has ANYONE changed the bulbs (if it can be done) in the heating-A/C controls on their dash? I want to change all the bulbs in the interior dash to blue led's and want to know if anyone has been successful and how to do it before taking it apart myself (+ i'm at work, can't take it off from here )

 

Why yes, I have done just that.

You can see the pics on my homepage
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I doubt you will be able to replace them with LEDs, you would have to use the ones that come with built in resistors. The bulbs in there are tiny little things like the size of a match head. They are mounted on little stands that the leads from the bulb thread down through.

What I did was take off the OEM blue rubber covers and paint the little bastards with "clear red" paint from a hobby store. As you can see, it worked great.

As for getting the unit apart. Go at it like you are taking the stereo out, then you can get the AC control thingy out too. Just start removing screws and popping out tabs till it comes apart. Be sure to take all the buttons and the **** off of the front first.

 

It's looks really good. Did you also do the same for the dash bulbs?
Do you know if they sell clear blue paint?

 

very nice!! i'm thinking of the red in a few places and some blue in the rest...(matchin radio) if it comes out like that, i may have to go ahead and do it!

 

What does the switch for the trans shift that youve mounted in the coin holder actually do to the trans?
Thanks

 

Hey Animal72,
This is a great post. I coulda used it sooner. I gave up on putting leds in. I had them in, but they wouldn't light the way I wanted. I ended up doing something like NZ Max. I bought glass stain at TOTAL CRAFTS in Laurel, MD. (right by 295 and 198) Paint was under $3 for an assortment of colors. I am painting blue but have red, yellow, orange etc.. I'll show you soon. It is easy and I am expecting good results. I am now wondering if this wouldhave worked for my gauge cluster???? Maybe you can be the guniea pig???

 

Instructions page

 

Looks nice MZMTG, but isn't too much trouble for the little change you get? Seems like there's too much time, risk, and effort into doing it. But hey like I said it looks nice.
-Cyrus

 

I changed my a/c lights to blue, looks good. Very difficult, but worth it.

 

Yes, it does take some time, but I think its worth it. At first I just did the guage lights, but that looked incomplete...

I'm not as nutty as my friend though. He has a bunch of ham radios in his truck. Two out of three had amber displays while one radio and his CD player have blue. He changed the displays in the other radio and the CD player to Amber to match the other 2 radios. Very time consuming but now it looks like his truck came with a nice CD player, a dual band ham radio, an HF ham radio and a trunk scanner all OEM.

 

Did you use the same method??? I did the factory BOSE radio buttons, and the a/c unit buttons, but they are so dim now. I took the blue condoms off, but the lights are yellowish. SO when they shine through the blue switches it's green. Did you get a true blue color? And how? Thanks.

 

Hey the transmission control if you use it once in a while does it really **** up the trans or no... and how many miles do u have on your car thanks cuz i might do it my self

 

I was talking to this guy at an auto trans place and he was saying something about this. He was also saying that it was possible to have a dial to make it variable, the shift itself. The skylines had a kit made for them by someone that was sort of like this. apparently it messed with the pressures in the tranny or something. maybe someone could shed some more light with their knowledge?

PS, im not trying to take over the thread

 

I've got 130000 miles on my car. Using the trans switch every once in a while hasnt caused any problems. I did put in a variable resistor at first, and it did vary the firmness of the shifts. That was cool, till the thing caught fire. This was not related to the mod itself, the **** I got just couldnt handle the current in that circuit. ***** that are rated over .5 watt are big and expensive, so I just put in an on/off switch. Works great.

 

Well guys, when I get completed, hopefully I'll post some pics on how it comes out with different colors and how much time it took...