Red Gauge Needles: a different approach.

[clavinZERO]

I had my cluster out today for repairs; it needed an SI Board and while I was in there I replaced the main circuit board behind the gauges along with all the bulbs for peace of mind.

When I had it all apart, I noticed these chunks of clear/orange plastic just behind the main clear gauge cover (between the gauges and the clear cover). To my suprise they came out pretty easily (not that they were loose or anything). They are funky shaped and don't look like they belong in the cluster, but they do serve a purpose. They provide some of the colored glow on the gauges. I had some Testors brand Candy Apple Red sitting around, so I thought "what the hell?" I hit them with some of the paint. There was not too much of a color change, as it is "color tinting" type paint, but just enough to red-out the orange pieces.

All assembled (including the nuts that were MISSING on the back of my bouncy / jumpy / irratic Fuel / Temp gauges) and what do you get? Red needles at night.

The pics don't quite show the contrast as well as it is in real life, but the effect is nice nonetheless. It is very noticeable.

If someone could post a similar pic of their stock gauges, that would be great for comparison... something with similar exposure / brightness.



for sake of clarity:


Comments welcome.

[JasonC]

Did you do something to the lights behind the gauges too? Cause they have a yellow look to them. Where mine is all orange. Unless it's because you have a US cluster where mine is euro? I have red needles not white.

[clavinZERO]

Wow, our needles look nearly the same. The dim lighting in the pic makes the white lettering look yellow-ish. It looks more like orange/redish in real life, with more of a true red on just the needles.

[der affe]

i have the same cluster ^^^^ (euro one)
and red needles too
i was going to install it this weekend, i also have 2 different cans of testors paint (candy apple red and hot rod red...both transparent)it might be nice to give it a redish glow too as long as it doesn't cut down on the light drastically.
i would need to do it to the clock too as it has red needles too, so it will match

[JasonC]

To the OP, is your needles still white or painted red? Or are they red from the light?

[Farbin Kaiber]

...

If someone could post a similar pic of their Red Needle gauges, that would be great for comparison... something with similar exposure / brightness....

Congrats welcome.

Fixed.

[clavinZERO]

Thanks Farbin.

----

Jason C...

The needles are still white btw. That's why I posted this... to show that the Testors brand paint on the color lenses looks pretty good and does't really affect light output.

:)

[moatilliatta]

cool.

[JasonC]

Jason C...

The needles are still white btw. That's why I posted this... to show that the Testors brand paint on the color lenses looks pretty good and does't really affect light output.

:)

Thats cool 8-), i was alittle confused there.

[BDSax]

why does your cluster look so much brighter than mine. do they make different wattage bulbs?

[clavinZERO]

camera exposure on the shot makes it brighter a bit.

[Aerton]

Do you have to remove the needle to paint them does anything get screwed up when you remove them?

[JasonC]

You can use a fork to remove them. But be carefull, the needles bend easy.

[gearheadE30]

The needles actually come off of the little black plastic hubs. The metal is criped in the front and rear of the hub. Use a small knife to pry them off, and crimp them back on when you are done. This, to me, is a lot easier than prying of the hub and hoping to get it back on in the right orientation.

[clavinZERO]

I dunno if you guys noticed this, but there is a thread about needle removal somewhere AND this thread was about NOT removing them but still gaining a similar look at night.

;)