custom gauge cluster......

i kno there are threads on this but i was wondering you kno how at night when you turn you lights on the cluster lights up???? well if you print out custom gauges then you wouldnt be able to see them at night cause the light wouldnt shine through.....right???? just wonder cause i want to print out sum custom ones but if you cant see them at night then i dont think im going to...........thanks

it'll shine through the paper, but it would look like ass, most peeps will mount two leds into the shroud and just shine em at the guages.

could u use that see thru plastic stuff thats all glossy and stuff to print on ? like the type of plastic sheets some people use for Over heads, just like people print out on plastic sheets ? I think that might work ? Any thots on this ?

Originally posted by el_loco_civic
could u use that see thru plastic stuff thats all glossy and stuff to print on ? like the type of plastic sheets some people use for Over heads, just like people print out on plastic sheets ? I think that might work ? Any thots on this ?

U mean transparent sheets, it will work but the color will still be amber and u still will not be able to see it at night. Unless u change the bulbs to leds.

if you think about it, if you use clear sheets, then there is no point in making new guages, your old ones would be able to be seen.

hmm.. im gonna have to go to the junkyard.. and buy a cluster, take it apart, and just experiment with it. cuz im trying to get some custom ones too. with red background, white letters and #'s, and black somin.. or black #'s and letters, and white somin.. either way, i want a custom face. :rolleyes: heres a pic of it.. i dont like the words on it and the blue #'s and all.. but the red i like ;) these ones here ARE for 4g civix - found em ' on nopionline.com - these are really the most custom lookin faces ive found.

I just had my gauge cluster all torn appart and here is the deal. Most of the light comes from two LEd's above the cluster. There really is not alot of light that shines from the back. There is a organce reflector at the top of the cluster that can be removed and then your cluster lights up really really bright. I havn't expirimented with faces yet but there are good custom gauge sites out their that can make anything you want for cheap. I personally am going to go with the indiglo white face gauges. See what you can do though.

try using a little neon light, my friend put one in his cluster and it fit perfectly and lit up his whole cluster

k...thanks.........does anyone have any sites where i can get sum pics of the gauges like sumthing that i can change the colors and print them out ......thanks

Yeah the light is 2 leds that shine through an amber plastic cover. I took out my amber cover now my cluster is lit with bright white light, its sweet.

hey what all is in ivolved in removing that amber plastic cover, id like to remove it now, haha. any pics or anything would be great. thnx

Originally posted by cyberfelon
hey what all is in ivolved in removing that amber plastic cover, id like to remove it now, haha. any pics or anything would be great. thnx
k i just took nime off all you have to do is take the cover off the cluster if its in your car still.....mines not cause i took my whole dash apart...but just take the top part off it has two screws and likft the piece up and you can just pop the amber plastic cover off..........theres like nothing involved....easy.......heres two pics

http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/782134MVC-845S.JPG

Originally posted by aces1980
Unless u change the bulbs to leds.

How hards it to change em to LEDs?? i was thinkin about it :D

Originally posted by 1PhatCX


How hards it to change em to LEDs?? i was thinkin about it :D

it really is not that hard. Just pull try to pull the bulb out without cutting wires. Its hard because it is small but other than that it's a piece of cake. Now if u do happen to cut the wires like me, just get some wire and rewire it with the new bulbs. i have to learn the hard way.

alright sounds easy enough
then just push the new LED's in? :D

Originally posted by 1PhatCX
alright sounds easy enough
then just push the new LED's in? :D

yep that's it :)

alright thanx alot man :)

Originally posted by 1PhatCX
alright thanx alot man :)

no problem glad to help :D

well slap me around and call me Susan.. sounds perdy Damn easy. Ima do it as soon as i make a custom guage face. . oh and like -CRXSK8TER- Said.. does any one have a pic or know a place where we can just copy the pic of the face.. and print it being actual size ? so all we got to do is modifiy the colors ? thanks ! -

you will have to trash a spare cluster if you wanna take the stock faces off, scan them with a scanner, change the colors on photoshop, and print them out. cant pull the needles offa the guages without breakin them.

right now i'm at work but i have a feew models @ home that look kinda kool pm me if anybody is intrested

custom gauges, while hard to work out, are the best way to go. there are many diff ways of doing it if you want to change the color of the backlighting, just remove the stock lights and put in new ones.. I did that for a while, changing the regular green-ish color to red, but then I found this site (http://www.pauldesign.ru) and this guy had a pretty good idea.. almost as expensive as indiglo, but totally custom and looks great.. I put a set in my car http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/242827Picture020.jpg but I haven't printed them on the recomended chalk paper nor bought the blacklight LED's to illuminate the faces properly, but they look great, and with the stock face illuminators, they look great at night, and have a fading effect from very bright on the top to fairly bright at the bottom http://files.automotiveforums.com/uploads/696709photo005.jpg NOTE: for best results, you should remove or cover the lighting from the back, otherwise you will be able to see the light shining through the paper. not sure if there's any gauges out there for the civic, but there has to be..... :biggrin: