cluster/hvac bulb color---UPDATED!!!

i want to change the color of my cluster and my hvac to red. whats really involved in doing this? i konw i gotta take the units out and get red led's or bulbs and put them in or is there something more to it like a color filter making the amber color and i gotta take it apart to get it out? i searched and couldnt really find an answer.

it's very simple.  you have to take the whole gauge cluster out of it's socket (pulls right out after it's disconnected and the frame is pulled off).    there are several tiny little light bulbs on the back that are used to illuminate the back that are orange.  just take one of those to an auto parts store and they should have several other colors.

ok, thanks rcj

So i was lookin online about to whole color change thing a came arcoss some people putting #74 LED's instead of the #74 bulbs. is this a better swap, are they brighter or is it the same as the regular bulbs?



this is the LED i am talkin about....http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/10-pcs-T5-74-37-70-Super-RED-Wedge-Base-LED-Bulbs-12V_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em124QQcategoryZ33713QQihZ009QQitemZ190204576140QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD4V

any takers?

i know this is quite an old post... but i say 2 things.. go for it, is a cheap mod and take pics, and i heard from a very trusty source (john (silvercoup)) that the leds should work

its not that old, only 6 days! but i will, i know theres an orange filter built into the gauges and i would take the whole thing apart but i dont have DSMLINK or even a pocket logger to tell me my RPMs or speed. so i think im going to just throw some red LED's to see how they look. i dont think its gonna make a difference since they're close to the same color.

Mmm, yea, the orange filter makes blue leds look like the most unpleasant possible green,

so i ordered some red LED's and some extra twist lock's from ebay cuz i didnt feel like paying 30 bucks so the whole thing cost me like 12 bucks.....so within a week ill have some pic of my cluster and maybe my hvac (still not sure if i want to go through the hassle of tearing out the hvac for one bulb...but i probably will)

ok so today i finally got the LED's in the mail. when i when to put them the LED's where just a little bit too long so i had to trim the top of the LED's and by the boost gauge i had to take a power dill and drill out some plastic so it would sit in the cluster right, or somewhat right. it actually turned out great...take a look. 


 
sorry for the blurry pic, it was dark and my camera wouldnt focus right. 

wow,that actaully looks really damn good

That does look good. 
I did the same color LEDs in my dash, but I ordered mine from superbrightleds.com and I got the shorter LEDs...after ordering the long ones.  The long ones gave me the same issue you had, but I didn't modify the housing at all.  Instead I sanded a couple of the LED glasses and buffed to make it clear again.  The shorter set dropped right in and they are bright enough at night, but not so annoyingly bright when you're driving down a dark road.

yea i should of spent the extra money and shopped at that website and got the shorter ones. but its OK. later today I'm gonna break out the dremel and shorten and reshape the top into a cone so it fits in there better cuz a few of em are forced.
 
i think im going to put a red led in the HVAC....does anybody know its a 74 bulb?

ok so i put an led in my hvac to see what it would look like....i think its looks ok for being only one bulb in there. but now all my switches are still amber....and i dont think that they make any colored bulbs that size. if they do let me know where. and does anybody know where to get some translucent paint so i can paint the small bulbs in my switches red?
 
   

On the HVAC, there is another bulb (at least there is another one for the A/C icon).  It's a bitch to remove because it's on the bottom.  The bulb for the HVAC housing is a standard bulb I believe.  It's been so long since I've even been around the switch areas it's hard to recall, lol.  If I remember correctly, I had to remove the bulb to the "A/C on" light with a component LED since superbrightleds.com didn't have the base replacements.  It's not a tough project, just time consuming and nuckle scratching.

so... there really is an amber like film or paint on the back of the gauge cluster that actually drowns out the color? cuz thats my question.... those red gauges would look SOOO awesome with white needles....

quote:

ORIGINAL: Kaede.Noir

so... there really is an amber like film or paint on the back of the gauge cluster that actually drowns out the color? cuz thats my question.... those red gauges would look SOOO awesome with white needles....

Yup, there is.  I wouldn't suggest sanding it down either because you'll end up with "hot spots" on the gauge overlay.  That's when the light is focused right above the bulb and the dissipator (although not as bright) and the rest of the overlay will be dim.  That whole paint scheme on the back of the overlay is beneficial to balanced lighting.  So far I've used amber, red, and blue with no ill effects on the stock overlay.  A pure white LED will show up white with a slight hue of yellow where it is furthest away from the LED.  If any of you guys have ever turn on the dash lights with the bulbs visible...the light they emit are a yellowish/amber light which contributes to the amber look of stock gauge lighting. 
As for the needles, check out the Import Intelligence site.
Import Intelligence

yea i saw that bulb when i took the A/C switch out and saw the bulb. i heard that there is a paint out there that you can paint the bulbs red....does anybody know anything about that or a small red diffusers like the orange on from the hvac anybody sells.
 
 
hey Silver, what LED did you use for the a/c switch? and how about did you go about doing it? was it just a simple sodder the led to the +/- or is it more involvedthan that?

I wish it was a simple soldering job.  It really wasn't tough, but I also had to solder a resistor inline with the positive side.  I would leave that one alone because it was a PITA just for one tiny rectangular light.

wow..... those gauges are badass..... way better than the indigo...

OK so the tech page i got this whole idea from at ***tuners.com has another tech page about how to wire up some of the switches using led strips....but can i use prewired leds such as these...and wire them up to the +/- leads where the original bulbs were?

http://www.oznium.com/prewired-leds
 
if i cant use em for the switches...which im pretty sure i could, just wanted to hear feedback. but i am going to drill a hole on opposite sides of the hvac and put a couple of those in so it can brighten it up because it does seem a little dim. if i do that would it be ok to tie the two extra led wires into the main +/- for the hvac light, or would i have to run a new wire and put a switch and fuse on it?

You could always find the wire that fires up those bulbs and solder the LED wires to that or just hook them up to any lighting wire.  

yeah thats what i was talkin about....sodering them to where the bulbs get thier power from or make my own power source and put a switch on it
 

ive been trying to do this overweekend but every store seems to be damn closed!!! john by any chance do you have a pic of when you had your gauges blue?