Stan Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 (edited) First up, big thanks to Heckler for supplying all the parts done for me so I just had to fit them! and I hope he doesn't mind me posting this either, I'm sure it won't do his LED conversion business no harm Anyway, I noticed when installing the bulbs for the speedo cluster, that there were bright spots on the sides and dim spots on top of the dials. This is because there are only 4 bulbs lighting up the entire cluster, and the diffusion isn't great. You can see what I mean on Hecklers pic: http://www.internetwork.org.uk/led_guide/dash2.jpg Bright spots are on the 20mph, 1000rpm, 7000rpm and 'C' areas. This is directly where the bulbs fit in. So I thought I'd have a go at modding the gauges to get a better light distribution The bulbs heckler supplies for the dials are 3x 501 bulbs, and a T5 bulb. The 501 bulb looks like this: http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/6078/img3175g.jpg You can see that the light will predominantly shine upwards, which is why you get the bright spots in the dials. After a bit of searching on ebay, I found that you can get other LED bulbs that have a better light distribution: http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/2669/img3177.jpg These are known as 'flux' or 'refractor' LEDs, and you will want the 501 size (also can be found if you search for W5W or 194 bulbs - they are the same) Now as these are slightly bigger than the holes on the back of the dials so won't go in from the back, so you need to take your dials apart to fit the bulbs: http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5528/img3179w.jpg Once I installed these, I saw that were are bits of plastic that would block where the light shines - so I cut away a lot of the plastic to allow more of the light to shine through: http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/8130/img3181r.jpg So once you have cut the plastic away and put your bulbs in, test them in the car before replacing the dials to make sure they are the right way round, cos you won't be able to change them once the dials are back! http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/8523/img3183a.jpg This looks like a better distribution of lights, so now you can replace the dials and marvel at your handiwork! http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/5871/img3198g.jpg And the rest of the car done: http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/4041/img3190l.jpg http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/8843/img3193q.jpg Edited April 30, 2010 by Stan (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveR Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 Nicely done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Japlover Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 that looks so much better (than stock) and im also liking the mods you done to distrbute the light better. Think i`ll have to get mine done at some point now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt H Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 That looks absolutey perfect mate. Well jealous! That's exactly how I want my dash! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra steveo Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 looks nice , is that an 310RB headunit? ive got one of those fitted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Posted April 30, 2010 Author Share Posted April 30, 2010 looks nice , is that an 310RB headunit? ive got one of those fitted Yeah it is, haven't really played with it too much yet, waiting to install the rest of my ICE before I set it up properly. The pulsetouch is weird as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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