Gauge Lighting, This Little Light of Mine Options

[timothy_nd28]

This is a tribute thread for the late Al Garcia, RIP

Many of us have issues with the inadequate lighting on our gauge cluster. This is a tutorial on how to increase the lighting for the DIY'er and for under 20 bucks.
Euro911 was nice enough to be the guinea pig, in which he donated his gauges for this build. I rate the skill level at around a 3. 1 being easy (adding blinker fluid) and 10 (setting up valve geometry).

1st step, remove the combo/speedometer/tach from your car. Alrighty, easy enough.

2nd step, drink a beer or two. This is somewhat unnerving and for the few it may turn you off. However, this isn't all that bad. We need to remove the bezel trim rings. I'm sure there is a machine out there that cost 15k, that will do this in about 10 seconds but we will use a small screwdriver. The first time I did this (my gauges) it took around 40 mins each, and I had a good size blister on my index finger. You will get a feeling that you are absolutely ruining these rings, but your not. Wedge the screw driver in between the bezel and the gauge can. Once your in, lightly twist back and forth the screw drive in situ pushing in a forward direction. By the time you get to the third gauge, you'll be a pro! I also found that it is unnecessary to uncrimp the entire circumference of the bezel ring. Once you get 3/4 around, the last 1/4 will pop off.




Now that these ring are off, go ahead and remove the insides. The tach will have 4 brass screws and the odometer will have 2. The combo gauge will have either 4 or 8 screws depending on the year.



Now that the inner guts have been removed, you should have 3 empty cans like this

We will need to clean the inside of these cans, for the best adhesion of the LED lights in a future step. I didn't use anything special, good old windex spray should suffice.

[timothy_nd28]

Towards the LED's, there is a plethora of styles, shapes, and colors to choose from. For mine, I picked white side emitting led's on a flexible strip with adhesive style sticker. Ebay Led link
This is 60 cm long, and around 9 dollars each. You will need 2 of these to do all 3 gauges. By chance the above link doesn't work in the future, the spec for these LED's is 60cm long 335 SMD white LED flexible side emitting 60 led's. I choose this over others, because its side emitting, water proof, and high density of LED's per inch vs others I have seen.



Okay, grab the speedometer can as we will start with this one. This is the largest of the 3 gauges and will utilize one of the two led strips you just bought. The flexible strip will have a white line on every 3rd led. This is where you're supposed to cut the strip. Make sure you cut exactly on this white strip, or you will render the LED strip useless. Mock up the LED flex strip so it wraps around the inside of the gauge. Once you have a good idea on total length, go ahead and cut it.



Next, tie a little knot in the wire, like this



This knot will help act as a strain relief for the wire

Go ahead and remove the sticker backing, and attach the LED strip. The wires must go thru the original light tube, and the knot must be inside this tube. Also, VERY IMPORTANT, these led strips are directional. Make sure these leds are facing forward before sticking them down!!! I typically install these strips about a 1/2" from the back of the gauge can.




With the wires going thru the original light tube, take some clear RTV and squeeze some into the hole. This will keep the wires anchored, and you'll have less chance of ripping them out in the future.



More house keeping, go ahead and clean the glass or plastic lenses