changing dash and center counsole lights to amber...how to ?

SILVER03

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Dec 11, 2003
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Hi guys, I have a Nakamichi cd player, only amber color. I want to change the color of my dash and center counsole lights to amber also. Im figuring there are lights that are either painted green or have green covers to change to amber right ? How would I go about doing this ? Thanks for any advice, or instructions. Mike
 
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You can change the color to the gauge lights by pulling the cluster out, and either painting the bulbs or putting led's in their place. If you decide to paint, use an arcrylic enamel that can resist some heat. I used the painting method first to change the color of my dash to blue, but recently changed to blue led's to enhance the effect.
Changing the color of the dash and center console to amber would be more difficult. Since the transparent part of the gauges themselve influence the light color to be green, it would take an intense amber light to get even a small result. It's easy to go to darker colors such as blue, but lighter shades (oranges, reds, white) are nearly impossible without replacing the gauge panels.
 
Thanks alot for the reply Todd I appreciate it. I figured the dash would be easy, I should just buy auto meter light covers, they sell orange ones, would that be my best bet ? Also for the leds, where did you get them ? Did they have orange ? What would be the best way to get the center to light up orange also ? Sounds more difficult. Todd in your honest opinion, would it be worth the hassle changing the center to orange ? Personally it isnt as big of a deal as changing the dash. Again thanks for the help. Mike
 
SILVER03 said:
Thanks alot for the reply Todd I appreciate it. I figured the dash would be easy, I should just buy auto meter light covers, they sell orange ones, would that be my best bet ? Also for the leds, where did you get them ? Did they have orange ? What would be the best way to get the center to light up orange also ? Sounds more difficult. Todd in your honest opinion, would it be worth the hassle changing the center to orange ? Personally it isnt as big of a deal as changing the dash. Again thanks for the help. Mike


OK.. your in luck. Seems amber led's really aren't all that hard to find. Check out the ebay auction link below. This guys sells led's that you can wire into just about anything; amber is one of the available colors. I can't say how this setup will turn out, but it isn't too difficult to wire in and will give you a chance to do a little experimenting.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3071808419&category=20334

Now, the second task would be to change the bulbs the cluster. Attached is a pic of the led's I used. I can't find a current auction for these, but PM me and I'll give you the guys email address. I have yet to pull out the center console and see what kind of bulbs are in there, but these MAY work.

As far as the autometer covers, they work well but I believe they are only made for 194 bulbs. The gauge bulbs are too small, and I'm guessing the same is true of the console.

Is all this worth the work? Well if your experimental than yes, but I think you may end up with a brownish lighting effect when mixing the orange and green. The led's do emit a very concentrated light though, so you may get some satisfaction.
 
Got a couple pics. There are 5 bulbs that light the cluster; only the middle 3 bulbs are blue led's. Look carefully and you'll notice the smaller gauges are the MAC default color. I did this since the led's weren't bright enough to illuminate those needles well. Eventually I'll wire in additional led's to make this setup brighter.