Red dash conversion almost complete

[93IDIT]

I decided a while back that I didn't like the green lighting of the dash. Not to mention that it wasn't very bright. I purchased some red LEDs from ebay and swapped out the bulbs. It wasn't as easy as I thought because all the gauges have a green film that blocks red. I had to pull all the needles to complete the swap. I think after four attempts the needles are in place.

The heater controls required replacing the plastic on the front since the film cannot be scraped off. I destroyed the original trying. I printed a new plastic with my laser printer. It looks like I need to double it up to make it look right though. It's good but not perfect. Also, I pulled the green prisms from the dials but left them empty. My plan is to fill them with clear silicone to make them glow red.

What do you think?

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[Devon Harley]

Nice! Looks good

 

[gdhillon]

Looks good! What was back there before just green bulbs or green leds?

 

[93IDIT]

Looks good! What was back there before just green bulbs or green leds?

All the lighting is done with 194 bulbs (white). The tinting is done by a film on the gauge and heater control faces, lcd odo, and green prisms in the ac knobs. It is not an easy mod. Changing to blue would have been easier. The green wouldn't block much of the light. Red just happens to be at the other end of the spectrum so removal of all the film is required.

 

[riotwarrior]

Looks sharp, I like this and it matches my radios too, Hmm....now you got me thinking for my OBS cab swap...hmmm....

I've got a couple of the HVAC controls around and a friend owns a sign shop, he could print me the needed facias...

This leaves a few little bits...hmmmm...

OK now I'm brainstorming and Superwifey is not impressed...rofl...

Thanks for the idea

Al

 

[79jasper]

I made mine blue. I scrapped off the green and used some acrylic ultramarine blue paint. Looks okay but I never completely reassembled since my speedo wasn't working. Actually I had to take my nephew to the ER and really needed to see how much fuel I had. Here's what I want to try next- http://mazda626.net/topic/39309-making-custom-gauge-faces/

 

[LCAM-01XA]

For those of ya'll debating between red and blue, blue is as said easier to do, but on long night drives blue will tire your eyes more than red will - blue light is very hard for the eyes to process correctly, red on the other hand is amongst the easiest colors to process. My dashes would be all red by now if it didn't require removing gauge needles...

 

[79jasper]

Correct. Next time I'm doing red. But I'm doing it the way in the link. It'll be on my 94. I'm going to throw in some hidden things that only show at night. Stuff to make the girl happy. :evil

 

[riotwarrior]

For those of ya'll debating between red and blue, blue is as said easier to do, but on long night drives blue will tire your eyes more than red will - blue light is very hard for the eyes to process correctly, red on the other hand is amongst the easiest colors to process. My dashes would be all red by now if it didn't require removing gauge needles...

Superwifey has a blue LED lit CD player and I just cannot stand it what so ever at night...it's gotta be the most annoying thing in the truck...well almost

She's like ...it don't bother me....I'm like good I'm freakin driving and it's OFF cause it's bothering me...even when she drives and I'm passenger it's overwhelming...the blue light that is!

 

[X-NRCan_IDI]

I want to try that red light too now! lol

 

[93IDIT]

I made mine blue. I scrapped off the green and used some acrylic ultramarine blue paint. Looks okay but I never completely reassembled since my speedo wasn't working. Actually I had to take my nephew to the ER and really needed to see how much fuel I had. Here's what I want to try next- http://mazda626.net/topic/39309-making-custom-gauge-faces/

This is good information. I don't think the controls look quit right as is so I'm going to try a two layer approach on the heater controls. I think I can get the look right with one layer of plastic and one paper. Now I have something to do next weekend

 

[79jasper]

Yep. And doing it this way, you aren't messing up the stock face.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Superwifey has a blue LED lit CD player and I just cannot stand it what so ever at night...it's gotta be the most annoying thing in the truck...well almost

She's like ...it don't bother me....I'm like good I'm freakin driving and it's OFF cause it's bothering me...even when she drives and I'm passenger it's overwhelming...the blue light that is!

Does it not dim when you turn the dash lights on? I have a Sony in my brick and when set to dim it's perfectly manageable at night, the blue is only for the buttons and such tho, display itself is black w/ white number/letters. What bugs me is that I have to dim it manually, it has both "illumination" and "dimmer" wires and IIRC both are hooked up but it still appears neither wire does anything... Of course the manual didn't say what each wire should be (steady 12V, variable 12V, steady ground, etc).

Dumb question, what color will I end up w/ if I stick red LEDs in the dash w/o removing the factory film from the gauges? Brick gauges are not solid green like some OBS gauges I'v seen, more like pale green teal-ish color...

Oh, and new Mack trucks have the "cool blue" dash and onboard LCD lighting from the factory now...

 

[93IDIT]

Does it not dim when you turn the dash lights on? I have a Sony in my brick and when set to dim it's perfectly manageable at night, the blue is only for the buttons and such tho, display itself is black w/ white number/letters. What bugs me is that I have to dim it manually, it has both "illumination" and "dimmer" wires and IIRC both are hooked up but it still appears neither wire does anything... Of course the manual didn't say what each wire should be (steady 12V, variable 12V, steady ground, etc).

Dumb question, what color will I end up w/ if I stick red LEDs in the dash w/o removing the factory film from the gauges? Brick gauges are not solid green like some OBS gauges I'v seen, more like pale green teal-ish color...

Oh, and new Mack trucks have the "cool blue" dash and onboard LCD lighting from the factory now...

I overlooked the green coating on the odometer lcd the first time putting the gauges in with the red leds and the odometer was black. It didn't light up at all.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

I overlooked the green coating on the odometer lcd the first time putting the gauges in with the red leds and the odometer was black. It didn't light up at all.

Oh wow, thanks for the warning! OK, next stupid idea - how about yellow LEDs behind factory gauges? I just flat out refuse to mess w/ the gauges is all, had bad luck w/ that before, so ain't taking chances again.