bigbass37

Even at full adjustment I can barely see the guages? How can I put in a brighter bulb? Is it difficult?

SoCal Driver

Need to resilver the light reflectors on the bottom of the instruments.

Sach951

SEARCH IS YOUR FRIEND. Happy holidays

UDPride

Perry951 has got a upgrade for this. He shelved it for a while as he rebuilt the fire car. I want to get his upgrade. I dont have time to fool with it. Thats why God invented money. Im a dumbass though so I will have to get him or someone else I know to help me install. I have enough trouble remembering the 944 ignition is on the right.

PorscheDoc

I did this a few weeks ago and it increased the brightness imensly. It only takes about an hour or 2, and is very easy to do. Pull out your instrument cluster and on the bottom of it, you will see silver reflective paint that is discolored or peeling. Take non-acetone nail polish remover and scrub off all the old stuff. Then take double sided tape and tin foil (Some have used new paint, but it doesnt seem like many get good results), and create a new reflective surface. Slap her back on and you are in business. Even a beginner can do this one on a saturday morning.

UDPride

how do you pull the gauges. Im temped to throw my caution to the wind and try this. Someone should write up a how to with photos. I need to know EVERYTHING. I need to know if I need a screwdriver, what to pull, how hard to pull it (i.e. pull it like you are pulling a door **** but not hard like you are pulling a hatchet out of a guys head).

I bet if I pull my gauges the whole freakin car will just fall apart piece by piece like in the cartoons.

user 8430

UD PRIDE lol!!!!!

Zero10

UD Pride, Removing the gauges is very simple, I think I can explain it well enough without pictures, but if you would like them, I can take some.
I take my dash apart about once a week, sometimes as many times as 4 times, part of selling LED bulbs.

Tools Required:
Stubby phillips screwdriver
Normal-length phillips screwdriver
24mm socket and socket wrench (for removing steering wheel)
Marker

Instructions:

1) I have to be vague here, I do not have the factory steering wheel. However, I have been told the cover to it simply pops off, exposing the nut that holds it on, if you have an after-market wheel, perhaps yours has a center cap that pops out, or a horn button.
2) Once the cover is off, using your marker, draw a line from the center of the stud, onto the steering wheel itself, no need to mark the nut, unless you feel like it. This will help you align the steering wheel afterwards.
3) Remove the nut holding the steering wheel on, it is 24mm, and you may need an extension to reach it, depending on the type of wheel you have.
4) Firmly, but slowly pull on the wheel, it will pull straight off once the nut is removed. Do not yank it, as it may strike you in the teeth (Don't ask how I know).
5) Using your stubby, remove the 3 phillips screws located above the instruments, underneath the hood covering them. They are part of what holds the trim piece in.
6) Remove the 2 phillips screws, one on either side of the steering wheel, that hold the trim in from the bottom.
7) Search through the vents for the 3 screws over there. There will be 2 on the left side, one top and one bottom, and one on the right side, in the center. Turn them until they are free of the plastic they are threaded into, but do not remove them from the vent assembly, they are very difficult to get back in.
8) Gently work the trim piece out from both sides, I find I can pull it down from the instrument hood, and bend it slightly to get it over where the steering wheel was, then I start on the vent side. It will pull up slightly as it comes out.
9) Set this piece down on it's back side, the side facing into the dashboard, so the 3 screws left in it do not fall out. At this time, check the 2 metal clips that held the screws in the bottom of it. Ensure that they are both still there and have not fallen off inside your dashboard (they usually come out on the floor of the driver's side somewhere).
10) Remove the 4 screws holding the instruments themselves in, be careful with the 2 on the left side, they are easy to drop.
11) Gently work the instrument assembly forward, there is enough give in the wires to get it out a decent distance. I find I usually flex the instrument hood up slightly to allow it to slip part-way out.
12) There are connectors holding the wires on, they have 2 little tabs on each side. Pull these tabs outwards, while pulling gently on the connector. If they are stuck, try pushing the connector in slightly. (You may wish to mark these, as they all look the same to me)
13) You are home free, remove your instrument cluster and resurface your reflectors.
14) In a true haynes style (although this is my own literary masterpiece =) installation is the reverse of removal, just make sure you position your instruments near the bottom of their adjustment (the 4 screws allow some play), so you can see your '!' light properly, this may require test-fitting the trim piece a couple times.

Hopefully I did not forget anything, and this will do you some good.


Alrighty, now all that said, I feel I should post some pictures and brag about my LED conversion.
Generally speaking, DO NOT INSTALL HIGHER WATTAGE BULBS.
I have heard that you can go to 3.3W bulbs safely, but I did not wish to push my luck, they may melt the plastic surrounding the bulbs.
If you have a fresh reflector, using the tin-foil method or whatever, you should achieve decent levels of lighting. However if it is still not enough, or you wish to color your gauges, there are LED options available.
As already mentioned, Perry 951 sells some reflector replacements that use LED's for gauge lighting. I have not used his products, but I am sure some people here have.
Before I explain my solution, I feel I should note that I was not aware that there was a fellow rennlister producing LED replacements when I invented my LED replacement.
I build LED 'bulbs' that fit into the factory bulb holders, so they require no modification, they come in blue, red, amber, green and white, and they are much brighter than the stock bulbs (Except the amber, which is only a little bit brighter).
That said, let's post some pictures =)
Blue LED's, the coolest IMHO, the UV light emitted causes all the orange sections to glow, just like under a black light.


Amber LED's, these are a VERY close match to the color of the lights inside all of the ***** on our dashboards.


Red LED's, I felt these looked quite evil, one of my favorites.


And finally, white LED's, since I have taken this picture, I found a new source for LED's, which I can make up to 3x brighter than in this picture (If you are going blind or something =)


Now, that you have all seen the quality of those pictures.. *shudder* I must apologize for my camera's actions. I have checked it into alcoholics anonymous, it has a drinking problem, hence the double vision.

Sorry, I couldn't resist saying that.
The problem is with taking pictures of a light in a dark area, it causes a reflection inside the lens, creating the double vision, I took about 10 pictures of each color, and kept the one that best represented the appearance of each, so the pictures are not all of quite the same area, but they are fairly accurate as to color.

If you would like any info on the LED's I produce, feel free to PM me or email me.


Finally, an apology to Perry 951.
I am not attempting to undermine or out-sell you here. I was building these before I ever knew of you.

Zero10

Oh crud, one last thing.
The picture of the white LED's, notice that it has dark patches? That was a picture of a set that was not aimed properly, I guess I lost the picture of them when they are setup right, they provide a much more even lighting effect, similar to the blue set in light distribution.

Lumbergs Lackey....MmmmKay

*waldo voice*

Go to my site and see some "real" backlit gauges

www.geocities.com/rare944s2/index

schnellfahrer

Wow. Those are excellent. Where? How Much? How?

jeeper31

Is it the same for a 1984?

MY83944

Yes - will those LED's fit the early 944's?

My wife cringes whenever I speak of removing the gauges in our 83 . . .

PorscheDoc

I did it on my 86, but i can't imagine the early dash would be any harder. Clarks garage has an excellent write up on how to do the late model if you guys dont know how to pull the cluster. It was something like 3 screws in the fan vents, 2 or so up under neath the lip of the dash, and then 4 actually holding the instrument cluster in once you have removed the trim (the 5 screws is what you are removing for the trim)

UDPride

thanks for the writeup! If I go to the trouble dont I want to not only do the tin foil thing but also replace the bulbs with LEDs? Where do I get those pooches. Any fear of burning or melting the tinfoil?