|
Post by saqib777 on Jan 25, 2013 12:36:30 GMT -5
Hi all, Starting a new thread with a Tutorial on a project I did about 5 years ago. Thought of publishing many times but now it seems every other person is using LEDs in the Odometer, so my project looked fainted. Today I finally decided to put it all up here Maybe someone would be interested. Stay Tuned!!!
|
|
|
Post by saqib777 on Jan 25, 2013 13:30:34 GMT -5
First off, the speedo looked very bad even with new bulbs. The needle and backlight were somehow OK, but the readings were awful to read at night, which kicked off this project. Sorry for the bad pix, they're all from cellphone camera Opening up... Face plates.. Inside view Inside without the light dispersing dials Speedo with dial Speedo without dial Tacho with dial Tacho without dial I had a few sheets of poly glass laying around so made a layout of additional dials to hold the LEDs in proper place without messing with the original fittings. The main goal was NOT TO MODIFY anything originally there. This was all additional stuff. Tachometer Layout Speedometer Layout Tacho & Speedo both together Drilled the holes and installed LEDs Another view Hot glued and connected them all together Tested to make sure they all lit properly Added 4 Red LEDs to converge on needles Tested and working Same goes with the speedo dial but this one was way too tricky due to the internals. Less room for installation. Holes drilled LEDs installed and hot glued LEDs connected Installed the new dials underneath the original dials thus not to fiddle with originals Also installed a couple of LEDs behind the fuel and temp gauges. Didn't take pictures Made the power connections at the back of PCB Replaced all bulbs with LEDs for cluster indicators Installed a few more indicators that were not in this model, so had to wire them externally So..... the results.... Tachometer Speedometer Day time Night time The uniformity couldn't be achieved easily because the face plates have tinting layers at the backside where original bulbs are located. So the thicker the layering, fainter the backlight. I just skipped the idea to remove those extra layers coz was afraid of things going wrong Already this car is a pain finding spares... We all know that, don't we Besides, this was more than visible for my requirement but anyone interested can get the job done in a far better way than I did. Hope this got someone's interest.
|
|
|
Post by Armageddous on Jan 25, 2013 15:15:03 GMT -5
Wow very cool mod, very in depth. How did you go about cutting the plexi?
Terry
|
|
|
Post by blacklight on Jan 25, 2013 15:38:04 GMT -5
Very nice mod, and very nice work, and very nice result!
|
|
|
Post by saqib777 on Jan 25, 2013 22:05:59 GMT -5
Plexi cutting wasn't hard. Got a small hacksaw for such tasks. After cutting, I sanded the edges for better looks. Unfortunately cracked the plexi I made for speedo, but it's working for the past 5 years
|
|
|
Post by badshah on Jan 26, 2013 0:03:46 GMT -5
nice job, last time i tried cleaning up the speedo, I could not get the speedo needle off, so gave up.
|
|
|
Post by saqib777 on Jan 26, 2013 0:05:35 GMT -5
Yep! the needles are delicate but need a little effort to get them off.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2013 22:50:10 GMT -5
Impressive work, makes me want to do that to all my old rigs. The step-by-step pictorial is nice.
|
|
|
Post by saqib777 on Jan 26, 2013 23:58:14 GMT -5
Thanks all for the appreciation
|
|
libero
Libero E-10 & Justy J-12
Posts: 22
|
Post by libero on Feb 3, 2013 22:52:30 GMT -5
Great work ¡¡¡¡
|
|
|
Post by noaz on Feb 20, 2013 20:03:27 GMT -5
Nice!
|
|
|
Post by 88gl on Feb 21, 2013 11:46:36 GMT -5
Would there be any noticeable difference with just replacing the stock bulbs with LED bulbs? I like this mod, but I don't understand the purpose/use of resistors so it's beyond me. Swapping out bulbs however I can do.
|
|
|
Post by saqib777 on Feb 21, 2013 23:21:46 GMT -5
Replacing stock bulbs that backlit the dials with high power LEDs would certainly improve things, but not as much as like installing these small LEDs in a large number. Firstly, I wanted the needles to glow really Secondly, I wasn't able to get any good high powered LEDs in the required sizing and housing and since it was a DIY project, so had to make use of available stuff The resistors are there to reduce current, since a 4v LED blows straight up with 12v system. I have completely removed those blue sleeved large bulbs and didn't need to put any replacement there. The dials are well lit
|
|
|
Post by camilo on Jul 11, 2013 0:58:38 GMT -5
Hey man. First, great work. One question: how you did with the control panel, did you add LED bulbs? If you have photos, upload it please!
|
|
|
Post by saqib777 on Jul 29, 2013 4:33:25 GMT -5
camilo: Hi, if you're referring to the fan/heater etc control panel, then yes, it also has LEDs. The default bulb replaced with 3 LEDs and all in the same hole but different angles to cover the whole panel. Unfortunately I didn't take pix while doing this...
|
|
|
Post by blacklight on Jul 29, 2013 15:18:47 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by saqib777 on Aug 1, 2013 1:54:05 GMT -5
blacklightYes, that's a great thread you wrote. Explains well for 1st timers.
|
|