Just thought i'd share...
I would highly recommend this mod to anyone with a thirdgen. It is one of the easiest mods i have done on my car, and makes our dashes look 100x better.
13 type 194 4xLED Blue from superbrightleds.com

 

can you get me the part number for the ones you used. and what color were your gauges before this.

 

hey 92 you should look at my gauges for the 91 92 camaros layovers and really easy to install look at my cardomain in my sig

 

They are 194s mini wedge

 

Where did you put the other 2? It takes 11 to illuminate the gauges. I see maybe one in the HVAC controls above the radio. If you did both footwells also, that makes 14. Looks good BTW. Now you need to color the back side of the defroster rocker switch, a little blue paint would do just fine, I colored mine red the same way.

 

I feel ya man! Pictures a little fuzzy but you get the idea.

 

if you really wanna ad something cool.
you need to do the following

buy a 5mm blue led.
buy a matching resistor for 15V

now in the middle of your dash, straight under the upper panel is a small light, that doesnt light anything.

take the top of your dash off and take the light out.

on your workdesk, take out the light ( you will probably crush it), and use the housing to put in your blue led + resistor.
you can also reuse the old connector that was on that little light.

now reinstall the light in the car.


if you did it right and you put our lights on in your car, there should be a blue glow over you heater/radio/shifter.


also put some white leds in your rearview mirror. and put some 194 blue wedges in your shifter and heater panel.

 

that little light that you say illuminates nothing illuminates the heater controls now it doesn't do a good job but many GM cars of that era and earlier have that (C3 corvettes for instance). Pretty worthless but it's there.

Only prob w/ leds is the dimmer won't work, you need a pusewidth dimmer to dim leds.

 

@Al Hasse: yeah i know it takes 11 to light the gagues, but i left one out, cuz my leds were bright enough to do without one. Ya i was going to do the rocker switch, but it barely lights up. Maybe ill try the paint idea.

@Timmie: Now THAT is a good idea. I always wondered what that light was for. Its so dim, but if i put an led in it it would be nice and bright. I will definately try that!

 

what does the viewing angle mean i was gonna get sum right now and its asking if i want a 30 degree or 90 degree angle

 

its's how wide the light will spread. 0 degrees would be similar to a laser pointer, 30 degrees would be more like a flashlight. If your doing them in your dash, the wider the angle, the better. i would reccomentd 90. Thats what i used.

 

Do the 194 mini wedges fit straight in or do I have to mod it?

 

no modding required. The wedge is the exact same size as the stock ones, and the resistors are built in. Just stick the new LED in place of the old bulbs. Plug and play!

 

just keep the yellow plastic glass infront of the light off. after you did the led mod.
trust, me it looks awesome, will try to take a pic of it 1 of these days.


the procedure complete procedure of putting the led in he housing is ( when its already on your desk )
1)take of the yellow glass of the housing.
2)try to take out the little light of the housing with some plyers. if you want you can push the wires forward into the housing so that the light comes out. if you brake the light no problem.
3) when you took out the light, cut a bit of isolation of the top of the wires ( while they are still going trough the housing )

4) solder the resistor to 1 of the connections of the led .
5) put some isolations over the resistor. and led legs.
solder the resistor + led to the 2 wires 9 that are still going trough the housing
6) pull the wires a bit back so that the resistor + led moves into the housing.
7) connect to your car.



note: make shure you connect the led in the right direction, else they wont light up.

not2: the reason I used a resistor for 15V instead of 14V or even 12V i ahve a little bit of playroom.
if I would use a 12V resistor, and my car is running the alternator will dish out 14V and the led will eventually burn out.
I could use 14V, but at startup our alternators dare the dish out 14.7V so the led can still die.
if I use a 15V resistor, the led will maybe burn a wee bit less on 12V and but it will not quit on you for years.



to know what resistor you need.
depending on the type of led. a led a normal red led uses around 1.4V ( some blue ones use 3V , some white ones use 5V)
but they all can only have 20mA of current go trough them
so
(15V-1.4V)/0.020A= resistor value you need.
of they dont have that exact resistor value you want, take the next 1 in line with a greater resistor value.


btw, you can also change the dome light to leds, and the one in the trunk.

 

Is there any good websites that sell all that is needed to install these LED's into my dash?

 

thanks timmie, i will def. try that. And i actually already installed 24 white LEDs in the dome light, and a couple in the map lights as well.

 

twin turbo would my 1983 daytona 500 have that light over radio and heater controls

how do i get a pulsewith dimmer?

here is my red dome light 9 led from superbrightleds it is a #RL4410-RHP9 9 LED Rigid loop festoon

 

So the LED bulbs plug striaght into the stock bulb outlets..... if thats true what size are they and where can I get some...and does anybody have like part numbers or anything Im looking for red ones sinces I have accented my car in red already.

 

Any LED that says 194 will work.

http://www.techawave.com/techawave/l...sort=2d&page=3

 

try www.superbrightleds.com 194 miniwedge is what you want.

 

curious, should i white face or chrome face (mirror) my gauge cluster? the overlaying shell that covers the gauges, normally its blue on the inside. I installed 5ledangled light bulbs in but wanting to appear brighter.

 

yes u should, i did.

 

yes the white or like a metallic reflective color?

 

either will be better than the blue. I used tin foil. It worked great. Just make sure you use the shiny side

 

thanks for the info guys.

 

thanks! i'll probably do the tin foil!

 

Has anyone done this mod in a Firebird? Or would it be any different anyways? If so could you post some pictures....

 

Why does your picture look so different from C_Sanders? Which lights did you order and what do you have for gauges?

 

Other than the fuzzy picture, not a whole lot is differen't. I have the WHITE overlays on the gauges and the standard led #194 bulbs.

 

The white face does a huge difference then. Yours look almost aqua while his look not that bright and alot darker. Thanks tho

 

I think I started something after I posted my center console LED, and then my LED conversion on the crapy underdash light in this thred
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/elec...-controls.html

dang that was a year ago

i now got LEDs in my kick pannels and dome light ...... wanting to do all my dash/radio/HVAC when i get some more time and $$$$

 

foil HVAC tape works well and would be easier that household tinfoil, i did the back of mine in a high gloss white, and the front in a aluminum paint, pic is blury as heck (hard to take a pic at speeds like that ) you can kinda see the aluminum paint on around the speedo, and thats the factory lights not at 100% bright, dimmer is down to around 80% bright

 

how have you been dude?

 

So you used foil HVAC tape for the back? and then aluminum spray in the front?

 

I'm having problems getting the speedo cable off. I tried to open the clip with a screwdriver but no luck...
Any ideas? Here is a picture of it




I'm gonna get back to it tomorrow when I have more time.

It's -15 celcius outside and in the garage so that's why everything is covered in frost.

 

It doesn't open, it's just a latch spring. Just give a push toward the back of the speedometer and it should release the cable.

 

ya it took me like two hours to get it off the first time, but its easier now. Just feel along the cable towards the speedometer. Then you should feel a small round peice of metal. Push it towards the speedometer, and while you hold it in place pull the cable back.

 

been good, not that many hours at work but i got a job so thats all that matters

i did high gloss white on the back of mine, and alum spray on the front, i can take a better pic tonight or tomorow.... i was just sayin you could use foil tape

 

anyone do it on a 90-92 camaro? is it even possible?

 

You only need about 4 LEDs to do the gauges, shouldn't need the wide angle ones either. You don't have a speedo cable to worry about either, so the gauge cluster should come out easier.

 

Got the gauges out and just made an order from superbrightleds.com. I took the 5$ letter post shipping lol... Hopefully they will arrive to the right address.

 

Hey guys!

How many bulbs will I need for a Firebird dash?
I searched for the answer but couldn't find anything.

Thanks in advance.

 

probably for every gauge atleast 1 of those bulbs.

then 2 white ones for in your mirror.

1 for behind the heater panel
1 for your shifter ( automatic )

 

I did it in my ( 91 RS ) only are there for backlightning.
its actually very easy to do this.
I got my gaugecluster so many times in and out of my car it only takes me 10 minutes.


1) pull off the headlight knop.
2)loosen the under dash panel and let it rest on your knees.
( 2 torq screws )
3) loosen 2 nuts ( 7mm ) that hold the front of the dash ( part where your light ****, fog light switch, sigaretlighter and defogger are in ) and pull this part forward.
4) pull of the connectors of the above called switched and remove this panel. ( put your steeringwheel on the lowest stand possible )
5) loosen 4 nuts ( 7mm ) that hold the cluster in 2 above the cluster, 2 onder the cluster.
6) pull cluster forward ( thrust me its completely loose now )
7) the 4 bulbs you need to replace normally have a grey socket, the others have black ones. but normally you cant miss them.
8) put the dash back in its place ( keep it there with your hand ) and put on your dim lights. ( look if all your bulps light up )
9) start putting everything together again.

 

PICS!!!!!!!!!!!

 

anyone do red in a camaro dash?

 

Best picture I have. Looks more orange in the picture than red. The back side of the bezel is painted silver in this picture, I've since painted it white.

 

when I had the leds behind my original gauges, it was actually pretty cool.
if I put my dimlights on in the day, only the needles would glow red.
and if it was dark outside the complete gauges would glow red


can't
changed it a year later to a nordskog dash, that looked even more awesome

 

where can i get these gauges

 

summit racing maybe has some left.
but it looks like nordskog itself is out of business for now.