I just got these guages from proccarparts today at $20 but they dont have any instructions at all.
http://www.procarparts.com/store/dis...8289FIRE-BLREV
Guages come with a dimmer switch and a blue box which connects to each guage overlay. I just need a lil help getting these installed guys. An instruction manual would have been nice . I would rather have the guages dimmer switch just be the stock one. And how do I take out the needles without breaking them when putting the overlays on.

 

If you search for "white face gauges" you'll find the *right* way to get the needles off. I won't tell you how I did it, cause I broke one of 'em

The blue box is the transformer that produces the correct frequency for the indiglo parts of the gauges. When you put the gauges in, take out all the light bulbs in the gauge cluster. You might be able to use your factory dimmer switch if it is relatively the same value as the one that came with the switches. Of course, you could always remove the factory one and put the new one in the same spot.

Did you email procarparts about a manual? At the very least they may be able to give you the manufacturer info and you could try and get the manual from them.

 

ok heres what i did to take the guage needles off... take my pointer finger of both hands and apply firm but soft pressure to the back of the black circle thing that the needle goes into... pull firm and soft directly out from the guages... i did mine without breaking the needles... even painted mine red (=

EDIT: If you want to see any more pics of mine i can e-mail a bunch and if you need help with wiring and/or anything else just drop me a PM

 

BTW: you will want to purchase some white tape for the space on the 120 speedo set up because my dad put them in his car and it bugs the hell out of him to see a black slot in the middle of white faced guages... but you will have to custom fab it for those because the middle glows at night... you will have the black slot at night but not during the day or at least not as noticable... just my $.02 though

 

THe thing with the dimmer switch is it looks nothing like the stock one. Its more like a lil tube thing, I might try splicing the wires and seeing what I can do, its not a big deal though. That white slot aint a big deal either. My biggest concern is the needles, I realy dont wanna break them or mess them off. My friend took his needles off his 87 monte carlo and he said the speed was off by more than 20 mph. But what you guys are saying is that just be very gentle with them and I'll be fine. And I have too also make sure I put the needles back them way I took them off in the same position right?
Also If I take out all the bulbs, how will I see the odometer at night time

 

If you leave the bulbs it will diminish the effect of the indiglo. Why do you need to see the odometer at night? Is it a solid slit through the middle? If so the manufacturer may intend for you to slip them over the needles without removing them.

 

The ones i purchased did not come with a slit through the middle

 

mine go the slit which kinda sucks because not I wont be able to se ethe lil iconds for the gas pump and stuff. Here the intructions from pcp's, I read through them and looks all good, except for the starting the car and seeing where the needles are was kinda weird in a way. Tell me if it all looks good to u guys.

HI,

Here are the instructions for the gauges,

STEP 1) Remove all screws retaining dash trim bezel in place. This is
done
with a phillips head screwdriver. Some dashed require just a simple
pull to
remove them.

STEP 2) (Important): Domestic vehicle installation requires the removal
of
the needles. Domestic only: Start vehicle and warm up to running
temperature. Take a piece of paper and draw your gauge face. Where your
tach is, gas gauge full or half full, temp and so on. This is done
while the
vehicle is running. Save this paper you will need it later to
reinstall your needles.

STEP 3) Remove the screws holding the instrument cluster in place and
then
remove the cluster (Be careful to remove all plugs on rear of cluster)

STEP 4) Remove clear plastic lens that covers the gauges. This is done,
by
depressing the tabs on either side of the cluster or by removing the
retaining screws.

STEP 5) If your vehicle has a black trim piece that surrounds the
gauges, it
will need to be removed. If your vehicle has small set screws on either
side
of needles, they also need to be removed.

STEP 6)(Import Vehicles Only) Thread glo-gauges gauges over the needles
with care and cover the existing black gauges. Then reinstall set
screws
that are located on either side of the needles.
STEP 6)(Domestic Vehicles Only) Remove all needles with tool supplied
or
with a kitchen fork. Place glo-gauges over existing gauge. In order to
reinstall needles you will need to refer back to the drawing you did
earlier. Reinstall your cluster temporarily by plugging the cluster
back in.
Start vehicle and while vehicle is running reinstall all needles in the
proper location and proper reading that you drew on your paper earlier.
If
you feel that your gauge is not reading correctly remove needles that
you
felt are wrong and reinstall again until you are happy with the
results.

STEP 7) Thread glo-gauges wires out the back of the instrument cluster
either through an existing hole or drill a hole somewhere clear and
safe and
thread the wires through there.

STEP 8) Connect all glo-gauges wires from each face to the supplied
resistor
(black or blue box) Locate a solid ground and attach the black wire to
it.
Locate the power source, which is connected to your parking lights and
attach the red wire to it. (DO NOT USE YOUR FACTORY DIMMER FOR A POWER
SOURCE) This would result in a failure to light your glo-gauges or burn
them
out completely.

STEP 9) Locate a desired position for the dimmer switch, remove the
**** and
rill a hole one size larger than the size of the shaft of the dimmer.
Place
shaft through the hole and reinstall the dimmer ****.

STEP 10) Now you can reinstall your gauge cluster and put it back into
your
vehicle.


Thank you
Daren
Procarparts.com

 

When I did my white face gauges, I used a scan tool to get all the information the gauges should be showing and adjusted the needles accordingly. I don't really like their way either, because the readings will change slightly between when you take them off and put them back on. I think the temp gauge will be especially difficult because you'll have to note at what temp the fan comes on and then start up the car, let it run, and as soon as the fan kicks on put on the temp gauge.

I will say that the one trick I found in putting the needles back on is that you can put them on part way, and then turn on the car. The gauges will go to where they are supposed to be, i.e. engine temp at 160 and then if the need reads 180, you can move it up a little and then push it down all the way.

 

Where can I get a scan tool and how much is it? Also how does it work?

 

The scan tool plugs into the ALDL connector under the dash. Then it gives you a readout on all the information that the computer (ECM) sees. It will give you any error codes and will also give you all the sensor readings. All you'll be interested in is the output from the gauges. Scan tools can be a bit pricey, so you're probably better off finding someone who has one and borrowing it for an hour. Some auto stores may rent them as well.

Your other option is to using a program like winALDL. If you do a search of the PROM/ECM board for winALDL, you'll find a ton of info about it. Basicly, you build an interface that cost like $5 in parts and it plugs into your laptop/computer and works like a scan tool.

Here's the website for the progam and it also tells you how to build the interface. http://w1.601.telia.com/~u60113744/s...dl/winaldl.htm

The threads on the PROM board will help with an problems you might run into. If you're not real good with electronics (i.e. soldering) then you may want to find a scan tool elsewhere.

 

My biggest concern is the speedo, cause I'm kinda confused because why would the the speedo needle move if I'm in park, doesn't make much sense why the configuration would get all screwy. Also with the tach, its always bouncing up and down even at idle just slightly. SHould I just do that one with the car turned off. I really jsut dont wanna mess my car up!

 

the tach doesnt matter...it should just reset itself.....the speedo and gas gauge is what you gotta worry about

 

I can understand that the speedo and gas gauge are the most important because there most used and are vital to driving. I guess the thermo is very important too but not as much. I'm going to start the car tonight after I get home from work and have it run for like five minutes, or untill everything looks like its stabalized and write down the time it took and what everything is at. than do most the work in getting everything unscrewed but and than prolly pull the needle and install everything and do the needles tommarrow morning. Wish me luck! The when I put the tach back in, should I just put that back at where it was idling if I have the car idling or should I jsut put it at zero? Also about the speedo, if i'M in park it will be at zero so I should just put it back in at zero right?

 

I put in a set of silver reverse glow gauges but I never had to take the needles off at all. I took the back part of the gauge cluster off and unscrewed the motors that run the needles so they were free flowing so then I could slip the new faces over the needles. I posted how I did it on my website if you care to read how I did mine.
http://www.cardomain.com/id/kitt350

 

Gambit69, I got the speedo and tach ones in, but the other more tricky 2 i'm kinda confused on wha tu mean by unscrewing the 5 & 6 screws on the back of the guage. Can you please elaborate a lil and/or point it out in your pics. Do I have to have the whole dash out to do it too?

 

You don't have to pull the entire dash out just the entire gauge cluster. After you get it out and you turn it over and look at the backside of the gauge cluster you will see the printed curcit on the back of it. If you look you can see the screws that hold the motors for the gauges on. Once you take to screws out the motors are free floating and the needles will move as far as you need them to to get the new gauge faces on. I tried for a while to take the needles off but I was scared I was going to break them so I decided to try taking the screws out from the backside to see what happens and this was a lot easier. I hope this helps. If you want more info I will do my best to get it to you.

 

I JUST put those in my 87 T/A a month ago! Let me know what your problem is and i'll see what I can do.
As for where to hook the power wire up(tired of jury rigging the power wire directly to the pos. batt. terminal), I'm lost. In fact, if anyone knows(101%!) which wire to tap into for the parking light power source...then lemme know!
-G

 

...now as far as taking the needles off, you just need to use either a flat head of a screwdriver or two prongs on a fork, to slowly lift them off. I did it that way instead of unscrewing all the screws on the back.
-G

 

ok, after my last post I spent TWO hours looking at other posts after doing a search. The parking light power-on wire is, in fact, the BROWN wire. So now I'm all set, but what about you Mav?!?!???

Just as a reminder, I installed the exact same gauge inlays into my 87 T/A last month. So if anyone has any questions, please send me a PM.
Thanks!
-G