DoomLight

iTrader: (3)

so as u know a lot of people are doing their own Do it yourself cluster repair. so i decided to give it a shot myself. i wanted the white look that lextech.org does but without the costs of labor. obviously i can't do needle repair. but i can fix my own lights. its just pulling out a bulb after all.

after 2 trial and errors i finally found something that can work at least for me so im going to share and add to the pile of other LED DIYs on this site.

so rather than do the LED strips that u can buy at Parts Stores.

so first i removed the stock bulbs.


then i started wtih ebay and got these 74 SMD bulbs super white.
these were nice. but made hot spots and didn't disperse light evenly inside the ramps that reflect light inside like the only filiment type bulbs.


so then in my ignorance. i decided i get a different brand that had th LED lower positioned inside the bulb so it may work better. the results were slgihtly better but not enough light coverage.

Tabaka

iTrader: (8)

So...what's the outcome again?

DoomLight

iTrader: (3)

so here is a pic of how these lights lit up the cluster.

here is a close up of one of them. these were more of a bluish white color.





which the faceplate on. u can see the hot spots from these lights.



it was bright around 1 3 5 and 7 of the Tach and similarly on the Miles per Hours speedo.

DoomLight

iTrader: (3)

here is the final result.

here are the other bulbs i bought first.





this is how it lit up without the faceplate. these lit up more like a flourescent white. the hot spots were not as bad and lit up more evenly. i used a cell phone camera so not the best quality.



and here is with the faceplate assembly on.



its a bit hard to disern the difference. but trust me. its better. i need to take better pics of the finished product.

187

You could probably do something with tape to try an diffuse the light a little more, they are very bright though. Maybe sanding the top of the bulb to diffuse the light would work? Just throwing some stuff out there, im sure someone has a solution.

DoomLight

iTrader: (3)

i got the bulbs from this site. SuperBrightLEDs.com and here is the link to the bulbs.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...2F74-xHP3.html

these bulbs have polarity. so u have to put them in the right way so the power flows positive to negative or they wont light up. thats why i had pics of the faceplate off so i can switch them around easier.

to me this is easier than soldering a strip of lights. its the same price anyway.

DoomLight

iTrader: (3)

i thought about that. but after spending 60 bux in LED bulbs and finally getting a set that works good. im fine. a lot of my friends that have seen it already are impressed over the DIM incandescent bulbs.

now if i could only fix my needles. they all work. but i hate taking my cluster out. my finger tips hurt a lot after this little non horsepower upgrade.

187

Well if you ever do open it back up a little bit of sanding would probably go a long way. Very nice improvement over stock though.

DoomLight

iTrader: (3)

Thanks man!

96blksc300

Pretty sweet.. I believe I may be doing the same thing here soon. Can't stand the old yellow look lol

kez

iTrader: (4)

Niiiice maybe I'll tackle this after my swap

SpadedOne

iTrader: (1)

Might just have to do this. Looks nice!

Tommy2JZ

Like 2 of my needles don't turn on and 3 bulbs are burned out, what do you recommend I do?

Tabaka

iTrader: (8)

I assume you ordered the "warm white" color?

Also, I count 8 bulbs from your picture above. That's the total number needed correct?

Luxor

iTrader: (15)

Why don't you guys do it right and buy 2 cold cathode round tubes and call it a day? You will never have to worry about bright spots.