porshhhh951

I just swapped out the dash bulbs for these LED units. However I'd like to clean the light tunnels and perhaps make them better so the light spread is more dramatic. Any have a link to a kit that they would recommend?

billthe3

^ I used the write up on clarks garage to great affect. I cleaned the old crap off the plastic and then taped some aluminum foil (shiny side facing the plastic) on the reflector things and it looks awesome. Doing that and using the upgraded voltage bulbs from paragon (3.8w instead of 3w I think) made the lights a good 10x brighter - bright enough that I don't see why people use leds.
http://clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/elect-08.htm

fbgh2o

They never burn out and are not very hot.... Plus you can get them in different colours. I had red and now I am going to amber.

billthe3

Yeah, but you can get bulbs in different colors. LED's also do not dim much, so you're essentially stuck with the gauge lights on at full blast all the time. Unlike the regular bulbs, which allow you to dim the gauges down to almost no lighting (good for night driving out in the boonies).

fbgh2o

True, but I have found in the red at least it's not intrusive. I am thinking of wiring in a resistor to permist greater use of the dimmer.

porshhhh951

I just cleaned out the tunnels and put on the foil and wow it makes a huge difference. I tried taking a pic of it to show you guys but, I couldn't get it to come out correctly.

LFA951

Looks fantabulous, must've cost a pretty penny...

fbgh2o

Thanks, but not outrageously expensive. The wideband controller is the most expensive part.

Bob_in_Chicago

I have an '88 w/ airbag. Do I really have to pull the steering wheel to get the gauge cluster out?

billthe3

I think you can get it out with the wheel on, but it is a hell of a lot easier with it off. Though my opinion of saying that doesn't have any experience dealing with taking an airbag wheel.

porshhhh951

Honestly its easier with the wheel off but, you could probably get it out without it. The surround pieces near the steering wheel bump against the dash cluster piece with the vents that needs to come out.

Removing the airbag and the steering wheel(if you have a stock wheel) isn't that bad. I did it several months ago for the first time when I was installing my new wheel. Only took like 15-20minutes and thats with me being an idiot.

jc in rb

UHHHH.....whats an indiot....?

Techno Duck

As mentioned it can be done with the airbag wheel in but it's a real pain. One of those things wher. It takes the same amount of time either way, just one involves less cursing.

BTW, red LED user here for cluster lights. Not obtrusive to the eyes at all at night. Red hardly has any effect on your night
vision.. Think of a bridge on a ship at night.

billthe3

I've thought about doing my gauges with red leds, but with the way I am it would bug the hell out of me to have red gauges but everything else in the car is lit up with white lights, so I'd then have to go through and change all the other lights to red, which would be a lot of work. Well, no, it wouldn't be a lot of work, but it would be more than I'd like to currently exert since I'm happy with my fixed stock lighting. lol

porshhhh951

My point exactly.