CArFAn Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 (edited) My first DIY. I really like the look of the defi and autometer nexus gauges alot, but for the price not so much. So i was playing around with a broken water temp gauge and some cheapo walmart window tint. I had laying around and i cracked open the gauge spilled its guts and got the glass face and started to go to work. I applied the tint 5% to the glass put it all back together and hooked up a 12v rc charger to a 15kmcd green led stuck it in the light whole and whamo i got the style i was looking for. i can post pics tomorrow if anyone is interested. I need another led i burned it out i forgot to put the resistor back in when i tried it a second time. Also i need to find a way to keep the led in there. thinking of just using pcb board and glue it to the back of the gauge idk yet i have to think about it. Edited December 12, 2009 by CArFAn spelled gauge wrong and right at the same time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big-phil Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 hey thats pretty cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarrisonTX Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 My first DIY. I really like the look of the defi and autometer nexus guages alot, but for the price not so much. So i was playing around with a broken water temp guage and some cheapo walmart window tint. I had laying around and i cracked open the guage spilled its guts and got the glass face and started to go to work. I applied the tint 5% to the glass put it all back together and hooked up a 12v rc charger to a 15kmcd green led stuck it in the light whole and whamo i got the style i was looking for. i can post pics tomorrow if anyone is interested. I need another led i burned it out i forgot to put the resistor back in when i tried it a second time. Also i need to find a way to keep the led in there. thinking of just using pcb board and glue it to the back of the guage idk yet i have to think about it. you need to post pics right away! This place will probably have what you need to hold the LED in there http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Ftail-brake-turn.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CArFAn Posted December 12, 2009 Author Share Posted December 12, 2009 Okay i dont have the best of pics and they are not installed in the z nor did i have any extra leds. But here are pics of what i did. Take a flat tip screw driver and pry back the case. Pull the trim off along with the glass ring and the glass itself. Tint the glass with your selection of tint. I used 5% might be to dark for the led i'm using or i can just use 3 of them. Put it back together i used the flat tip again with a piece of clotch around the tip and pushed down all around the gauge. Enjoi- Carfan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckolander Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Thats pretty cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garvice Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 I read the first post thinking you had done this to a stock gauge. My first thought was, you will never see the gauge as they are too poorly lit to begin with, but that looks pretty cool. So, are you always going to have the LED on? Can't imagine that you will be able to read it in the day time without it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CArFAn Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 I was going to use a target switch for the day time. But the outside light should be enough to let you peer through the tint. If you use light tint to let you see into the guages I used 5% which is wayy to dark im going to swap it out for 35 or so.Id just wire it to a 12+ source key on position. And leave it that way. I have to order some real strong leds first radio shack dosnt have anything close to what i need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarrisonTX Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 I was going to use a target switch for the day time. But the outside light should be enough to let you peer through the tint. If you use light tint to let you see into the guages I used 5% which is wayy to dark im going to swap it out for 35 or so.Id just wire it to a 12+ source key on position. And leave it that way. I have to order some real strong leds first radio shack dosnt have anything close to what i need. Looks good, thx for the pics. Real strong LEDS... Use the damn link i posted.. "super bright" is in the name, so you know they are bright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CArFAn Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 Yeah i looked at those and, just because it says "super bright" dons't mean so. I have my store already c-leds. I only order from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bschiltz Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 When I used to be into RC cars, I know SuperBrightLEDs had a good reputation. I've never dealt with them, but they've been around for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m4xwellmurd3r Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 super bright leds is awesome. I bought a bunch of LED replacement bulbs for my car. they're blue, a bit brighter than the stock ones, but not by much, and fit in like a charm. (i need to take out the filters from the gauges, that's what's making them so dark right now) they're pretty easy to deal with and get stuff shipped pretty quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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