ok ive been working on converting many of the ugly orange lighting on things in my car for awhile and managed to figure out a good way to go beyond just the HVAC. I have pretty much completed the conversion to more soothing colors, and thus have information on the latest conversion...

please, before asking too many questions, I will be producing a more detailed writeup on this and other things.. for now i will just provide some eyecandy and SOME PICTURES WILL BE LARGE and i would have reduced them but i am at work and dont have access to do so yet. ok many have seen the HVAC:



and also notice that i messed with the stuff on the left side of the dash..



and finally some shots of my newest completion...







and a link to the page with more pics on it:
http://66.25.57.121:8080/PhotoAlbum/Cars/Jason/Projects/Led-Gauges.htm

ENJOY!

wow!! how long did it take you to do that?

Hey Jason,

You might wanna shrink down the size of those pics. Those things are HUGE! I'll post the pics of my gauge conversion when I get home. They are they same as Jason's except mine are green. :)

i would if i could, but im not at home and such dont have access to my software and files..

great job..

i will sit and wait for the write up.. hope its not to hard to do.

now i think i want to ditch my reverse indiglos and just do the blue behind the guages...

im not sure on total time, since i had worked on all the different areas at diff times and on some it took me a few days of a few hours each, but that was mainly because i had no idea what i was doing or how i was going to do it.. and the gauges are my masterpiece of accomplisment, not because i did it, but how i did it.

I also made my hvac gauges somewhat indiglo, i got white gauges and put blue lights to replace the amber bulbs, now they match my other idiglo gauges.....yours look good

1998 Eclipse GS

AEM Intake
Freedom designs strut bar
Eibach pro kit
Greddy cat back exhaust
High flow cat
APC indiglo gauges
Indiglo hvac gauges
Gen. 2 Altezzas w/ painted center
GTS Solarwing painted
APC clear side markers
PIAA superwhite lights

Stereo:
Kenwood cd player
kenwood excelon 6.5" components in doors and rear panels
diamond audio tweeters in dash
Dual 12W3 JL Audio H.O. box
kenwood ps 300 amp for subs
eclipse 4 channel amp for mids and highs
2 .5 farat monster caps and monster cable wiring

x-mas gifts that aint on yet:
Mesh grill
carbon fiber euro dash
18" katana concept 7's
Greddy header

future mods:
chrome engine kit

That look awesome cant wait for the write up.

That's the best interior mod that I've seen for our cars. It's not ricey either, it just looks real good. I can't wait for the write-up either. It's something that I'm definetley going to do. Great job man!!

f@#kin sweet as hell, mang! that rox!

id like to take this opportunity to deliver props.
these props are tentative until the writeup is completed :)

nice work, i think it looks bada$$

It looks twice as good in person. We're doing mine in red.

ill repost the pics in smaller form for ya'll dial-uppers.. :-) and yes i cant wait to get that red done for you dino..

and mine in blue, and any one else thats part of the houston 2gnt guys...damn all ya other guys are missin out, Move on to houston...=-P

Hey guy, do you have those indiglo needles or are those stock with scraped off paint? Oh and when do you think you should have the write up done? :P Can't wait.

Coo'
alex_ries@hotmail.com

they are the stock needles with the orange paint scraped off. it had to be done in order for them to transfer the light right.. and im not sure when the writeup will be finished, but it should be coming shortly..

i have the write ups on my site if anyone wants them. they are pretty easy. i also got the write ups for making indiglo needles on there. the site addy is www.importenthusiasts.da.ru if anyone wants to check it out you can but it's still in the process of being made.

Does anyone know of an online site to buy these led's from? At radio shack they have some small blue leds...... Will they work....

Xzolian
x5z5o5l@earthlink.net (remove the fives to send me an email)

1996 Eclipse RS
not that many......

yes.. you can get most of what you need for leds at radio shack.. some you will have to order cause they dont cary them in their stores.. but that will be included in the writeup..

hey, will these leds work? they already run off 12v
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1322194687&r=0&t=0

yeah they might. if they are small enough. but you are only getting one and you can get them at radio shack for 3-4 bucks.

Here's mine done the same way but just in green.

you can get the LEDS are www.Varad.com.. they are about 4 bucks a piece but worth it.

now this topic has come up on dsmtalk.com and someone said Evan2 is right but at radio shack they have all types of the leds and to buy the best ones..

because someone on here said the leds at radio shack were not bright enough..

if you can find out how bright the varad ones are.. then just match them up with radio shack

Hey DarkOne, I want to do mine in red also, so if you could post some pics when you are finished with that, that would be great!

P.S. Red is the color that is the best for night driving, it puts the least amount of strain on your eyes.

accually i belive blue would be better on your eyes than red..

that looks tight

Actually, The 300 mcd radio shack ones are fine for the buttons. They just aren't bright enough for the HVAC. But radio shack sells a 2600 mcd led that will. Only problem is that the color is slightly off, not a big deal for me though.

Both should be in most radio shacks stock, if not check another one. There at least 3 near me that have them. I keep draining their stock :-)

yep that is correct.. Radio Shack does carry quite a few really bright leds.. you just need to know how to look for them.. and i never noticed that my blue ones were off much.. although i have run into about 2 that turned out to be blueish green..

hey bish how about givin some clues as to how to do this i've been dyin for blue gauge lighting on black gauges. c'mon

that doesnt look THAT hard... is it?

go to my site importenthusiasts.da.ru and check it out there. the format is pretty much the same. and you can just use the radio shack LEDs or the ones from www.varad.com and there you go. you just have to take out the lights that light up your gauges and boom there you go.

What are the part numbers to get the 2600 MCD LED in blue? My local radio shack does know what i'm talking about. Please help. and how much do they run?

Larry

You can email me at: Talon95Stang@cs.com

276-316 but you will also need a resistor 300ohm will do the trick.. part num 271-1113

im almost done with the writeup, but if you want to do it on your own be my guest.

when you posting it?

how do i get the lights out for all the climate control shit. I can get the vents out and all, but i cant get the climate control nobs out...

you cant really take the hvac assembly out.. at least i havent figured out a good way to do it.. you have o go from behind.. remove the ac switch and right below it will be the light holder.. it is a pain to get out...

--------Changing HVAC Color----------

1) Pop off center vent panel and remove vents and the trim around it. The vent will be held in by a wire on the right of the vents, which pops off if you pull it to the right.

2) With the trim and vents removed, you now have to remove the trim around the radio and HVAC, it is all one piece that pops off. I use a flathead screwdriver, and go around it and pry it out.

3) Now, Put your hand into the hole where the vents were. The a/c bitton console needs to be removed. First unplug the wire that leads to the a/c console. After that, there is a push button on top of the console, near the front. Push it and push the unit towards yourself, it will slide out. Set it aside.

4) This is kind of hard. Right below where the a/c switch was is a very small 'nub' which houses the stock light for the HVAC. Find the nub using your finger(s). It needs to be turned to your right about 1/4th of a turn. It is very tight and hard to get to because it is so small. I used a pair of needle noses pliars, turned it to the right and pulled it out. (It pulls away from you). You will get frustrated with it, its a bitch but you'll get it. After it is out of its socket, follow the wire connected to it, and unplug it from its harness. You just unplugged the power to the stock LED.

5) Now take the fixture you just removed inside onto a table. You'll need some wire, scissors, a 330ohm resistor, a blue LED, electrical tape, and patience. Now, snip the two wires as close as you can to the stock bulb. The bulb is in a little case, just snip that thing off leaving as much slack as possible. Now you should have a harness with 2 wires coming out of it.

6) At the end of the wires, shed the insulation from the end of the wires and show a little of the bare wire on both. Twist one of the bare wires around the end of your resistor, then use elctrical tape and cover the connection you just made. At the other end of the resistor, use wire and connect it with one of your LED metal leads. Then tape over your connection. With the other wire coming from your harness, connect the end of the wire to more wire, so you have a little slack. Fron the extra wire you just added, connect it to the other LED metal lead, and tape your connection.

7) Make sure all connections are solid. Press the tape together very firmly. Take your little rig out to your car, and plug the harness back into the other part of the harness from which you removed it. Now, with it plugged in, turn your lights on, the LED should illuminate. Make sure it does, then turn your lights back off. Now you have an LED that needs to go where it came from. push it gently back into the hole from which you removed the stock bulb and use tape to secure it in place. Then take your a/c control which is sitting wherever you put it and slide it back into its place, and dont forget to plug it back in.

8) Then, take your vents and push them back into their place, and dont forget to connect the wire on the right of the vents, it will snap back in. Push the vents into place and then place the vent trim back on. After this snap the HVAC trim back on over everything.

9) You now have a blue HVAC :-)

This can be done with other colors, but there are stipulations. I used a 3.7Volt blue LED and a 330ohm resistor together. If you have a different voltage bulb, im not sure what resistor to use, a 330 may work.

This mod looks very cool at night, but if you try during the day it will be tough to see the illumination.

I'm sure Jasons (iamnotwhoiam) write up will be a bit easier to follow, and he'll have pistures, but for those of you that are eager this is the same deal.

I'll type a quick 'how to' for the gauges either later tonight or tomorrow, my fingers are tired..

If there are any further questions, feel free to e-mail me.

Ok, Ive been lookin at all this top secret stuff and ive been thinkin, Ive taken soderind at collage so I could soder n e thing, but the comon joe dosent. Now Ive been thinin all you are doin is cuttin the old lights and sodering new ones? Couldnt you just get a relativly small LEDS and atach them to a long wire, them cut the lead or smash the stock light and tape the led to it and wire up all the new leds to the other dash lights? Now how stupid does that sound?

ok.. the best way to rig the leds up in the gauge cluster is to retain the stock bulb holders.. running wires is just messy.. and sodering is required when doing this.. and yes.. im still working on the writeup so please be patient.. im willing to help out those with questions at any time..

damn dude, that write up was on the money. I gots it all disconnected and hell ya that light bulb was a bitch. My hands are all scraped up n shit from reachin thru the glove box and everything. I juss gotta snip it off tonite and it should be all good. Thanx!!!!

I am glad to see you Houston guys are catching up with the Atlanta guys :D

http://www.pbase.com/image/820230

ok, i was up in the lil fog light switch changin the led to blue. Well im not sure but i think i mighta shorted some stuf out cuz i think my solder jobs on the + and - pins mighta been a lil too close and were touchin or sumthin. They didn't look like were touchin to me but they musta been or sumthin cuz now i have NO instrument lights at all. I don't how electronically in tune any of u are, but I thought i could maybe quick figure it out cuz im a Marine radar electronics technician. So i checked all the fuses in the damn car. I found the cig. lighter one was blown so i swaped it and now that works but still no lights. And also i have no horn, i noticed earlier today before this whole thing, that without the gauges on the left side of the dash (power mirror, fog light, cruise) the horn didn't work then either. So im guessin that me fryin sumthin and not havin any of that workin no more, is what's causin that. Also one last thing, i took my multimeter out and if i hooked it up to the "gauge" fuse spot, i got the 12V that are suppose to be there. But my current was WAY high, im not sure if it was .9amps or 9amps. but either way i think that is way high. And its a 10 amp fuse so it is just under blowin that so it didn't blow. And if there is that high of current, that most likely means that there is a short somewhere BEFORE the power reaches any lights. So my question is does anyone know where i could start checkin or maybe at least tell me what kinda AMP reading their cars get at the fuse spot for the GAUGES. It's i think the bottom row and the 4th from the left and its 10 amp fuse. Any help would be AWESOME cuz this is gunna suck havin no damn instrument lights. thanx......
-Brandon

Hehe, it seems like we're all a little anxious to start putting in our new LEDs. I took my instrument panel apart to look at it over the weekend and managed to burn out the tiny bulb in the power mirror's switch... I think I better wait for the write up. :D

I'm an electrical engineering major btw, haha.

did you have the take the needles off of the temp and gas? if you were to quess, how many bulbs did you change? i thnk it would be cool to do them in red. it would like the rsx. and anyone that has been in a RSX at night know that their gauges kick ass

yep.. had to remove all needles and then the gauge themselves to prep them for the color change.. funny thing was that getting the gas gauge off i had to remove the whole speedo assembly.. :-) ok main thing im waiting on to finish my writeup is that i need to take some more pics and i really dont want to take my gauge cluster out right now.. so when i start working on another one ill get pics then.. hopefully that will be this weekend.. ill probably have some of it posted on changing some of the other lighting in a day or two.. so its coming dont you worry.. plus its real possibly that i might be able to create the led lights that will go into the gauges on my own and ship them out to those who want them. just gotta get or pay for the leds.. but dont get your hopes up on that too soon.. i will need some spare parts to complete this task so if you are interested just hit me up on aim or email and we'll go from there.. plus there will still be some stuff you will have to do on your own. well back to good ol work :-)

if anyone can help, i dont have any instrument or guage lights. I got most of the blue lights in alright but when i did the fog light one, I plugged it in and all the damn lights juss shut off. And i've already checked every damn fuse in the car. I checked voltage where the gauge fuse is and it has the 12V there but there is no voltage on any of the plugs that the buttons and shit plug into. so its busted sumwhere after the damn fuse. If anyone knows anything at all, please let me know cuz it sucks drivin at night without and gauge lights.

have you tried just unplugging the fog light switch and seeing if everything came back on.. if not try that, maybe soemthing is beging grounded with it in there.. luckly i never ran into this problem.. so im not sure what could be wrong if its not the fuses.. also.. you did remember to put the resistor inline to the led.. if not, not only would you burn out the led but who knows what else happened..

yes ive tried unpluggin it and it didn't do anything and yes i had the resistor in there. All the fuses are good and also i checked the fusible links in the engine fuse compartment and they are fine. Should i juss bring this shit into Mits. or what cuz i aint got a schematic or nuthin.

I was telling my friend (doesn't visit this site) that you are working on this awesome light conversion deal, and as soon as you get that write up out I'm gonna do it myself. Anyway he wants me to do it for him as soon as I get mine done, this guy's scared shitless to do anything to his car himself. hehe.

BTW He drive a fuckin' kickass black '99 Eclipse RS, got full Blitz bodykit (soon his front bumper will be urethane Blitz), aluminum wing, carbon fiber altezzas, blue undercar glow light things, GReddy EVO, GReddy headers, AEM CAI, and Tenzo 18" white rims, and a bunch of other misc. stuff, I wanna take pics and get it up on here so's you can see it. Oh and everything he's got on his car he's paid someone to install it, doh, I could have done half the shit he's done for him myself.

Coo'
alex_ries@hotmail.com

Well I have already converted all the lights inside my car along with the ash tray and lighter plus I have made my needles, indiglo needles. Was very simple and easy. I have a write up on my webpage with the information needed to do the conversion. it's very simple. all you have to do is remove the center vents, do a few things here and there and your done. it's very easy and simple. the cruise control buttons, hazard button, rear defrost button and the others are just like the AC button. here's the webpage if you wanna get a write up. http://importenthusiasts.da.ru

That S-AFC and turbotimer setup is awesome. How much would you charge to do mod the vents for me to hold a turbotimer and S-AFC?

well that is up to the guy how made it. i just put that on my site. on the links page, there is a link to his site and you can email him and see or i could do it if you like. they have some pretty cool ideas and items they have done. his site is http://2g.dsmpower.com

whats up with the write up?

>whats up with the write up?
it's up under a different topic.

what topic

interior and exterior. its the one called "HVAC LED conversion with full pic writeup"