Instrument panel: blue vs. white vs. stock

[millhouse]

Well, it's the moment you all have been waiting for. Ive installed and taken pictures of the stock instument panel, the instrument panel with single led wedge based blue bulbs and finally the panel with white wled-x6 wedge based bulbs (all found on superbrightleds.com).

First off...stock

Next, the blue

And last, the white. Now...the white for some reason would not let me take a clear pic with my cheap digital camera. I took 6 pictures...yet all came out worse than the one that follows. Anyways, you'll still get the jist of it.

 

[Roland69]

how do you do that with the blue. Just change the bulbs in the back of the cluster. That looks amazing

 

[millhouse]

how do you do that with the blue. Just change the bulbs in the back of the cluster. That looks amazing

Yep, I've listed the bulbs used and where I purchased them in my post above.

 

[90lxfoxbody]

i like the blue the best. i am in the process of converting my interior lights to blue led's ands so far it looks really good. if i have time i'll snap a few pics and put them up in this post. so far it looks good man.

 

[90lxfoxbody]

i went to the site and looked up the blue single led bulbs. you used the 194 type right?

 

[millhouse]

i went to the site and looked up the blue single led bulbs. you used the 194 type right?

Correct

 

[Roland69]

is there 6 light's alltogeather or did you use six and left some stock bulbs in there. I always thought there was more than 6

 

[millhouse]

is there 6 light's alltogeather or did you use six and left some stock bulbs in there. I always thought there was more than 6

There are 6 that light up the instrument's. There are also two I believe that light up the hvac unit. You can leave all other bulbs (blinkers, seat belt, check engine etc.) stock without effecting the illumination.

 

[90lxfoxbody]

thanks for the info. i have been doing it the "manual" way with led's and inline resistors, and running a power wire to the corresponding wire or fuse. i bought a new sony cd player recently with the 7 color display and one of the blue colors matches the blue led's perfectly. i can't wait to finish the project. i have been toying with the idea of using red led's behind the mirrors for turn signal markers as a novel touch.

 

[Roland69]

and theese are the same little peanut wedge type that are often found in lisence plate lights.

 

[millhouse]

I'll throw in my initial observations on the bulbs now...

The white led's I used were more directional (and intense) than the blue ones. They were also almost double the price. They seem to bright…and to directional to evenly light up the display. The light produced from the white led is more of a pure white than the stock bulbs. This changes the color's just a bit. You'll notice the needles are a bright white rather than an off orange color. The color of the display is a bit more of a blue color than stock…although not enough to justify using them. In the end I'll end up using whatever looks best with my cobalt gauges…which I have a feeling will be the stock bulbs.

 

[millhouse]

I installed the a-pillar gauges which include h20 temp, boost/vac and my innovative wideband x-16. I must say the innovative is damn cool. I can program the color of the led's individually with the laptop...and can set an alarm for high and low air/fuel ratio's. There is much more that it can do...but I have not yet gotten that far.

Anyways, here is some more pics. Forgive me...they are a bit blurry..and the cobalts are a bit to bright. My dimmer doesnt work...and even if it did I'd leave it turned up to light the dash as much as possible.

 

[fidstang]

I've got the reverse glow with white face in my and love them, But, I would sure like to see what the red or orange would look like. Sounds like a great upgrade for the price I wish I would thought of that!!

 

[89five.o]

The blue looks awesome. I think I may have to get some of those bulbs for my needles, or maybe red. You should try red for the needles. I have reverse glow gauges but my needles aren't bright enough with the pos autozone blue lights. Plus I have to figure out why the far right side of the gauges aren't lighting.....the electric gods hate me

 

[Roland69]

haha I think I brought this thread back from the dead lol...I want to do this soon. 89five.o I have the same problem with some dim spots I think it's a few blown peanut bulbs in the back of the cluster.

 

[Skoobie]

Is it pretty easy to get the cluster out or is it like changing out a heater core

 

[89five.o]

I meant that my reverse glow doesn't work on the side with the gas gauge for some reason. I wonder how it would look though with the reverse glow and red led's for the needles though.

 

[Roland69]

try it led's are cheap

 

[ike34]

Do the needles use a seperate bulb?

 

[millhouse]

haha I think I brought this thread back from the dead lol...I want to do this soon. 89five.o I have the same problem with some dim spots I think it's a few blown peanut bulbs in the back of the cluster.

Lol...ya think!

As far as the needles go...unfortunatly they are not on a seperate bulb, but rather combined with the overall illumination. If you were to throw a red led in there, half of the damn tach and or speedo will light up red (not a very bright red either).

There are 6 total bulbs that illuminate our dash (all others are for misc. dummy lights). They are not equally spaced and with the exception of maybe one or two, none have one single purpose. If you have one bulb burn out, the cluster will remain lit. It will just get a bit dim in the area of the bad bulb.

To get the needles to illuminate red with the blue led's...you would have to paint the reverse side of the needle with some sort of red paint (I've heard nail polish works too!). If you don't, they will illuminate the color of the bulbs (as seen in my above photos). Keep in mind the stock incandescent bulbs do not emit a white light...but rather a yellowish. This is the reason the stock cluster illuminates green with orangish needles while white led's throw out more of a blueish tint with bright white needles. Same goes with the blue led's.