gauge needles

[imtheoneandonlyD]

I want to make it so my guage needles light up blue. How coule i do that? I picked up an extra set of gauge needles at a junkyard for my truck so i can experiment with them. Any type of paint that is mostly transparent or would let light through? I can strip the stock needles down so they are clear. But that looks terrible at night. Anyone have any ideas?

[imtheoneandonlyD]

Anybody? Any advice or even experimental ideas would be fine. Im willing to just trying anything. I can get needles at the junkyard for free so its not a big deal if something doesnt work.

[potsdamcartel]

can't you just replace the stock bulb that lights up your needles and put a blue bulb in. i mean you stated you can strip the old needles, so strip them untill they are clear, then put a blue bulb in.

if that doesn't work, strip them and re-dye them blue.
heres a link i remember (from my paintballing days) on how to dye plastics: http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.p...8&page=1&pp=21

[imtheoneandonlyD]

pots- thanks for the link. I will try that next week when i have a day off.

[potsdamcartel]

how did you strip them anyway?
i might also try this

[imtheoneandonlyD]

I just used an exacto knife and scraped the orange off. Took about 5-10 minutes to do all 6 needles of my truck. The long needled can be a pain though.

[imtheoneandonlyD]

pots, that plastic dye so far looks awesome. It took about an hour to get them to take good. Im going to try to get them installed tomorrow and see how they look at night. Ill post some pics if it turns out good.

[imtheoneandonlyD]

Ok, after attempt number 2 ive made some observations. No matter how dark/light the cleared needles are dyed (dyed blue) they will not light up. First set was to dark and looked black at night. The second set is lighter and looks awesome during the day but they still dont glow at night.

Is there anything i can put on that would allow them to light up? Im looking at the stock gauges and they are solid in the back and white. Does the strip absorb light???

[potsdamcartel]

did you try replacing the stock bulbs with blue bulbs(or leds), with the clear needles?

or lay down some cash and get this:
http://www.importcarpartsplus.com/Needles.htm
you might want to email the guy before buying; that website is pretty old. the guy sells them on ebay also.

ive heard excellent reviews on these. if i have $80 lying around i might purchase this kit since nothing else seems to be working.

[imtheoneandonlyD]

Im going to try some 10 dollar blue glow in the dark paint. I says it will glow bright blue for the first 2 hours, and all night after that. Ill let you know how it works out.

If it doesnt i might just pay the 80 for that kit.