Does every third gen firebird gauge cluster light up red or is it aftermarket lighting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcGHD...eature=related this is what i mean this is an example of what i am asking, do every third gen firebird gauge clusters light up red. I had a 88 Camaro and it would light up a whitish yellowish colour.

 

No what makes you think they would Sir? All I know is about the Camaro's we don't have many birds around here I didn't read your post slow enough sorry.

 

every third gen firebird i have seen all have amber backlit gauges, im trying to see if its factory or not, i really like them and i am hoping my T/A has them, but i wont know if my car has them till middle of march maybe sooner, still waiting on a few items to be sold so i can pay it off.

 

it is factory for the firebirds/trans am's ive had 3, all the same backlit light

 

I am sure someone will answer your question soon.

 

Yeah thats what i was wondering, I bought a 86 T/A and I am just trying to figure everything out with it, another question, have you guys ever seen or had one of those gain control boxes in the dash? I heard its a factory amplifier for the stereo my car has one I don't know if it works or not.

 

My 86 TA has the red back lighting also,I'm almost certain that they all have the red light cluster gauges,I could be wrong.And I also have the gain switch,it is for the factory amp.

 

factory lighting is orange, you can however get red overlays for the bulbs to make the light seem red

 

They're plain old bulbs with orange rubbers on them to make them orange on the back of the white gauge faces. However, on the HVAC controls, the lights are white and the back face of the controls is painted red. Colors vary this way between models (Olds is green, Chevy is bluish white, Pontiacs are pretty much all orange).

If you slip the rubbers off of the bulbs after removing them from the cluster, you can make the gauges white or whatever color you want by removing the bulbs and swapping in different colors. However, some of the later model clusters may have the bulbs soldered into the holders.

 

Interesting, thank you for your help I really like this orange lighting scheme so I was curious.

 

When the original bulbs in the cluster die, you're better off getting a package of red ones (they're NOT GE bulbs. They're in a yellow package and I can't recall the "brand" name, but I got them at the parts store. The GE ones fade to pink and then white again too fast) because the rubbers tend to tear when you take them off.

Unless you want to take the gauge faces off and either paint the rears or put some red or orange cellophane on the back so that any light you shine through them stays the same color...

 

82-84 cars came with a green backlight, i think in 85 Pontiac change to amber.

 

Yup. As a teenager I had an '82 firebird with a 4-cyl (for all of about 3 months) and it had green backlighting. I traded it for a 90 t/a and thought the red dash was the coolest feature (then I discovered the 5.7 under the hood!). Still one of my favorite features on my '92 'vert.

 

this will be my 2nd car, i started with a 2.8l camaro and now i think its in pick n pull sad part is that car ran like a top low mileage too almost 200,000 km brand new everything, i guess the guy who bought it couldn't handle its power then crashed it, this will be my 2nd car, 1986 T/A T Tops, Power Mirrors, Windows, Seats, Locks, I think hatch? UQ7 Stereo, not sure if the speakers are still intact in the back I really hope they are... originally had a 305 but had a 350 swapped in it. the only thing this car needs is a few minor things, "Radio trim plate, new paint (Terribly faded), t top seals, hatchback lock cylinder, that reminds me can I use a camaro lock cylinder for the hatchback???

 

That's true for base models. The Trans Ams came with backlit amber guages since the start of thirdgen production.

 

Mine look orange. I swear it seems like the gauge lights were more vivid (reddish) when these cars were newer, I think those rubber things fade over the years. I bought some new red ones online, but they were too thick and the light would barely go through them.

 

I am thinking of getting some amber bulbs from my local crappy tire if the bulbs are gone in the car, I was fortunate with my base camaro, the white bulbs were all working and very vivid light shined white not yellowish white

 

They look red to me also!!