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DIY: change dash lighting

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Old 17-Jul-2006, 04:31 PM
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DIY: change dash lighting

i'm sure many/most of you have come across this DIY about changing the dash light bulbs by painting them n such.

http://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=661308

my questions:

1) has anyone on here done it to thei EK? because i have some specific questions i'd like to PM you about before i attempt it

2) is it possible to keep my white faced gauges(i have the eurolite reverse glo indigo things) but have it light up red(by using redpainted bulbs on the cluster) instead of blue by doing this? and if not, if i change the cluster light to red, will the gauges be affected? like a red/blue light mixing? lol

3) does brand matter on bulbs? i was gonna get them from CarQuest in mississauga on Dundas(dropped by for somethin else and saw they had these there, havent checked out crappy tired or anything yet), i ask this also because according to the DIY, the bulbs in the pic have the black(rubber?) boot thing on the bottom of the bulbs, the bulbs at carquest dont...are those just the sockets?

i'm doin is at wasaga this weekend on vacation, so i'll buy all parts before i go, so i'd just like to know if i have to get the bulbs WITH The black rubber bottom thingy in the pics or not...haha i dont want to take it apart only to find out i got the wrong bulbs haha i read all the pages on that DIY n nobody brought this up...and the thread was 2004 lol so i didnt want to ask there since there are sooo many pages already haha


Oh and bytheway, for those with the eurolite guages, when i bought the car, there was this thing that says "Eurolite" on it sticking out of the gauges, was blue, i didnt touch it or anything when i first got it, thinking that it was just to show the name of the company, so during the day, i took out my cluster and hid it behind there...does that thing do anythign?

cuz i was lookin around ebay, and noticed that lots of eurolite gauges have somethin similar but when u press it, it turns the gauges off or somethin...is this what that does? i'm gonna do the light bulb change this weekend, but i'd just like to know in advance before takin the cluster out n lookin for where i hid it again haha...
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Old 17-Jul-2006, 04:35 PM
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2) No.

3) If i was gonna go to all the trouble i'd probably go the LED route, cuz i wouldn't have to worry about them burning out...

The thing that was sticking out of the gauges is the way you can adjust the colour (like 8 shades or something from blue to green) and the brightness (5 levels i believe)...
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Old 17-Jul-2006, 04:39 PM
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oh lol i didnt touch them..hmm i should find wherei hid it and pull it back out n see how things look when adjusting them haha...i just thought it looked ugly stickin out so i hid it the next day hahaha...

hmmm but i can tkeep them eh...

oh, i dont know if LED will work...the DIY keeps saying to use bulbs...i checked it out, 14V bulbs at carquest for them, #74 and #24s...but yea...dunno if LED would work...nobody mentioned anything on that thread...lol with alll thos postings and pages i thought someone would have lol

i like the eurolite ones now, but i also want that SiR style'd red lighting haha
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Old 25-Jul-2006, 06:33 PM
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I have used led bulbs, it is same concept but more vibrant color, there are some variable vibrancy shades bc the leds are more directional and not diffused as bulbs but it looks good, and you dont have to worry about burnouts for a long long time, pm me if u have any questions
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Old 25-Jul-2006, 06:43 PM
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2 - u shud be able to use ur white gauge face plate, it will be more vibrant i think, and u can use diff colro leds it will just be a mix of lets say red purple then blue, looks kinda cool but ricey if you dont mind it

3 i wud recommend going with leds, as they are nice and vibrant and bulbs burn out, they may be a little harder to read bc they are different type of lights but they look really kewl and they are rich in color. blue red +green look the best, u can get led bulbs online i forgot what the site is btu if u want ill dig it up, i also did a diy and before and after in interior section

u can get multi colored led lights too
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Old 26-Jul-2006, 01:35 AM
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would my white gauge eurolite(glows blue/green at night) work with it? like i mean, for example, would i be able to make it light up red? or is the blue/green colour thing based on the eurolite gauges rather than the cluster lights?
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Old 26-Jul-2006, 02:19 PM
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so are these actual LED bulbs? or just LEDs u get at radio shack??
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Old 05-Aug-2006, 09:45 PM
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they are actual led bulbs that are fitterd for ur gauge the radio shack ones are different voltage.
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Old 09-Aug-2006, 11:45 AM
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ok and where can i get em?
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Old 09-Aug-2006, 03:11 PM
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from www.superbrightleds.com or something i also did a thread on them before of exactly how to do it
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Old 17-Aug-2006, 02:04 PM
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Hey, I remember taking my cluster apart and looking at the bulbs and they were white bulbs. Then I took the gauge faces off and used a flash light to shine light through it and it looks like the plastic is amber in colour ('00 SiR). I'm wondering if anybody else had this problem?

Since the faces are already coloured plastic, changing the bulbs would look like ****...
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Old 17-Aug-2006, 11:17 PM
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well if u got an SiR...the amber is hot lol wouldnt wanna change that lol
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Old 27-Aug-2006, 09:46 PM
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Heh, true.... but for a while, I wanted blue lights.... I'm quite happy with the amber now. It's just that it doesn't match my sound system, it's something I can live with though
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Old 26-Oct-2006, 09:23 PM
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has anyone done this with white LEDS? becaus ei'm looking to get the look of the 2001-2005 civic clusters, the BRIGHT white...
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Old 26-Oct-2006, 09:26 PM
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oh bytheway, on superbrightleds.com they only have #194, i havent found a site that carries #74 LED bulbs for the cluster
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Old 01-Nov-2006, 01:52 PM
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Originally posted by l2iceboy
hey, i checked superbrightleds.com for the LED bulbs, they only had #194s, no #74s...unless i've been lookin in the wrong section lol...i'm thinkin of switching to white LEDS but id ont know if it'll be brighter...i saw some previous postings of yours Jeff, and i think you said that the LEDS arent necessarily brighter..just more "vibrant"...think u can clarify that a bit? like..i was thinkin of gettin white LEDS since i want the look of the 2001-2005 cluster gauges...those are mad bright!
\

They are classified under T1.5 on supernbirghtleds.com


http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b....19645&next=50

Either one but ide go with the bulb and the base

T1.5 Instrument LED bulb
1-LED Instrument Cluster and Gauge illumination bulb. #74 LED bulb installed in twist-lock socket base Available with White,Blue,Green,Red and Amber Wide Angle LED
$ 1.79


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Old 01-Nov-2006, 08:19 PM
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lol thanks Jeff, sorry i posted about it in other threads haha u replied in both thanks
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Old 04-Nov-2006, 11:28 PM
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I just noticed how dull my cluster is.

Does anyone know what size bulbs, and how many? I would need if i wanted to change all mine?

Is it the same thing? T1.5 Instrument LED bulb

I have a 94 civic.
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Old 05-Nov-2006, 08:33 AM
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When i saw the thread title i thought this was a DIY on how to do it, it's just you asking a question. shouldn't this go in the interior/lighting until you've done it, then you can write the DIY?
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Old 05-Nov-2006, 02:03 PM
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Originally posted by lowprofile
When i saw the thread title i thought this was a DIY on how to do it, it's just you asking a question. shouldn't this go in the interior/lighting until you've done it, then you can write the DIY?
buddy...did you actually read the first thread i put up??? i put a link on the DIY, i didnt want to post pics of mine, cuz i did it and it's SOOO basic, u take out the damn cluster, and literally, change the bulbs, nothing complicated...the only thing was to find out which bulbs ur cluster takes...and Jeff has a 95 civic, he's posted on TCC in several threads on which bulbs he uses,

for my cluster(98 civic Si), it takes 6 #74 culbs and 1 #194 bulb, I switched using NON-LED bulbs, it came out ok, but i'm lookin for someone who's done white LEDS to see if it comes out brighter, like the cluster that comes in the 2001-2005 civics...


so next time, please read EACH posting carefully before jumping to conclusions, and this is also a section where ppl can ASK if anyone can post a DIY on things they'd LIKE to try
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