How To: Change Your Cluster to Blue L.E.D.s/Incandescent bulbs for $8

['03GTinFLA]

I had those Ebay gauges overlays. They lasted for maybe 6 months then died. I'm not saying yours will do that but for the reasons stated above, redline and not looking so hot in the daytime, I chose not to replace them with another set of overlays.
Here's the pics of my tri-LED set up on a Mach 1 gauge cluster. The red needle doesn't light up enough for my taste but oh well. Overall I like it.

 

[CENTENNIALSTANG]

I bought the phantom II gauges, im fixing to get the knock off mach1s from speed hutt. I want them to be white back ground night and day. Anyone change the AC junk to white, or would that even work. When i put them in ill get some pics up.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

of course ill come in and wake the giant. thats what michaels do =D

 

[jprovence]

Not everyone wants blue. Having a GT cluster, I have 2 choices, blue or green. I would have to switch out to the bullitt cluster to move to RED leds. Red isn't an option for the stock cluster. I did convert the traction control to red Leds and my stereo is red. So that worked out well. I just got the overlays from speed hut. They slip over the needles and look great. I went with the el-glow for a terminator type of look.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

to answer your question about the halo affect on the hvac gauges. its because im using the upr knobs. if i had just the old factory black ones it wouldnt do that ring.

 

[jprovence]

it did on my speed hut, tried both of the different nobs. I have the upr. They fit just like the stock knobs. There are a few layers to the over lay peice. There is the el-glow part, they they all have, then the reversed layer on top. It doesn't go all the way to edge, making the halo effect. I couldn't stand my speed huts overlay for that reason, and the fact that the cool/hot part was not blue and red.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

it did on my speed hut, tried both of the different nobs. I have the upr. They fit just like the stock knobs. There are a few layers to the over lay peice. There is the el-glow part, they they all have, then the reversed layer on top. It doesn't go all the way to edge, making the halo effect. I couldn't stand my speed huts overlay for that reason, and the fact that the cool/hot part was not blue and red.

Now with that i can relate to you. I wish the red was more a true red. its more of a pink...ish LOL

 

[xxstaci]

It looks like you basically lose your needles and any red coloring in the gauges like redline etc. Do your needles show up more than the makes it look?

I agree, do they show up more?

 

['03GTinFLA]

I agree, do they show up more?

Yes. In the pics, you can't see the needles at all. In person, you can see them a little, but not much. I actually got pulled over because there was a cop behind me and I could have sworn I was doing 50 in a 45 but nope it was 60 and I got a ticket. So most of the time it doesn't bother me, but really the needles are not bright enough to be of use at night, at least not of safe use. If you really stare at the gauges for a couple seconds you can see how fast your going but by then the po po's got you. I'm not going to change it because I'm used to it and I invested so much time and $ into the bullet cluster and stuff that it's staying but my advice to others is to try another route. Good Luck.

 

[Cmpfreak88]

Gonna try this

Hey guys, I've had this page bookmarked foreeeeeeeever and my buddy was actually talking about trying to change the color of lights in his tC sooo... I'm ordering bulbs right now and I'm gonna try the white, I figure I can always sand down the back if it does have some layer of green on it... hopefully it's not all the way through... Anyways, gonna grab 5 of the #74 Tri-LED's and 2 of the #194 SMT Towers. Hope this turns out! I'll post pics when I'm done!

 

[AmBo]

Hey guys, I've had this page bookmarked foreeeeeeeever and my buddy was actually talking about trying to change the color of lights in his tC sooo... I'm ordering bulbs right now and I'm gonna try the white, I figure I can always sand down the back if it does have some layer of green on it... hopefully it's not all the way through... Anyways, gonna grab 5 of the #74 Tri-LED's and 2 of the #194 SMT Towers. Hope this turns out! I'll post pics when I'm done!

If you could do a writeup for this, that would be great and I'll update my first post to add your writeup

 

[Cmpfreak88]

Will do! I got the confirmation saying my bulbs will be shipped tomorrow so I'll let you guys know how it goes!

 

[Sinister SN95]

2004 GT here

Well, I tried it tonight... all the excitement had me.

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Talk about a MAJOR disappointment.


Would have been great to match the Boost gauge

I just left it tore apart, gonna go put the stock bulbs back in tomrrow or something... just not looking forward to that gayness.



Watch out 99-04 Guys... looks like some of us, not sure on the years, can get shiv'd. Take it, the 04's don't work at all.

 

[d98gt]

so this mod costs more for us 96-98 guys?

Thread tells me to purchase all sorts of different things

 

[kalvick]

Has anyone figured out a way to make the needles light up? or replace them so they are easier to see in the dark?

 

['03GTinFLA]

2004 GT here

Well, I tried it tonight... all the excitement had me.

Talk about a MAJOR disappointment.


Would have been great to match the Boost gauge

I just left it tore apart, gonna go put the stock bulbs back in tomrrow or something... just not looking forward to that gayness.



Watch out 99-04 Guys... looks like some of us, not sure on the years, can get shiv'd. Take it, the 04's don't work at all.

This is exactly what I went through. Then I bought Mach 1 gauges. Tried bulbs, LED's, all kinds of stuff but as you can see from my pics from above, it didn't work out all that well. With all the money I dropped on this project I should have just bought custom made speedhuts or something. I still don't understand how Ambo got his to work so well.

 

[Sinister SN95]

This is exactly what I went through. Then I bought Mach 1 gauges. Tried bulbs, LED's, all kinds of stuff but as you can see from my pics from above, it didn't work out all that well. With all the money I dropped on this project I should have just bought custom made speedhuts or something. I still don't understand how Ambo got his to work so well.

Overall, do you think its worth it for me to cut my losses and get speedhut gauges or try to find a Mach cluster like yours?

I can't find ANY Mach/Bullitt clusters for a decent price at all... sucks.

 

['03GTinFLA]

I like my Mach cluster just because it's a Mach cluster with the old school numbers and stuff. I wanted one whether it was blue or not. So for me it was worth it. Now as far as the blue LED's go, I don't think they even work in the Mach gauges. It doesn't light up the needle, not very well anyways. It's tough to see at night. I'm going to try white LED's with some blue plastic wrap stuff over the back of the cluster. At least that's my latest idea on how to get blue with a visible red needle. It probably won't be anytime soon becasue I want to get my built engine in, but when I get it done I'll let you all know how it goes. I would say if you can save up some money, and you like the speedhut gauges, just go with those. I'm a do it yourself guy and I like learning from mistakes. So I'm gonna keep sinking money into this until I get it right. Good luck man.

 

[Cmpfreak88]

Hey guys, just got back from my house doing my LED install and helping a friend with some other automotive fun (painting calipers). Anyways, I was trying the white lights. I got all the lights installed, though getting the old ones out was a bitch, and got it wired up and turned it on. To my surprise I was greeted with a blue cluster. Turns out the gauge faces are tinted blue, so I pried off the gauge faces, unfortunately causing some small tears in the faces, but mostly covered by the needle base. Then I took some steel wool and took off all the places that had blue on it on the back... a very tedious/painful process but worth the results in the end! I'll post pictures soon, and then I still have to install my HVAC's. I still need to adjust my temperature gauge too.

 

[Cmpfreak88]

Hey guys, here are the pics. I put in the HVAC ones right now and unfortunately I couldn't figure out a way to take off the middle knob and was unable to take the face off to sand down the back... so I'm stuck with blue in the middle (for now).