It's easier to swap in a 1997-2000 cluster then set brightness to the lowest possible setting with then backlight still on. Good needles for years along with a nice backlight.

The 1998-2000 cluster's tach is already configured for a GTE swap.

 

Not a whole lot of manual transmission clusters though...

 

1 step ahead of you.

Replace this part with electric tape




Next step is to remove a speed sensor from a vehicle, figure out how to power it with an electric motor and allow the cluster to run overnight until the mileage is accurate.

 

To each his own, but that's not for me.

 

Or send it to me

I can adjust cluster mileage for LS400, ES300, GS, and SC.

 

Here is the end result. I did get the speedo to read accurately by globbing solder on the unlit side of the needle. It doesn't look nearly as nice as a Lextech needle and is tedious work. I don't know if I'll bother with the other 7 needles for my 2 SC's.

Here are some pics of my daughter's new (old) cluster. I realized after I installed it that I forgot to remove a couple of the old bulbs on the tach side which made hot discolored spots. I'll fix that later... The speedometer needle is the one I fixed. Yes, her car is pretty beat up

 

Needles are still spotty. I may try a new method in the future, but for now, this is it. Obviously its the gas gauge needle I "fixed" on the SC3. It's certainly better than nothing and if you have lots of time and don't mind spots, then its a great DIY - otherwise, shell out the $99 to Lextech.

So here's my "Christmas mode" cluster: