I told myself so many times I would do a write up of a mod since I appreciate it so much when others take the time to do it. So I finally got to it and took pictures for you guys. Enjoy.
Cluster bezel out
There are 2 7mm screws to take out. Those are the obvious. Then there are just this clips that hold it in. A little pull does the job. Comes out a little from the top first.
There are 4 of these 7mm screws that hold the cluster in. Dont forget the 2 harness connectors in the back.
This is the headlight switch connector on the left side. The large solid grey wire is the one I tapped into for power. Using the grey wire allows the cluster to light up when the headlights are turned on.
Checking for my wire with my power probe. Great tool if you have the coin. Checks for ground, power, has tones, built in circuit breaker. Also applies power/ground, good for testing window motors, etc.
Bingo. Power only when headlights turned on.
Cluster out.
I marked off the section on top to cut out. The gauge wires on the bottom are fine, but the top you will need to remove a small section to clear the speedo/tach wire.
Tools I used to remove the needles. Now, the gauges DO fit over the needles, but after trying I opted to simply remove the needles. They are slightly stubborn. The trick is to get uniform pressure, then just pop them off. I fiddled with them for like 20mins, after I got brave I had them all off in like a minute. Dont be scared, but dont gorilla jerk them off.
Needle pin and needle stops for the fuel/coolant/oil/voltage gauges.
Setting gauges in place, no needles
Needles installed. Or so I thought. When I plugged it all in and started it up, the needles were EVERYWHERE. So I took them off. Here is what I did. I used electrical tape to hold the overlays in place, noIt needles, lense, nothing. Plugged the cluster in and let the vehicle run till it warms up. You WILL NEED PICTURES (or drawing) of needle placement prior to removal with vehicle running and warmed up. I used my scan tool to check for coolant temp. Those of you with a programmer, that will work too. You can also use it to set the tach needle in place. For the speedo, I used my lift at work to raise the car off the ground, used my scanner to watch the vehicle speed sensor and set the needle in place with the speed steady. There may be other methods, but my speedo is nearly dead on, just a hair slow.
Put together with all the needle nonsense sorted out. It's really not that bad guys, just take your time. Dont try to do it all in 30mins and expect it to be perfect. BTW, I've heard of people having to dremel their cluster lense off; mine was held in place with 8 5.5mm (or T15 Torx). No dremel here.
I didnt take pictures of it, but all the wires I wire tied behind the cluster. Used the grey wire on the headlight switch for my power, and grounded it under the dash by the interior fuse box. Didnt see a ground I liked up top. I got the inverter upgrade - it switches from green/blue and adjusts brightness. Its very small, about the size of a halfdollar. It comes with double sided tape on the back, I mounted it on the underside of the steering column. Completely out of sight but right there.
And for the finished product:
And lit up:
I'm very happy with the results! I inquired about the redline as it showed 6800rpm on the website, they emailed back and said to just put that I wanted the redline at 5800rpm in the comments section when ordering. I wanted clean and simple and its exactly what I wanted. My ONLY complaints are that its slightly fuzzy around the black portion of the needles but the rest of the dials are crisp, clean lighting. The pictures do not do these justice at all!
Any other pic requests or questions just let me know.
-Matt
Cluster bezel out
There are 2 7mm screws to take out. Those are the obvious. Then there are just this clips that hold it in. A little pull does the job. Comes out a little from the top first.
There are 4 of these 7mm screws that hold the cluster in. Dont forget the 2 harness connectors in the back.
This is the headlight switch connector on the left side. The large solid grey wire is the one I tapped into for power. Using the grey wire allows the cluster to light up when the headlights are turned on.
Checking for my wire with my power probe. Great tool if you have the coin. Checks for ground, power, has tones, built in circuit breaker. Also applies power/ground, good for testing window motors, etc.
Bingo. Power only when headlights turned on.
Cluster out.
I marked off the section on top to cut out. The gauge wires on the bottom are fine, but the top you will need to remove a small section to clear the speedo/tach wire.
Tools I used to remove the needles. Now, the gauges DO fit over the needles, but after trying I opted to simply remove the needles. They are slightly stubborn. The trick is to get uniform pressure, then just pop them off. I fiddled with them for like 20mins, after I got brave I had them all off in like a minute. Dont be scared, but dont gorilla jerk them off.
Needle pin and needle stops for the fuel/coolant/oil/voltage gauges.
Setting gauges in place, no needles
Needles installed. Or so I thought. When I plugged it all in and started it up, the needles were EVERYWHERE. So I took them off. Here is what I did. I used electrical tape to hold the overlays in place, noIt needles, lense, nothing. Plugged the cluster in and let the vehicle run till it warms up. You WILL NEED PICTURES (or drawing) of needle placement prior to removal with vehicle running and warmed up. I used my scan tool to check for coolant temp. Those of you with a programmer, that will work too. You can also use it to set the tach needle in place. For the speedo, I used my lift at work to raise the car off the ground, used my scanner to watch the vehicle speed sensor and set the needle in place with the speed steady. There may be other methods, but my speedo is nearly dead on, just a hair slow.
Put together with all the needle nonsense sorted out. It's really not that bad guys, just take your time. Dont try to do it all in 30mins and expect it to be perfect. BTW, I've heard of people having to dremel their cluster lense off; mine was held in place with 8 5.5mm (or T15 Torx). No dremel here.
I didnt take pictures of it, but all the wires I wire tied behind the cluster. Used the grey wire on the headlight switch for my power, and grounded it under the dash by the interior fuse box. Didnt see a ground I liked up top. I got the inverter upgrade - it switches from green/blue and adjusts brightness. Its very small, about the size of a halfdollar. It comes with double sided tape on the back, I mounted it on the underside of the steering column. Completely out of sight but right there.
And for the finished product:
And lit up:
I'm very happy with the results! I inquired about the redline as it showed 6800rpm on the website, they emailed back and said to just put that I wanted the redline at 5800rpm in the comments section when ordering. I wanted clean and simple and its exactly what I wanted. My ONLY complaints are that its slightly fuzzy around the black portion of the needles but the rest of the dials are crisp, clean lighting. The pictures do not do these justice at all!
Any other pic requests or questions just let me know.
-Matt
