doing the Fuel and Temp guages, be very careful. Note the holes in the clear plastic behind the guage faces are very small and only allow the turny thingomobob's through. I strongly suggest making a seperate hole next to them, but not making these small holes any bigger, otherwise the fuel and temp guages won't work perfectly and the needles might move around and such... Will post more later.

Also it is MUCH easier to not install the airvents/clock part or the clear guages cover until your completly finished and satisfied with the results, as without these in place you can get to the instrument cluster much easier.
« Last Edit: Sep 29, 2004, 06:07PM by Rake »

Offline bungs

  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 2401
  • Karma: +53/-25
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #33 on: Sep 30, 2004, 01:30AM »
Also it is MUCH easier to not install the airvents/clock part or the clear guages cover until your completly finished and satisfied with the results, as without these in place you can get to the instrument cluster much easier.

heh tell me about it.. i've got a feeling i'll be driving around with no dash for the next week hehe  ::)

Offline twizted_kitten

  • antrx.com full member
  • ***
  • Posts: 248
  • Karma: +6/-6
  • Gender: Female
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #34 on: Oct 2, 2004, 10:09PM »
how sweet are the blues!!!! i wanna do that in my GLi!!!

how do you put in the led's??

azzie
don't make me pull the plug on you
**what plug**
THIS ONE!!!
**thats the plug to the toaster**
ahh man i was making toast, its all ruined now!!!

Offline Rake

  • vrrrmm sssssh pstch
  • antrx cruise monkey
  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 3216
  • Karma: +60/-18
  • Gender: Male
  • quack
    • http://www.tldr.com.au
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #35 on: Oct 2, 2004, 10:33PM »
noss mirrored a guide in the FAQ forum, and I made a mirror also.

http://www.antrx.com/smf/index.php?topic=4867.0
http://users.communis.com.au/~rgrant/Stuff/IndigloMirror/

It's not the easiest thing in the world. There is very limited space to fit the LEDs, as to not make them prevent the guages from working correctly. I made numerous mistakes and often had to make changes or even re-do things. Also drilling holes for the leds and such is a fairly delicate thing to do, hell only knows how I managed it with a handheld drill, haha! Gotta be able to solder and all that too.

Guage faces were easier though.

All up, the entire lot would've cost less than $10.

I'm willing to give people a hand though, since I've kindof learnt what and what not to do. Plus I'm bored as all hell!
« Last Edit: Oct 2, 2004, 10:36PM by Rake »

Offline twizted_kitten

  • antrx.com full member
  • ***
  • Posts: 248
  • Karma: +6/-6
  • Gender: Female
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #36 on: Oct 2, 2004, 11:01PM »
awesome, ill give it a go!!! it looks sweet

thanx for tha links!!!

cheers

azzie
don't make me pull the plug on you
**what plug**
THIS ONE!!!
**thats the plug to the toaster**
ahh man i was making toast, its all ruined now!!!

Offline Rake

  • vrrrmm sssssh pstch
  • antrx cruise monkey
  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 3216
  • Karma: +60/-18
  • Gender: Male
  • quack
    • http://www.tldr.com.au
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #37 on: Oct 3, 2004, 01:20AM »
Look up a few posts, for the Blue LEDs I reccomended to fast90trx .. 3mm 3,000mcd Blue LEDs from Jaycar. Would be easier to work with methinks, will have to give them a try. If I end up helping him out, we shalst post results!

Offline bungs

  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 2401
  • Karma: +53/-25
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #38 on: Oct 3, 2004, 01:30AM »
I became lazy and really couldnt be fscked taking the whole cluster apart, so i fixed the blown bulbs and replaced the plastic with my old corsair cluster (the one that came with the trx was barely visible because some moron thought i'd be cool to try to clean it with some sort of stuff that ate the plastic away ::) )

But, i just came home and realised that the odomoter and trip meter isnt working anymore, but it'll stay like that now because i cbf unscrewing everything again hehe :)

kudos to you rake, you really have some patience to unscrew the cluster and pissfart around with the leds :)

Offline Rake

  • vrrrmm sssssh pstch
  • antrx cruise monkey
  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 3216
  • Karma: +60/-18
  • Gender: Male
  • quack
    • http://www.tldr.com.au
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #39 on: Oct 3, 2004, 01:35AM »
Dude, I put the dash together for like, what was to be the final time, made it all perfect, test the hazards button..

.... And one of the indicator arrow bulbs were busted, one I messed with .. bah!

But, lol, since I've pulled my dash apart so many times, I know exactly how to do it! And all reasonably quickly too :P

I did everything gradually, I have some serious lack-of-motivation issues but I just went ahead and did it one day out of pure experimentation and then like ... yeah. Did everthing in stages afterward and, now look at it :D


Offline DAN

  • antrx.com junkie
  • *****
  • Posts: 576
  • Karma: +10/-16
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #40 on: Oct 3, 2004, 01:29PM »
i dont have a camera on me but i might go round to a friends place so i can post you a pic of my cluster mod i have blue needles using leds and red backing using 1w luxens from jaycar it looks allright

Offline vector

  • antrx.com junkie
  • *****
  • Posts: 710
  • Karma: +16/-55
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #41 on: Oct 3, 2004, 01:58PM »
where did you put the luxeons? im thinking of just replacing all the large globes with them but i dunno if it will shine through the needles enough   ???
"Until the philosophy which hold one race superior and another inferior is finally discredited and abandoned...WAR! So that is prophecy, and everyone know that is truth. And it came out of the mouth of Rastafari"

Offline DAN

  • antrx.com junkie
  • *****
  • Posts: 576
  • Karma: +10/-16
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #42 on: Oct 3, 2004, 03:04PM »
i counter sunk them into the plastic right behind the gauges themselves it is a bit tricky but because luxens have a 180 degree focus the light desperses eaisily through the plastic.  Only problem is that the luxens are kind of big because they require a het sink on the back.

Offline Rake

  • vrrrmm sssssh pstch
  • antrx cruise monkey
  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 3216
  • Karma: +60/-18
  • Gender: Male
  • quack
    • http://www.tldr.com.au
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #43 on: Oct 3, 2004, 03:06PM »
Sounds interesting, I'd like to see what they look like. Mounting shouldn't be too difficult provided it doesn't matter where you put them, I would imagine

Offline DAN

  • antrx.com junkie
  • *****
  • Posts: 576
  • Karma: +10/-16
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #44 on: Oct 3, 2004, 03:12PM »
ware you put them does matter to a point as the luxens at the very centre will be more brighter this was a problem with the spedo gauge for me the best place to put them is not in the middle of the needle sweep (ware the numbers are) but to get them in the center if possible or bellow or above the needle sweep.

Offline Rake

  • vrrrmm sssssh pstch
  • antrx cruise monkey
  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 3216
  • Karma: +60/-18
  • Gender: Male
  • quack
    • http://www.tldr.com.au
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #45 on: Oct 3, 2004, 03:40PM »
Hmm, I think I'll just be happy with the way my dash is now...

Of course, that could change pending photos :P

Offline calteoh

  • antrx.com full member
  • ***
  • Posts: 202
  • Karma: +2/-2
  • Gender: Male
  • first car eagerness
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #46 on: Oct 14, 2004, 01:48AM »
how do you go about just changing the backlighting of the gauges (standard green) to red like yours rake? i might be stupid, but i've read through but most of you are talking about the LED's in the actual needles.

What needs to be bought, and done to change the gauges backlighting color?

Offline Rake

  • vrrrmm sssssh pstch
  • antrx cruise monkey
  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 3216
  • Karma: +60/-18
  • Gender: Male
  • quack
    • http://www.tldr.com.au
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #47 on: Oct 14, 2004, 04:39AM »
Easy! :P I briefly wrote how I did it in the post where I introduced car (As I had done this mod just before I joined Antrx), this thread was relevant just to the Indiglos but the guages fit in too, so. :)

Look through the pics as you read and you'll probably understand easily :)

http://rgrant.communis.com.au/Stuff/CarDashMod/ <-- First photos of when I made guages Red
http://rgrant.communis.com.au/Stuff/Dashmod%20Blue%20Experiment/ <-- More recent experiment with Blue modelling paint, worked very well

--

What you need:

- A little jar of modelling paint of desired colour (Flat, common colours like Red and Blue are best, nothing too light or dark). Available from modelling type places, only a few dollars, and will be MORE than enough to do the lot.
- Small paintbrush to apply paint. Available as above if you need one, or perhaps just improvise if your only doing this once.
- Some mildly-rough sandpaper :) Something a few hundred grit should work nicely.

Howto:

1 - Take the guage cluster out. I've posted how to get to it somewhere else, I'll post a link when I find it later. I'm presuming you are getting that Corsair one calteoh? Just take off the clear cover and black part with the circles (Clips on top and bottom), pop off the needles (Screwdriver underneath and twist if theyre reluctant), and then undo the two screws on each guage face and lift it off. Be careful, these screws are easy to loose and are delicate, so be gentle with them or you might bugger the heads up.

2 - See DashMod01.jpg .. Remove the guage faces. Flip it over. The white/green stuff, with dots in some areas, is what makes the light green. I presume the diffrences in area (With/without dots etc) help even the light. We can't do this when we mod them so the guages may be lit unevenly, but who cares :P

3 - See DashMod02.jpg + DashMod04.jpg .. First we need to remove the green stuff. If you want to leave the tacho redline, indicator arrows etc as-is, cover them with masking tape first!! When ready, sandpaper off the green stuff.

4 - See DashMod03.jpg + DashMod05.jpg .. Paint on the modelling paint! Also leave any masking tape on for this step. If you are doing a large area like the indicator arrows, try and keep the paint as even as possible otherwise it will appear very 'blotchy' (Can see un-evenness in the paint when lit). However for numbers and such you can get away with it.

5 - See DashMod10.jpg to DashMod12.jpg .. Leave paint to dry (Should be fine to fit guage faces back on after around 5-10 minutes) and then check against a light and re-install. (If your not going to do led needle mod too :P).

--

Very easy, and should take under an hour to do :)

Note that when reinstalling the needles, the fuel and temp ones fit onto half-circle things so they don't need to be adjusted. Speedo, Tacho (and Oil Guage needle if you have it) will go on anywhere, but can point to the wrong position on the guages. To fix this, understand that there is a "Low limit" where the needle moves to and stops when you let it go. There is also the upper limit, where the needle will stop when you push it as far as it will comfortably allow.

What I do is simply put the needle on. If it points to anywhere below zero whilst at its Lower limit, I push it to the Upper limit and then keep forcing it slightly. Then if the
Lower limit is above 0, I carefully keep forcing it past the lower limit until it points to the right spot (0).

It might be a little tricky to understand but have a play with the guages and you'll understand. I did the Tacho first as I would rather have an inaccurate Tacho than an inaccurate Speedo, for obvious reasons. My guages still work perfectly and are accurate after being this, but I would advice caution - don't force the needle around over and over and over again because we don't want to break them. Try and keep it as accurate as you can to keep the need for adjustment to a minimum.
« Last Edit: Oct 14, 2004, 05:01AM by Rake »

Offline calteoh

  • antrx.com full member
  • ***
  • Posts: 202
  • Karma: +2/-2
  • Gender: Male
  • first car eagerness
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #48 on: Oct 14, 2004, 12:32PM »
I'm presuming you are getting that Corsair one calteoh?

your a persceptive one arnt you  ;)

yes i plan to do this with the corsair cluster i bought.
Thanks alot for the write up, awsome pics u took aswell!!! sounds really easy to do... and might i add that blue looks kickass  ;D
« Last Edit: Oct 14, 2004, 12:55PM by calteoh »

Offline Rake

  • vrrrmm sssssh pstch
  • antrx cruise monkey
  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 3216
  • Karma: +60/-18
  • Gender: Male
  • quack
    • http://www.tldr.com.au
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #49 on: Oct 14, 2004, 01:43PM »
Yeah I was surprised at how good Blue looked. A little bit of temptation to switch to blue but I'm sticking to my guns, Red is awesome too :P In the 4th Blue experiment picture you can see what the little jars of paint will generally look like if your not sure what your looking for. :)

I posted instructions on how to get to the guage cluster too - http://www.antrx.com/smf/index.php?topic=5302.msg77790#msg77790 - might help you when it comes to installation.

If you need a few do's and dont's when it comes to installing the LEDs, just ask :)

Offline jet81u

  • antrx.com junior member
  • **
  • Posts: 27
  • Karma: +1/-2
  • Gender: Male
  • my car
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #50 on: Oct 14, 2004, 02:20PM »
hey rake where in sydney are u from coz i really wanna do that to my car but im scared to mess with it im from sydney too
jmicallef

Offline calteoh

  • antrx.com full member
  • ***
  • Posts: 202
  • Karma: +2/-2
  • Gender: Male
  • first car eagerness
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #51 on: Oct 14, 2004, 03:11PM »
yer i used your guide on how to get to the gauges last week, was very helpful!
you gotta knack for these DIY guide things :)

Offline Rake

  • vrrrmm sssssh pstch
  • antrx cruise monkey
  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 3216
  • Karma: +60/-18
  • Gender: Male
  • quack
    • http://www.tldr.com.au
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #52 on: Oct 14, 2004, 03:42PM »
Haha I should :) I've got HSC exams coming up but if I find spare time (Well, as if I'll study anyway :P) I'd be glad to write up whatever you people want. Bonus is it's all U12 specific, which the other indiglo needle mod guide isn't :)

jet81u - Blacktown way buddy, will be glad to help.

Offline jet81u

  • antrx.com junior member
  • **
  • Posts: 27
  • Karma: +1/-2
  • Gender: Male
  • my car
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #53 on: Oct 15, 2004, 09:21AM »
thats alright i live blacktown to bro i got hsc too wat school u go to.
jmicallef

Offline Rake

  • vrrrmm sssssh pstch
  • antrx cruise monkey
  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 3216
  • Karma: +60/-18
  • Gender: Male
  • quack
    • http://www.tldr.com.au
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #54 on: Oct 15, 2004, 12:04PM »
We'll continue in PM's.

If we do yours in a diffrent colour we'll get some pics and stuff, because it'd be cool to see a real-life shot of another colour, might help inspire others a little more than they already have been :P

Offline calteoh

  • antrx.com full member
  • ***
  • Posts: 202
  • Karma: +2/-2
  • Gender: Male
  • first car eagerness
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #55 on: Oct 29, 2004, 04:59PM »
hey rake how did u apply the paint so evenly?
i'm doin mine now, and the i think i'm painting too thick a layer on as the light dosent seem to come through very brightly, and its very uneven, no matter how hard i try. at the moment i'm sanding it back to see if i can fix it but no avail, as the sanding is very unaccurate too :( any tips on painting? and yes i'm using the same paint as u did

Offline Jtas

  • Sarcasminator
  • antrx cruise monkey
  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 4125
  • Karma: +69/-28
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #56 on: Oct 29, 2004, 05:05PM »
dont apply it too thick, do it very thinly so it doesnt build up anywhere... its best to have to add another layer if need be than have it too thick

Offline calteoh

  • antrx.com full member
  • ***
  • Posts: 202
  • Karma: +2/-2
  • Gender: Male
  • first car eagerness
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #57 on: Oct 29, 2004, 05:16PM »
so i guess i should sand back and start again?  :-\


Offline Rake

  • vrrrmm sssssh pstch
  • antrx cruise monkey
  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 3216
  • Karma: +60/-18
  • Gender: Male
  • quack
    • http://www.tldr.com.au
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #58 on: Oct 29, 2004, 06:36PM »
It's been found that putting coloured silicon covers on the bulbs (me and benzor nickname them "globe condoms") help reduce things like brushstrokes and uneven-ness. Sandpaper helps too, to even out the paint and get rid of brushstrokes to an extent. Only problem is that the needles and redline (if you leave that stock red), depending on the colour you do, will suffer. The good side though is that the light around the odometer/tripmeter counter will be the coloured :)

As for the uneven-ness, well, thats expected unfortunatly. If you look on a stock guage there are varying levels of the green stuff .. some areas have black dots, others don't, etc. I presume this is to make the light even, as bulbs are directly under some areas but not others. When you put on paint, you loose this. The best thing I can think of is to put an additional layer of paint on the areas where it is brighter. I notice mine, for example, is brigher around the top of the speedo (Where it reads 80, 100, 120) than areas where it reads 40 and 160, however it's not too severe and it doesn't bother me.

Offline Sticky

  • Bad Luck Magnet
  • qld local moderator
  • post whore
  • *****
  • Posts: 3867
  • Karma: +111/-14
  • Gender: Male
Re: Dash competed! (Indiglo Needle Mod)
« Reply #59 on: Oct 29, 2004, 07:10PM »
u could use one of those sponge brushes, thats what i used because i had the same problem, but it works better than a standard brush

Quote

The best engine in the world is the vagina, it takes any size piston, its self lubricating, starts with 1 finger, and every 4 weeks does its own oil change. It's just a pity the management system is so f**king temperamental.

The Human Torch was denied a bank loan