So I purchased some Maxima 98 white faced guages. Long story short, the speedo did not work, and one of the Org. members on here was nice enough to send me, free of charge, an extra white faced speedo he had!!! The only thing is that the one he sent had a white needle and the ones I purchased had orange needles.

SOLUTION: I sanded off the orange on the guages I purchased to all of the needles are now white. I then painted the back of the needles with silver paint to help push the light to the end of the needles. The original white needle is very bright, but the other three originally orange needles are not very bright at all.

QUESTION: Can someone please tell me what I can do to make the originally orange needles brighter or very bright? Changing out bulbs is not an option, so I am looking for info on what color or material to put on the back of the needles, or possibly what to do to the needles to make them brighter.

Thanks in advance for your help with this.

 

Color all the Needles red with a marker.

 

Really? how does this make them brighter? And won't that make them all red. lol Thanks for your help.

 

well tech.. the prob is that you want them to be an even color .. if u color them red.. then they will be all red.. hehehe..

but ahh.. did u try.. wetsanding with 1500 grit.. then some metal polish.. its like this clue polish compound.. it did wonders for my headlight casing.... it made it all clear.. no yellow.. and also has a bit rainbowish look from under the sun.. becuas eits so clear... jsut liek the GLASS casings..

 

???? I don't even understand a word you said.

Tech????? hmmmmmmm

The problem is I want them to be the color of the bulbs, but be BRIGHT. I don't want them to be red. My bulbs are blue so I want them to be blue.

Max Mutes: jump in here and help me out.

 

LoL. Ok, so the extra white SE speedometer face needle was white to begin with, therefore being whiter/brighter than the 3 orange ones you sanded.

What happened to your old gauge cluster? Take 3 needles from the Black Face gauge cluster since they were originally white and exchange them. If you don't have it, try getting a different speedo gauge again OR what if you were to try to sand off the white on the speedo one and make it duller.

Another I can think of is if you want them blue (Gauge color)and not red then paint JUST the speedo needle red. If you look around alot of guys have the Speedo needle Red/Orange and the rest of the needles as the gauge color. Since, the speedo is very important the red needle on blue gauges would easily be seen by your eyes, and also the contrast of Red/Blue would look real good I think.

 

hmmm, well not sure about taking the needles from my old guages and swapping them. I would worry that I will mess up the new guages and then need a whole new guage cluster. lol that would SUCK!! lol.

As for sanding the white needle on the speedo to make it duller, no go. Remember, I am trying to make all the needles brighter so I can see them better. COME ON MAN!!!!!!!! Just kidding.

I will think of something, not sure what yet, but something. Thanks for your help on this. Talk to you on the IM. Later!

 

HaHa!! Damn, I suck don't I.

 

well, im not sure if this will actually work...but you could try using a dremel to put little notches on the back of the needle like when making angel eyes. "Making the Eagle Rings Light Up" http://www.geocities.com/jvxdriver/eagle_eyes.htm . It might make the light reflect through them better? Only problem is, if it didnt work...your needles would have little notches/scratches in them. Just an idea, maybe itll work.

 

yea wow.. im reading what i worte and ur rite it doesnt make sense.... man... do u wanna try to buy them... the guages that is. well then u would prolly ahev to buy the cluster.. do they sel l guages by them selves.. and the

 

SublimeI30t: You know what, I was thinking the same thing. I personally think it's gonna work nicely. The thing that made me think about the notches is because the white needle on the speedo guage actually looks like it has little notches in it. it came from the factory like that. So, you may have something there. The only thing that would worry me is if I go too deep with a notch and cut the damn needle in half! lol

I guess I might try this, but I need to be very very very careful.

Me and MaxMutes are Dumb and Dumber! LOL

 

how bout trying it on one of the needles from the old cluster first to see if it can be done, and maybe somehow tell if it makes it brighter.

 

SublimeI30t: PURE GENIUS!!!!!!!!!! Great idea. I think I will try that and see how it goes. I am wondering if it matters if I score the needle on the back side or the top side? hmmmm. anyone know that answer? it would obviously be much easier if I could score the top of the needle because getting the tool underneath the needle while it is still in place will be a B**ch!

I will try this over the weekend and let you guys know what happens.

Thanks again.

 

BACK SIDE .. BACK SIDE!!!!... cuase you still need the flat surface on teh top... cause thats what will stay lit.. the marks help the light pass from one.. "MARK" to the other.. the flat surface on top will be the light u see...

 

oh, well thanks for that info. it sucks that they need to be on the back side, but at least we know now. Thanks. Now, to figure out how the hell to notch the back side of each needle without messing up the guages! I may try a small knife and slowly slide it across the back of the needle. This will make sure I do not cut through the needle (like I might with a dremmel) as well as give me the control over my notches.

Well, i think this will be my weekend project. Thanks again!

 

Good luck...make sure to tell us how it goes.

 

I will definetely let you know how it turns out and I will take some before and after pictures for you

 

Alright guys. I stayed up late tonight to mess around with the needle idea we have been talking about. I took the old guages and needles that I have and cut notches in them, then I held up a blue LED behind the guage (like it would be in the car) It actually worked pretty well IMO. They would definately be brighter than what I have now!

I would love to post pictures on here, but I have no idea how to do that, so if you are interested in seeing how they turned out, please email me and I will send you pics back.

NOW: I have to figure out the best way to cut notches in the working guages in the car without taking the needles out and without messing up the guage face. I am thinking maybe a small saw blade with many teeth close together, that I can slide under the needle and slowly slide the blade across the needle???? Any ideas.

Well, I will one again let you know what happens when I am done with this. I am hoping to do it over the weekend. Pics will follow.

 

http://www.imageshack.us/ then register and upload your pictures and link them here.