TexasRider

I took the 951 out for a evening spin and "re-remembered" that after 27 years the bulbs are growing dim, as are my eyes to see them in the dark.

For those of you that have installed new bulbs into your instruments and panel, what did you find regarding the reflective surfaces and how did you fix it? Were new bulbs alone enough?

I got in all the bulbs and a new odo gear too from Paragon.

But I am hesitant on both the panel and the tape kit.

The kit is only $50 - but I dont know how well it works. Does it peel off later? I am not planning on going back in there for another 27 years - uhhh ... never.




But a new housing is $400. Which is the same that I tell all my buds that Porsche parts are . Most parts I need average $400. My estimator works like a champ !



For some reason, I am hoping that my panel is still good with its reflective surface intact. At least the front of the gauge cluster panel is in near perfect condition as my car has spent most of its non running time in its life in a garage and under a car cover too.

Thank you for any inputs.

Arominus

I took my panel apart, removed the paint from the light tunnels with non acetone nail polish remover, then recovered the tunnels and bulb housings with aluminum tape. Haven't fired it up yet but I expect good results. I used stock wattage bulbs to prevent any melting of the bulb cavity.

m73m95

How did you get the tunnels from the housing? I tried one, and the plastic was so brittle it just broke the eye in half.

Arominus

I cut the melted plastic rivet away with an x-acto knife. In retrospect this was dangerous and a pain in the *** so i would recommend using a good sharp drill bit or a dremel with a grinding bit. For reassembly I used 5min plastic epoxy to hold them back in place.

I used masking tape before i took the paint off to cover the exposed areas, so i wouldn't forget where they went, Then sliced the tape along that line after i covered everything and got a nice, sharp edge that was exactly the same as the factory had it.
Ive got more pictures on my camera, ill dig them up and post them. I was going to make a tech post about what i did and never got around to it.

TexasRider

Yes I am using the stock wattages too. No leds.

But is all of that in your pics above (thank BTW) , and the panel at the rear of the cluster and gauge sets? Or is this the panel that is facing me now when it is complete? I would think that a replacement panel is not likely to have the factory VDO badging and labeling if it is the front panel. Or not.

I have never had this panel or cluster out of the car. I have looked carefully at the lower portions of the front of the cluster below the tach etc and I can not discern any damage.

But I dont want to wait until I have it out to try and order the parts and find they are not available. Grrrrrr..

I guess there is only one right way to do it. But for $400 .

I am going to regret this job later aint I ...........

Crackership

aluminum tape or even aluminum foil taped on works pretty well. And it's really cheap. The LED conversions work pretty well too, but they are very very bright. Too bright, IMO.

Ky944TurboNewbie

I used the non acetone nail polish remover to remove the prior reflective backing also. I used aluminum tape also. I didn't remove the tunnels from the housing. Just taped in place and made sure to cover the sides well. Stock bulbs and it looks great.

Arominus

Texas, I have more detailed pics, I removed the tunnels so I could cover all sides for maximum efficiency. It may not be needed but I didn't want to do it again. I have plans for the night so I should have them up late tonight or tomorrow.

TexasRider

Thank you Aro - so you think the kit would do it for me, if I need it.

But is any of it visible from the front ???

Thanks guys.

Ky944TurboNewbie

Nothing visible from the front when this is done.

Arominus

You wouldn't really need the kit, just a roll of adhesive aluminum tape (lowes or home depot) and non acetone nail polish remover ($2) and some time. The tunnels are not visible from the front. So no one would ever know. You should be able to fix this up for much much less than $50.

TexasRider

Thank you very much guys.

Like I said, I am sure I am going to wish I hadnt started this job, but sometimes you just got to do it.

I have all the items, and foil tape and all of that here, so now I just got to man up and start taking things off.

One reason I didnt already tackle this is that I dont have a single squeak or anything out of the original dash. Yes it is all original and not a single single cut, scratch or tear in it. Maybe it will still be that way when I get finished. I hope.

I suspect that the odo gear is in need of replacement as well.

I appreciate all the help. Next week I will tear into it , so be ready for new posts.

Arominus

Ok here are some pics, I didn't take more as many as I thought but hope these help. I put foil tape in the part where the bulb goes as well, since I had it apart for the odometer gear already. I didn't end up using the reflective aluminum paint you see in the background either. Sorry for the size of the pics, RL mobile doesn't appear to cut them down at all.

Cyberpunky

I didn't remove the light tunnels when I did mine. I just cleaned off the old coating using acetone, and then masked up tunnels and sprayed them with chrome paint. I had already ordered the $20 kit from 9xauto so I re-did them when kit arrived but the chrome paint was just as good/bright but figured the kit was better option for longevity.

here is a write up from Texas Blake about fitting the kit click here

CurtP

How far are you willing to take it? I've done the "fixes", including buying a new housing, and they're all temporary. The factory bulbs are 2w, and you can upgrade to 3w, but it will distort the plastic. 5w bulbs will melt the plastic in no time. LED bulbs are better, but I've yet to find one that wasn't too directional to actually get much light through the light tunnels.

After giving up with the stock location of the bulbs, I went with replacement light tunnels that have LEDs at the other end to shine directly onto the gauge cluster. My first set had one LED in each one and they worked ok for about 6 months. 2 of them stopped working entirely. The second set has 3 LEDs in each light tunnel and distributed the light much more evenly. But both of these solutions had the same problem with glare on the windshield. I could clearly see each LED on the windshield at night and it drives me crazy (and gives me a headache after a couple hours of driving).

Now I'm all-in to find a real solution. I've got all the parts to do the project, but just haven't had the time to work on it. I have a full set of backlit gauge faces, new needles that can be illuminated and a LED ring that goes around the base of each needle to illuminate it. The gauges will look stock when I'm done, and the hope is that nothing jumps out at you as being different - until the lights come on at night.