Dash Lights + Dial Questions

[Josheh]

First thing's first mates, Just brought one of these.



Question 1: Okay, Well when I get it and install it It's going to be obviously that orange with my orange pin / dials... I won't be able to see properly, So whats the best thing to do about that ? Can i somehow make it red or even white instead of orange?

Question 2: I'm looking at changing the colour of the main instraments for my spac, The heater knobs, The dash dials, The headlights switch, The Power Windows switch, The shifter lights....

Just wondering what globes each take? I think some take t10 not too sure..... Also if you have any knowlage, When I remove the say power window switch thing, Is every button a different light? How many lights all up would I need? And if you know, What's involved in putting lights into these sections?

I've got a BIT of knowlage as i replaced my dash And shifter on my Holden VR, But I've never done heater knobs, Power window switches, And headlights switch before.....

Question 3: For the experienced: I want to spread the lights out on my dash So the dials and numbers and everything is white, The needle themselves be orange or blue, And The "rev" / red part be red still.... What's involved in doing this? Is it just a matter of buying the leds and putting them into the right spots? Or do i somehow need to custom the orange face I just broght above? Note: The orange face I brought above still lights up green.

Please Anything anyone can contribute is muchly appreciated, I would really really like to do this... I have the cash for the leds and the time at the moment to attempt it.

[Josheh]

I hate bumping, So sorry, But It's kind of important I figure some stuff out So i can start doing this stuff when my cluster comes.... Could Anybody give me their opinions on question one, And if anybody could shed some light on any of the other questions? Thanks so much.

P.S. I've been googling around and can't find all that much information, Maybe my skills just suck... haha

[Macca86]

Im awaiting the replies as well man as Im planning on doing the same thing soon!

[Josheh]

I'll keep searching for stuff, And if i find something out before anyone can shed some light for us I'll reply here with some information If I find anything out for you mate.

By the way, Brilliant Location you're in.... haha

[NVMYVT]

maybe try asking rch13z, or look in the asr audio section

[VTIICalais]

taken from another forum:

''i used leds called 'T10 Star dashboard bulb' you will find then here... Automotive & Marine dashboard LED Replacement Bulbs i replaced all the old bulbs from the back of the instruments cluster, air con unit with these... and used just single blue leds to replace the bulbs out of the fog/mode/hazard switch ect... They wont fit right in but its easy enough just to solder them into place. ''

Hope that helps in a way to answer Question 2

[Josheh]

That's a great start, Thanks very much for your help and input. Yeah I know about t10 leds as they are what I used in my VR, But they didn't seem all that good, or not spread enough, So i was wondering if theres anything better out there, And what exact globes fit for each section etc... I'm guessing Dial lights, Heater Lights, Shifter are t10 like my VR, But I'm not sure about the other buttons, Like the mode button, Headlights, And power window buttons. Standard leds? Hmmm!

[GILLO]

Hey mate your best option is to remove the orange paint on the back of the needles and paint them white. I have some needles already done that I'm about to put up in the for sale section along with a bunch of other stuff. Let me know if your interested in them. For the lights your best bet is to get into contact with Phreddy (phreddy.asr@gmail.com), look in the ASR section of the forum, he is planning an adelaide roadshow soon How much interest is there for an Adelaide roadtrip? just wait for that and get everthing done then.

[Josheh]

I was going to, And I wish I could help him out, But I'm guessing the price to get it done is going to cost way too much than what I'm looking at spending "$100ish" I'm betting the price would be more near $300, And I don't really have that, Even though I love his work, And stuff. And nah that's his buisness mate, I'd never ask him personally how he does it, Seems a little rude me doing that.

If anything I'd get just the dash alone done, But I'd rather get it done sooner than later, As I just do NOT like green, Makes me depressed just driving it.. Haha!

If I paint the bottom of the needles mate, Won't that make the light not shine through or something? I'm thinking of putting white leds in the dash And try and put 1 or 2 blue / Orange ones in it aswell to change the needle lights, Not sure how that'll turn out.... Or if it even works...

Edit: Oh yeah, Forgot about the backlight for the little screen just under the dials.... Another thing to do there, And not knowing what globe that is or how easy it is too access that screen.

[coug]

you can get some plug and play dials and custom cluster stuff off ebay, ive just bought some, just waiting for them to come, im in adelaide to so if u wanna see them when theyre in u can. check out sellers: (lakers_308), and (speed_graphics) on ebay, thats where im getting my temp controls, light switches, and dash cluster face from.

[Josheh]

Yeh thanks mate, Was thinking of doing this, But I really want the front to show orange like the cluster I just brought, BUT Would rather the colours of white and blue etc.... I wonder If I could rip off the plug and play ones or something, And just put the orange face over the top or something...?

Sounds good, Let me know how you go with them.

I really would like to know what's needed for them to change the colours so well like that without changing any of the lights... I really Hope I can somehow keep my orange face I just broght And have the lights it shows on ebay....

See look at this: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Holden-commod...item2ead2049a7

How the hell does it do that just from the face? Hmm...

[coug]

yea speed graphics do a custom dash whatever colours you want with whatever logos you want as well, im getting red face with ss logo. its $15 extra for a custom one but still its not too bad for $93.

you could get your orange, with whatever colour dials etc

[Josheh]

Hmmmmm Niice... Might look into that, But then again to try it myself it'll only cost what? 25 or so bucks for the leds? Might give it a shot myself first and if that fails I might look into a custom job.

So Still need some views n info on the top questions, gah... haha

[GILLO]

I was going to, And I wish I could help him out, But I'm guessing the price to get it done is going to cost way too much than what I'm looking at spending "$100ish" I'm betting the price would be more near $300, And I don't really have that, Even though I love his work, And stuff. And nah that's his buisness mate, I'd never ask him personally how he does it, Seems a little rude me doing that.

If anything I'd get just the dash alone done, But I'd rather get it done sooner than later, As I just do NOT like green, Makes me depressed just driving it.. Haha!

If I paint the bottom of the needles mate, Won't that make the light not shine through or something? I'm thinking of putting white leds in the dash And try and put 1 or 2 blue / Orange ones in it aswell to change the needle lights, Not sure how that'll turn out.... Or if it even works...

Edit: Oh yeah, Forgot about the backlight for the little screen just under the dials.... Another thing to do there, And not knowing what globe that is or how easy it is too access that screen.

Yeah the price is more around $300 but trust me mate, its all well worth it, whatever job u do yourself will be nothing compared to what Phreddy can do, its not possible to get an even light spread by just replacing those globes with LED's, there will be hot spots and dead spots and will look crap. Its the best money you can spend on your car.

Also if you just remove the orange paint off the needle the colour wont reflect but the white paint will reflect all the light through it, the white also looks pretty nice during the day too, a pleasant change to crappy orange

[Josheh]

Yeah, I originally did my VR with t10 globes off the net, and I swear i didn't notice all that much hotspots etc, I did on my shifter though... But I don't want it all 1 colour, I want the red line to show up red as usual, The dials n numbers n everything to be white, And my needles to be orange.... I thought if I put white leds in everywhere and paint the needles white on the bottom it'll work..... MMmmm Damnit It surely can't be THATTTTTTTTTTTT hard to do something decent yourself.... I guess it's probably not since preddy is one of the only people that does it, It's just I can't see myself paying so much just to change colours, Maybe I'm just a tight arse...... Hahahaa...

If it comes down to it and I can't do SHIT I might just get him to do the face and do the shifter n all that myself..... Mmm, But that's probably still around the $180 - $200 mark I'm guessing.

When I get this orange Dash thing, And the Needles being the same colour, And someone telling me to whipe the orange off the needles, And painting the bottom white instead, Will It still light up at night time? What colour should they light up? Still the original colour? I would rather the dials be white or even a blue or black on top of the orange....

What colours do you guys recommend I make the needles If it's alright to do? As long as i can see them at night.

[GILLO]

Yeah, I originally did my VR with t10 globes off the net, and I swear i didn't notice all that much hotspots etc, I did on my shifter though... But I don't want it all 1 colour, I want the red line to show up red as usual, The dials n numbers n everything to be white, And my needles to be orange.... I thought if I put white leds in everywhere and paint the needles white on the bottom it'll work..... MMmmm Damnit It surely can't be THATTTTTTTTTTTT hard to do something decent yourself.... I guess it's probably not since preddy is one of the only people that does it, It's just I can't see myself paying so much just to change colours, Maybe I'm just a tight arse...... Hahahaa...

If it comes down to it and I can't do SHIT I might just get him to do the face and do the shifter n all that myself..... Mmm, But that's probably still around the $180 - $200 mark I'm guessing.

When I get this orange Dash thing, And the Needles being the same colour, And someone telling me to whipe the orange off the needles, And painting the bottom white instead, Will It still light up at night time? What colour should they light up? Still the original colour? I would rather the dials be white or even a blue or black on top of the orange....

What colours do you guys recommend I make the needles If it's alright to do? As long as i can see them at night.

The cluster in the VR are alot different to the VT's clusters tho. This is an example of the average job you can do yourself: http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...ckholden/1.jpg

YouTube - Holden VT Berlina blue LED dash dial conversion

While this is an example of a proffesionally done cluster: YouTube - Green is dead in my dash cluster.

Tell me if you see a difference?

[Josheh]

not bad, I'll give it ago myself first, Might just screw around with leds etc spend 30 or so bucks on them. My own I think turned out better than the youtube home one, and the Average doesn't seem that bad.... There must be a trick of the trade to do different colours.

I seriously can't see myself paying 300+ dollars When leds themselves aren't ALL that much, Like $15 for like 8 of them, Maybe they're modified ones or something? Idk, I just can't see myself doing it...

What on earth does the professionals do that we can not ? It's not like they're creating new film behind the faces, And having special circuit boards etc, Surely It's just a matter of the pro's having their own special way to put leds in, Or maybe they use different leds.....

Unless they do of course edit the green film behind the face, And even if they did you'd presume they'd be a tutorial somewhere on doing it yourself?

I always rather do projects myself, If I end up having to pay then I'll pay, But I rather give stuff a shot myself first. Let alone thats what this whole topic is about, is doing it myself. hehe

[Zeussy]

not bad, I'll give it ago myself first, Might just screw around with leds etc spend 30 or so bucks on them. My own I think turned out better than the youtube home one, and the Average doesn't seem that bad.... There must be a trick of the trade to do different colours.

I seriously can't see myself paying 300+ dollars When leds themselves aren't ALL that much, Like $15 for like 8 of them, Maybe they're modified ones or something? Idk, I just can't see myself doing it...

What on earth does the professionals do that we can not ? It's not like they're creating new film behind the faces, And having special circuit boards etc, Surely It's just a matter of the pro's having their own special way to put leds in, Or maybe they use different leds.....

Unless they do of course edit the green film behind the face, And even if they did you'd presume they'd be a tutorial somewhere on doing it yourself?

I always rather do projects myself, If I end up having to pay then I'll pay, But I rather give stuff a shot myself first. Let alone thats what this whole topic is about, is doing it myself. hehe

HAHA... Thats exactly what they do in the VT's, Phreddy has put a lot of time and developement into the 'VT range'
Its not a 'special way they put them in' its a hellova lot of mucking about trying to figure it all out, getting it right so there are no hotspots, and still having the different colours all through out the cluster. Thats exactly what Phreddy HAS figured out.

But by all means, have a go yourself, buy $30-50 worth of LED's, just because there are only 8 slots for light globes, (thats no where near as many as Phreddy puts in either) you will have hot spots, and bleed throughs. You will see what we are talking about - me, I'd prefer to not waste money, and get it done right the first time...

[Josheh]

Hmm, So he solders new leds in places? Nice Fk doing that myself, I haven't soldered for years, But what if i do decide to get this done "Just the dash" And then one of the globes blow or something happens? Surely it'll be hell to unsolder it myself and put a new one back in?

I might get in contact with him and see what price he can do just my Cluster for... That's the most important part correct? Then I could just continue doing the headlight switches and stuff myself... Then again he'll probably be a while before he comes down, Gah... Hard choices!

Little off topic, saves me using a new thread:

By the way, I've seen a few VX clusters with the 3 leds at the bottom, I know it's just a level 3 cluster, But I've also seen some clusters with the Shift lights up to what ever gear your in, I've always wanted that, Is it difficult to do? I read a conversion of a level 3 cluster itself and it's plug and play, But I'm worried the shifter lights won't work?

[GILLO]

Hmm, So he solders new leds in places? Nice Fk doing that myself, I haven't soldered for years, But what if i do decide to get this done "Just the dash" And then one of the globes blow or something happens? Surely it'll be hell to unsolder it myself and put a new one back in?

I might get in contact with him and see what price he can do just my Cluster for... That's the most important part correct? Then I could just continue doing the headlight switches and stuff myself... Then again he'll probably be a while before he comes down, Gah... Hard choices!

Little off topic, saves me using a new thread:

By the way, I've seen a few VX clusters with the 3 leds at the bottom, I know it's just a level 3 cluster, But I've also seen some clusters with the Shift lights up to what ever gear your in, I've always wanted that, Is it difficult to do? I read a conversion of a level 3 cluster itself and it's plug and play, But I'm worried the shifter lights won't work?

You would need a series 2 Level 3 cluster for that stuff, then it would need to be programmed for your car, bit too much effort. I think you can get your cluster done for about $150-$200 if you post it to Phreddy, but the thing is you have to be without your cluster for about a week. The thing with LED's is they dont blow, unless you get a dodgy LED they should last a lot longer than the life of your car, you should have no issues there mate

[Zeussy]

99% sure Phreddy can re-program the cluster as well...

You could probably do the rest your self, its just the cluster requires a new circuit board for the 'even lighting distribution' like you see on all Phreddy's jobs.
Best to talk to the man, see what's what.. He used to see DIY kits for the whole lot, but don't think the VT Clusters are a DIY item, as they take a fair bit of fiddling to get it right - but Phreddy, or rch-13z can answer most/all of your questions.

And like somebody already mentioned, there is a road show coming up (if there is enough interest)

And, like 98VTMAN said, LED's have an extremely long life, and on the rare occaision they do blow, Phreddy will replace them, no questions asked, pretty sure free of charge - he isn't happy unless you're happy

[Josheh]

Thanks, I Might buy leds now and do the rest myself, And get phreddy to do the cluster. Need to think bout that though, still bit of $$

Is there anyway I can do the clusters 1 lcd screen myself? I'd like that to be done pretty soon I reckon?

[Josheh]

Here's the finished product if anybody was wondering:

http://i49.tinypic.com/1zw25mw.jpg This is what it looks like during the day Sorry very blurry picture....., CLICK PIC it was way TOO BIG!!

http://i45.tinypic.com/o01095.jpg This is what it looks like completely nightime, CLICK PIC it was way TOO BIG!!




I also have a question, What LED is used for the LCD Screen on the bottom middle of the cluster? I don't know if you can notice or not, But I didn't put the dials EXACTLY down enough and a LITTLE bit of the orange flows through the needles onto the orange at night and looks pretty nice, I want to change the lcd screen to an orange colour.