changing my leds
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Car: 89 trans am
Engine: 355
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changing my leds
hey guys i'm changing my leds in the dash with blue lights. i've never done it before and i got my dash board out and i gotta pick up some lights at AZ tonight. i'll try to get it all back in tonight and post you guys a picture of it.
i am doing this on my 89 trans am
i took out the dash on my 84 before to experiment to see what i had to go through and it is wayyy different on my 84. the 84 had a thin piece of orange paper on it with white leds that changed it to orange. my 89 just has them little nipples over the leds. it scared me cause on my 84 i had that speedometer cable and a wire that put power to the circuit board. on the 89 all that there is was a piece that the circuit board goes in.. much easier.
i am doing this on my 89 trans am
i took out the dash on my 84 before to experiment to see what i had to go through and it is wayyy different on my 84. the 84 had a thin piece of orange paper on it with white leds that changed it to orange. my 89 just has them little nipples over the leds. it scared me cause on my 84 i had that speedometer cable and a wire that put power to the circuit board. on the 89 all that there is was a piece that the circuit board goes in.. much easier.
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From: So.west IN
Car: 87 Formula/ 00 Xtreme
Engine: TPI 305/ v6
Transmission: struggling t-5/ 4l60E
Axle/Gears: 3.08/ 3.23
Did you change the lights over to LED's ?
The orange needles look quite nasty with blue backlights (of course, so does the stock orange backlighting, IMO). They turn sort of a sickly greenish color. Also, be aware that you can't change the orange on the HVAC controls, the color is actually part of the face.
I changed over to the blue APC glass bulbs in my bird and painted the backs of the needles white, absolutely love the color.
The orange needles look quite nasty with blue backlights (of course, so does the stock orange backlighting, IMO). They turn sort of a sickly greenish color. Also, be aware that you can't change the orange on the HVAC controls, the color is actually part of the face.
I changed over to the blue APC glass bulbs in my bird and painted the backs of the needles white, absolutely love the color.
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Car: 89 trans am
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i just got the little bulbs from autozone they cost 3 bucks a pack of 2. like you said about the greenishcolor... that is how mine lights up. what is the cause of that? i have blue lights in by the floor too and they are actualy blue and i used the same lights as them.. i did't do anything with the needles but you can barely see them. it looks ok but i've seen better.. but also this was just a quick 30 minutes thing i really didn't put much time into it
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Joined: Sep 2000
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From: So.west IN
Car: 87 Formula/ 00 Xtreme
Engine: TPI 305/ v6
Transmission: struggling t-5/ 4l60E
Axle/Gears: 3.08/ 3.23
D's... they are just standard 194 bulbs but , made by APC and they are colored glass as opposed to like what sylvania has which is just painted glass. They are sold in the import section of any major chain. They have a few colors to choose from. Not the cheapist but, colored glass won't turn that pukish, faded color after a few hours of use like painted bulbs do.
trans_am.. The needles are clear and lit by the backlights. They are painted on the backside and prisim shaped so they appear to be solid colored. I removed my needles and refinished them using the white paint for my car (I didn't have to go buy it). You can use any type paint though.
trans_am.. The needles are clear and lit by the backlights. They are painted on the backside and prisim shaped so they appear to be solid colored. I removed my needles and refinished them using the white paint for my car (I didn't have to go buy it). You can use any type paint though.
Last edited by deadbird; Mar 9, 2004 at 08:08 PM.
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From: Ontario, Canada
Car: 1989 IROC-Z
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Originally posted by deadbird
D's... they are just standard 194 bulbs but , made by APC and they are colored glass as opposed to like what sylvania has which is just painted glass. They are sold in the import section of any major chain. They have a few colors to choose from. Not the cheapist but, colored glass won't turn that pukish, faded color after a few hours of use like painted bulbs do.
D's... they are just standard 194 bulbs but , made by APC and they are colored glass as opposed to like what sylvania has which is just painted glass. They are sold in the import section of any major chain. They have a few colors to choose from. Not the cheapist but, colored glass won't turn that pukish, faded color after a few hours of use like painted bulbs do.
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From: okotoks Alberta
Car: 1991 Camaro RS
Engine: 406ci
Transmission: T-56 LT1
Axle/Gears: 3.42
did it glow the color of bulb which you hand installed under the gauge faces? eg, my 91 needles are nasty yellow/ orange. if i paint them white, will they fainly glow blue or bably blue because of blue light behind the dash? I have indiglo halo reverse gauges right now.
cheers
Blake
cheers
Blake
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Thread Starter
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Car: 89 trans am
Engine: 355
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all i did was took the guage cluster out and in the back where the leds are i took them out and put blue bulbs in place of the white ones with the orange nipples on them and thats all i did was that. then when i turned them on the guages are more green then blue it's like a teal color
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From: So.west IN
Car: 87 Formula/ 00 Xtreme
Engine: TPI 305/ v6
Transmission: struggling t-5/ 4l60E
Axle/Gears: 3.08/ 3.23
Blake.. the needles will luminate to whatever color the needles are painted mixed with the color of the bulbs. They should be just as strong of color as the rest of the gauges.
trans_am.. led's and lights bulbs are two different things. The glass 194's I used are a prominent blue color.
This is the best picture my sorry camera could take (and I had to lighten & recolor it alot). It's not quite the deep blue my gauges are but.. you get the idea..
trans_am.. led's and lights bulbs are two different things. The glass 194's I used are a prominent blue color.
This is the best picture my sorry camera could take (and I had to lighten & recolor it alot). It's not quite the deep blue my gauges are but.. you get the idea..
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