The custer gauge looks a little too bland to me so I decided to spice it up a little.









I think the end result turned out pretty good. It has an understed look to it, without being too ricey.

Looks great! How did you do it? What materials did you use? How hard was the install? IMO - the post is useless w/o a proper title, details offered, etc.

Think a title like this would be much more helpful to other . ORG members: "Minor carbon fiber mod to OEM gauge cluster" - easier to search in future, better to know what the post references.

Sorry - don't intend to be a thread ****, LOL, but this forum fails miserably w/these type of things. Go to a 370Z forum, and the topics are spot-on, easy to search, etc.

I changed my title as requested. You made a good point, thanks for the heads up.

I used 3M carbon fiber vinyl. It took me about 1hr. The only tools required to do this job is a panel popper, phillips screw driver, flathead screwdriver with tape on it, heat gun, exacto knife, air hose with blower attachment and shop towel.

Here are the steps involved:

1. Remove the side panel on dash (driver side). This is where a panel popper comes in handy.

2. Lower the knee bolster panel on dash. There are 5 clips at the top of the knee bolster panel. Be careful not to break any of the clips.

3. Remove the two phillip screws at the bottom of the cluster gauge shroud. Pull the shroud towards you and move it to the side. Make sure you cover your dash with some towels because there are some metal clips on the back of the shroud that will scratch your dash.

4. Remove the three phillip screws holding the cluster gauge. Unplug the two connectors at the back of the cluster gauge.

5. Move cluster gauge to work bench/area. There are about ten tabs you have to bend outwards to remove the front part of the cluster gauge. Place the front part of the cluster gauge aside.

6. Carefully with your fingers, seperate the gauge bezel from the main board. Place the main board aside.

7. Cut the carbon fiber big enough so it covers the whole bezel. Peel the carbon fiber from it's backing. Place the carbon fiber over the bezel.

8. With a heat gun, heat up the carbon fiber (about 2 to 3 seconds in a left to right motion). Do not heat up one area for too long. While the carbon fiber is still warm and soft, carefully stretch the material and press it onto the bezel. A little tip: start at the outer edges first. Keep repeating this process until you are finished the outer parts of the bezel

9. Now here's the hard part: Heat the carbon fiber, and stretch the material onto the chrome rings. (the chrome rings around the gauges) With your fingers, press the vinyl to the outer edges of the chrome rings.

10. Carefully use exacto knive and cut carbon fiber around the outer edges of the chrome rings. Here's a little tip. Only do about 2 inches at a time. The curve around the chrome edges makes it a little difficult.

11. You may use that taped flathead screwdriver to push-in the carbon fiber under the chrome rings to give it a cleaner look. When doing that, lift the chrome rings up to make it easier.

12. Once finished, put the gauge bezel back onto the main board. When doing that, make sure the RPM needle and Speedometer needle is not stuck behind the gauge bezel. Make sure the needles are at the front. If they are not, your RPM and Speed gauges will not work.

13. With a cloth, wipe off finger prints from the chrome rings. With air hose and air attachment, blow dust away from the cluster gauge. Assemble the front part of the cluster and attach it to the back part.

14. Plug everything back in, and put your dash back together.

If you guys have any more questions, feel free to ask.

Looks great! Custom small mods are what makes all the difference.

looks great

u could of tried the silver carbon fiber also..that would of made it really pop

Awesome write-up brother! I may hafta give it a whirl when I get my 3M carbon fiber :-)

Looks good... hmm... ( thoughts running )

Looks good... To pull that Cluster off i know there are a couple of screws at the bottom, but to pop out do you need a trim tool?.. Or just grab with your hands and pull straight back??.. . Kinda like taking the shroud off around the factory display screen?

It would make your job easier with a trim tool. You might be able to remove the side panel if you have long finger nails.

Looks good....

I may be blind, or drunk, or maybe just oblivious..but what did you do to it lol.

the carbon fiber... he put carbon fiber vinyl on the side of the trim rings..

ur a creative dude .....something so simple makes a difference

Don't feel bad, when I first glanced the first time I saw this post, I didn't catch it either, haha

This is what I like about this forum. More members joining all the time and coming up with new ideas. Nice work.

There def has been an increase in the amount of members for the 7th gen. As more used 7th gens come available this should continue...as long as they like the CVT, haha

yeah i didnt notice what he did either at first. looks nice, very subtle

Good work. I'm renaming it and adding it to the mods sticky.

this is a nice creative mod, good job!

Looks good, nice and subtle!

Would you happen to have any pics of the led's on the cluster without the face attached? I saw a video on youtube of someone with blue led's in their dash and would love to do it myself, but I don't want to take my dash apart to get to those led's.

it l00ks aight but seems like alot of work for something not that noticable my opinion!I just wish that there where more parts for our cars i hate going on a website and seeing all this nice stuff for cars and none of it for our 7th gens errr ;-( . so i give u props for being creative nice job bro..

That guy is here in AZ with me. Its alot of work and super small LED's. I'm gonna check with a guy that actually repaired the mini USB charging on my phone since he has all the small tools to change them out. I'm going with white on mine.

Thurr he go right thurr

nice, there's another guy on youtube that has blue needles on his gauges too...Lemme see if I can find the link:

Here we go:

2011 Maxima Blue Gauges and needles

Did you change the LED's out yourself, djyonyg? I have questions if you did. I have some electrical engineer friends that have the capability and tools to change these LED's out, but I would need to know if they are soldered or snap in and which LED's to go with.

I did not do the work. Soldered and PLCC-2 LED?

Not drastic but makes a huge difference, I like!!!

Very subtle, looks great though, I LOVE cf!