Luminescent Gauge Overlay Install

[Tito]

They all come from Scott Drake to my knowledge.

 

[bluebronco69]

no idea where they all come from but i think all the vendors sell the same kits

 

[ObscureMachine]

hey obscure, we are thinking of putting in LEDs too, for the back light and for the turn and hi beam indicators, how many did you use, i was thinking one for each turn and hi beam, and two in each of the back light holes, you said yours turned out bright so i dont want these to end up being blinding

I didn't use any as a back light since I was going with the luminescent gauges.
I got my leds (bought a bunch) from spectrumleds on ebay. Got the kind with the metal housing and setup for 12v. I used a green one for each turn indicator and a blue one for high beam (my brake light won't go off and I didn't want another red light burning my retinas). The LEDs are TOO bright, just bright.
The only place missing light is the odometer, and I might add an LED to that next time I'm in the dash.

 

[eb66to77]

The vendor that supplied mine was Jeff's. I love them. It is all BC and Jeff's pretty much (shameless plug).

I am not sure about the dials. I would think that simple green would get them sparkling again with no oily residue to collect crap on. I didn't pull my speedo assembly apart. I just put the overlay on it.

Thanks again all! I am happy as hell to get back to some Bronco-ing.

 

[bluebronco69]

ok so they arent too bad, did you put them in the back of the housing where the regular lights clip in, or did you put them all the way up by the little colored lense, also did you take the little colored lense out? i was thinking of doing so and using colored LEDs
thanks

 

[eb66to77]

I looked into that also. The stock lamps work fine in the centech harness though. Plus my colored lenses were held in with some crappy gift wrapping tape that had yellowed years ago. I weighed the options and it just wasn't worth my time. I just cleaned my lenses and glued them back in place. We will see tomorrow night what the light level is.

 

[ObscureMachine]

ok so they arent too bad, did you put them in the back of the housing where the regular lights clip in, or did you put them all the way up by the little colored lense, also did you take the little colored lense out? i was thinking of doing so and using colored LEDs
thanks

I took the colored lenses out, then affixed them to the back of the housing using some serious silicon glue stuff. I like the intense color of the LED better than the color of the lenses. It doesn't really look different from stock, especially with the new gauge decals. as I said, I put the LEDs in the back of the housing. I probably could have put them in the front and used the attached nut to tighten it but I thought the metal housing would have touched the glass. I really like the way it worked out.

 

[bluebronco69]

ok sweet thats just what i was thinking of doing for her gauges, i appreciate the info guys

 

[Fishbone]

Thanks for posting the link to Tito's gauges. No problem seeing those...I like it.

 

[Imagator]

Thanks for finding that, I couldnt for the life of me locate it. I would upload some but my contributor auto re-up is having a case of the Mondays :-X

Anyone know of a way to clean up the dials without removing the numbers??? Mine dont look so hot, pretty white overlays but with yellow teeth %) %)

Twice I ordered white overlay sticker kits off ebay for my guage and screwed it up both times. The little guages went on easy but I couldnt put the speedo one on whithout it creasing. After several hours of frustration I turned to BRIAN72 for help. He brought it back and gave it to my wife when I wasnt home. When I came home the next day and noticed it on the kitchen bar I thought for sure it was a suprise from my wife. I thoght it was either a new replica or custom resto done by a profesional she found on ebay. The overlays looked like they were painted on by a machine. You would have to look very very close at it to see two tiny flaws which in my oppinion were unavoidable. Regardless of how good you are at puting these on, I dont see how you could acheive exact perfection. He also did an outstanding job on painting the rest of it. It looks like Chrome or highly pollised metal. I didnt get to see him do the work but Im sure he could offer some good advise to this thread and maybe even post a pic. Oh ya, whatever paint he used on the needle it's a very bright red/orange color. Looks great! Brian post some pics if you have them.

 

[eb66to77]

Ok, it is in but I am reorganizing under the hood for dual batteries and my new panels so no power yet. Here is what it will look like to the thieves.

 

[Broncology]

Looks great! That too is on my list....

 

[ObscureMachine]

Looks Good! You're gonna love the look when you get power to it. Where are you gonna mount the dimmer/switch box? Mine is mounted to the bottom flange of the dash and I really don't like it there.

Oh, and be sure not to grab the back of it (dimmer / switch box) when it's got power running through it. Don't ask me how I know!

 

[eb66to77]

For now I am just going to mount it over by the hood latch and e brake handles. I hate the gay un-engineered "bolt a switch under the dash that I got at walmart" design. I will eventually pull the dial and switch out of the stupid metal thing and mount the dial in the dash by the panel permanently. the switch I may leave on or make a permanent solution once I figure out which color my eyes like more at night.

 

[eb66to77]

Alright, all the wiring is back intact in the truck and she runs again. I hooked the gauge up to the park circuit so it has power while the lights are on but does not dim with the headlight switch. Which color do you like more?

 

[ObscureMachine]

I run mine with the blue. I just like it more. Yours looks really good!!!!

 

[bluebronco69]

ya i use the blue too its way better not as harsh on the eyes

 

[Bitch'nBronco]

I like the cluster. Looks sharp

 

[eb66to77]

Thank ya; thank ya. I won't really know how hard each color is on my eyes until I swap out the trans and I am NOT looking forward to that. I have a bunch of smaller projects going on right now to make up time and keep my mind off the inevitable trans swap.