Who wants brighter gauges on a 02-03? Step inside...
04-06-2005 | 03:38 AM
#83
I had a go at brightening up the cluster on my 2k SE a while back, I used four 10 watt halogen bulbs (below) , soldered in place onto the PC board where old bulbs went, the combined 40w of the bulbs is bright!!!! After a few nights of driving around enjoying my ultra bright gauges turned up all the way, I was done patting myself on the back for a job well done and was glad to note the faint burning odor disappeared.
But soon I began to think I may have overdone it a bit,...for example so much light was being put out that around the needles, a strong 1/2" pattern of red light projected onto the gauges, so I dimmed the about 1/2 way, they are still brighter than stock, but now all the other lights/LEDs/displays in my car were are 1/2-1/3 as bright.
Also, while I had the gauge cluster out and apart I decided it would also be a good idea to add a little color by taping pieces of colored cellophane on the back of the gauge faces. I started by making the last hash mark before E on the gas gauge and the top hash mark on the temp gauge red, I should have stoped there ,...., but didn’t. I then made the first hash mark on temp blue,"F" on the gas gauge green, the #'s "7" & "8" on the Tach red and just kept going.
So now i have realy bright, realy fruity guages. I would post pics, but I feel they are just way to
...........gotta get back in there and get rid of that crap
But soon I began to think I may have overdone it a bit,...for example so much light was being put out that around the needles, a strong 1/2" pattern of red light projected onto the gauges, so I dimmed the about 1/2 way, they are still brighter than stock, but now all the other lights/LEDs/displays in my car were are 1/2-1/3 as bright.
Also, while I had the gauge cluster out and apart I decided it would also be a good idea to add a little color by taping pieces of colored cellophane on the back of the gauge faces. I started by making the last hash mark before E on the gas gauge and the top hash mark on the temp gauge red, I should have stoped there ,...., but didn’t. I then made the first hash mark on temp blue,"F" on the gas gauge green, the #'s "7" & "8" on the Tach red and just kept going.
So now i have realy bright, realy fruity guages. I would post pics, but I feel they are just way to
...........gotta get back in there and get rid of that crap
04-06-2005 | 07:20 AM
#84
Originally Posted by Dr. Roy
I had a go at brightening up the cluster on my 2k SE a while back, I used four 10 watt halogen bulbs (below) , soldered in place onto the PC board where old bulbs went, the combined 40w of the bulbs is bright!!!! After a few nights of driving around enjoying my ultra bright gauges turned up all the way, I was done patting myself on the back for a job well done and was glad to note the faint burning odor disappeared.
But soon I began to think I may have overdone it a bit,...for example so much light was being put out that around the needles, a strong 1/2" pattern of red light projected onto the gauges, so I dimmed the about 1/2 way, they are still brighter than stock, but now all the other lights/LEDs/displays in my car were are 1/2-1/3 as bright.
Also, while I had the gauge cluster out and apart I decided it would also be a good idea to add a little color by taping pieces of colored cellophane on the back of the gauge faces. I started by making the last hash mark before E on the gas gauge and the top hash mark on the temp gauge red, I should have stoped there ,...., but didn’t. I then made the first hash mark on temp blue,"F" on the gas gauge green, the #'s "7" & "8" on the Tach red and just kept going.
So now i have realy bright, realy fruity guages. I would post pics, but I feel they are just way to...........gotta get back in there and get rid of that crap
But soon I began to think I may have overdone it a bit,...for example so much light was being put out that around the needles, a strong 1/2" pattern of red light projected onto the gauges, so I dimmed the about 1/2 way, they are still brighter than stock, but now all the other lights/LEDs/displays in my car were are 1/2-1/3 as bright.
Also, while I had the gauge cluster out and apart I decided it would also be a good idea to add a little color by taping pieces of colored cellophane on the back of the gauge faces. I started by making the last hash mark before E on the gas gauge and the top hash mark on the temp gauge red, I should have stoped there ,...., but didn’t. I then made the first hash mark on temp blue,"F" on the gas gauge green, the #'s "7" & "8" on the Tach red and just kept going.
So now i have realy bright, realy fruity guages. I would post pics, but I feel they are just way to
...........gotta get back in there and get rid of that crap
. It understandable that you would start to add stuff and then go out of control and just make everything colored. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that I'm really curious to see some pics.
04-06-2005 | 07:22 AM
#85
Originally Posted by Dr. Roy
I had a go at brightening up the cluster on my 2k SE a while back, I used four 10 watt halogen bulbs (below) , soldered in place onto the PC board where old bulbs went, the combined 40w of the bulbs is bright!!!! After a few nights of driving around enjoying my ultra bright gauges turned up all the way, I was done patting myself on the back for a job well done and was glad to note the faint burning odor disappeared.
But soon I began to think I may have overdone it a bit,...for example so much light was being put out that around the needles, a strong 1/2" pattern of red light projected onto the gauges, so I dimmed the about 1/2 way, they are still brighter than stock, but now all the other lights/LEDs/displays in my car were are 1/2-1/3 as bright.
Also, while I had the gauge cluster out and apart I decided it would also be a good idea to add a little color by taping pieces of colored cellophane on the back of the gauge faces. I started by making the last hash mark before E on the gas gauge and the top hash mark on the temp gauge red, I should have stoped there ,...., but didn’t. I then made the first hash mark on temp blue,"F" on the gas gauge green, the #'s "7" & "8" on the Tach red and just kept going.
So now i have realy bright, realy fruity guages. I would post pics, but I feel they are just way to...........gotta get back in there and get rid of that crap
But soon I began to think I may have overdone it a bit,...for example so much light was being put out that around the needles, a strong 1/2" pattern of red light projected onto the gauges, so I dimmed the about 1/2 way, they are still brighter than stock, but now all the other lights/LEDs/displays in my car were are 1/2-1/3 as bright.
Also, while I had the gauge cluster out and apart I decided it would also be a good idea to add a little color by taping pieces of colored cellophane on the back of the gauge faces. I started by making the last hash mark before E on the gas gauge and the top hash mark on the temp gauge red, I should have stoped there ,...., but didn’t. I then made the first hash mark on temp blue,"F" on the gas gauge green, the #'s "7" & "8" on the Tach red and just kept going.
So now i have realy bright, realy fruity guages. I would post pics, but I feel they are just way to
...........gotta get back in there and get rid of that crap
do you have any?
04-06-2005 | 07:26 AM
#86
Oh, and a big THANKS to everyone's kind words, and support in this project... one of the main reasons why i tried so hard!
I really do my miss the silver face... I mean a lot. it is not bad at night, it actually looks pretty good, but when i got in my car this morning, it just looks so... crappy. and on top of all that, since it was my "junk tester faceplate" there are scratches and two stains on it... so i am not to happy. Hell... i micht just go out and by an aftermarket overlay...
I really do my miss the silver face... I mean a lot. it is not bad at night, it actually looks pretty good, but when i got in my car this morning, it just looks so... crappy. and on top of all that, since it was my "junk tester faceplate" there are scratches and two stains on it... so i am not to happy. Hell... i micht just go out and by an aftermarket overlay...
04-06-2005 | 08:24 AM
#87
Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 76
Originally Posted by Metal Maxima
Yes, the blue undercoating is what makes it so dim. You need to strip it away in order to make it brighter. I used 194-bulbs, I was not so thrilled how it turned out with LEDs. The LEDs to produce as much light output and will leave you with a localized lightint effect. In short, I'd be VERY impresssed to see if LED would work...I know I could not make them work. Here's how mine turned out, HOW-TO can be found on my cardomain page.
HOW-TO HERE!
HOW-TO HERE!
What would be cool is to have the LEDs light in sync with the needles as they go up and down.
04-06-2005 | 08:44 AM
#88
The leads on the bulbs wouldnt take solder, so i crimped some brass contacts onto the leads then soldered the brass onto the PC board. One of the bulbs behind the Tach. has a worked loose and has been flickering for the last week or so, and recently is off more than on, as can be seen in the photo.
Having a bulb out and admiting that i have fruity colored gauges, has motivated me to take step towards remedying the situation. I will most likely take out the cluster today or tonight to get rid of the fruityness and fix the bulb.
The intensity of the light andness of the colors would best be appreciated w/ some night shots, but i may have the cluster in and out by then so here are some pics i just took, mind you they were taken @ 10:30AM on a sunny day, w/ t-shirt draped over the dash & steering wheel for some shade so they could be photographed.
Having a bulb out and admiting that i have fruity colored gauges, has motivated me to take step towards remedying the situation. I will most likely take out the cluster today or tonight to get rid of the fruityness and fix the bulb.
The intensity of the light and
ness of the colors would best be appreciated w/ some night shots, but i may have the cluster in and out by then so here are some pics i just took, mind you they were taken @ 10:30AM on a sunny day, w/ t-shirt draped over the dash & steering wheel for some shade so they could be photographed.
04-06-2005 | 08:59 AM
#89
That doesn't look half bad! however, it is a bit more blue then i like, but thats just me. and it does not look fruity to me, just... colorful... 
good job.
[QUOTE=Dr. Roy]The leads on the bulbs wouldnt take solder, so i crimped some brass contacts onto the leads then soldered the brass onto the PC board. One of the bulbs behind the Tach. has a worked loose and has been flickering for the last week or so, and recently is off more than on, as can be seen in the photo.
Having a bulb out and admiting that i have fruity colored gauges, has motivated me to take step towards remedying the situation. I will most likely take out the cluster today or tonight to get rid of the fruityness and fix the bulb.
The intensity of the light andness of the colors would best be appreciated w/ some night shots, but i may have the cluster in and out by then so here are some pics i just took, mind you they were taken @ 10:30AM on a sunny day, w/ t-shirt draped over the dash & steering wheel for some shade so they could be photographed.
and it does not look fruity to me, just... colorful... good job.
[QUOTE=Dr. Roy]The leads on the bulbs wouldnt take solder, so i crimped some brass contacts onto the leads then soldered the brass onto the PC board. One of the bulbs behind the Tach. has a worked loose and has been flickering for the last week or so, and recently is off more than on, as can be seen in the photo.
Having a bulb out and admiting that i have fruity colored gauges, has motivated me to take step towards remedying the situation. I will most likely take out the cluster today or tonight to get rid of the fruityness and fix the bulb.
The intensity of the light and
ness of the colors would best be appreciated w/ some night shots, but i may have the cluster in and out by then so here are some pics i just took, mind you they were taken @ 10:30AM on a sunny day, w/ t-shirt draped over the dash & steering wheel for some shade so they could be photographed.
04-06-2005 | 08:03 PM
#90
Originally Posted by Metal Maxima
Yes, they do. The only difference between cluster underlays is that a non-SE model will have 4 separate clusters as opposed to one continous one.
I wish there was an easier way for this to be done and I hope like hell that Silver can do it, but from everything I have tried the only real way to brighten the cluster is to remove the blue underlay.
I wish there was an easier way for this to be done and I hope like hell that Silver can do it, but from everything I have tried the only real way to brighten the cluster is to remove the blue underlay.
Notice the right side of the speedo and the left side of the tach is dimmer than the rest? Any way we can fix this light distribution? also, the stock gauges are not actually that bright...the camera makes them look brighter...
...
04-06-2005 | 08:14 PM
#92
That looks really good Dr. Roy, and I like what you've accomplished Silvermax. I know it was tedious work to do things like this, and I appreciate the efforts. I would definately be interested when you finalize your own, and be able to replicate the project. Nice Work Guys! 
04-07-2005 | 06:28 AM
#93
Originally Posted by DaBoxSE
See... The 02-03 SE gauges don't show blue.
Notice the right side of the speedo and the left side of the tach is dimmer than the rest? Any way we can fix this light distribution? also, the stock gauges are not actually that bright...the camera makes them look brighter...
Notice the right side of the speedo and the left side of the tach is dimmer than the rest? Any way we can fix this light distribution? also, the stock gauges are not actually that bright...the camera makes them look brighter...
The stock SE gauges do show blue.. but for some reason they do not show blue with the bulbs they used. I put 4 pure white leds in my stock se gauges, and this is what i got:
there IS a blue coating, they the DO light up blue.
no offense clark!
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