86 gt a/c hvac panel

[pudman]

here's an interesting request for the forum. i've changed out the hideous orange dash lights on my 86 gt vert. i found some blue bulb covers from an 83 gt. so now i need to do the a/c panel. much to my surprise, the lettering is printed on a piece of orange reflector plastic. not a bulb cover like everywhere else. so my question is... anyone know where i can get a panel from an 83? the face is basically non removable. its held together with plastic melt together "rivets" i popped it off no problem. the only other thing i can think of would be to make my own, and print it on clear adhesive backed paper, then stick that to a piece of blue plexy glass.any suggestions?

 

[Fett]

I have never seen an 85 AC head, but I wonder if this will work.....I did it on my 93 AC head, and other various vehicles.

The colored film is on the back of the face plate, and the actual icons are on the front. This allows you to carefully remove the colored film from the back. I used an exacto knife to basically pry and scrape the colored film off the back. Once removed the icons will glow white because of the uncolored bulbs behind it. Now you can either use a colored film of your choice, or colored bulb covers to make the icons glow whatever color you wish.

I originally swapped everything in mine red because of my radio...I used red "broken tail light" film to put on the back of the plate so the icons glow red. You can find colored film at just about any craft store.

Like I said, I don't know if this will apply to an 85 face....but it might be worth taking a look at.

 

[pudman]

not so the case here. the whole piece is solid orange with the lettering painted on the front side. its a negative. the front is painted black with the letters clear. i know its a solid orange piece because i broke a small piece of the corner off. btw it's an 86. appreciate the input

 

[FoxChasis]

'79-mid '83 = blue
mid-'83-'86 = red

There are many combinations of the panel available....with or without AC, with or without rear defrost. That's four different combos right there. And then I think the cabling changed sometime.

The blue looks green, and the red looks orange. That's because incandescent bulbs give off a yellow light, not white.

 

[NIKwoaC]

All my stuff is red... Not orange. Not that it helps, but is it possible your panel has faded some?

I've never had that particular piece apart myself, so...