is there any way to retro a couple small neon tubes behind the gauge panel, instead of the 194 LED's? i was thinking it might help with the whole "hot spot" thing. just a thought tho, i haven't had my gauge cluster apart to see if it'd work.
I wouldn't want to do it. Neons are too hard to mess with. Usually they give off to much noise that can be picked up by the radio. Also, if you don't get them mounted correctly, they tend to crack if under stress.
But behing the gauges the EL wire will not transmit enough light to shine through. There actually is a fix to the hot spots with the LED lights, simply sand the end of the bulbs a bit, it helps to dull the end and more light goes out the sides than the end that way. Only Time I see it not happening the way it should is on the HVAC cluster, I tried everything and I still get hot spots, thinking of buying one of those lighted gauge bezels but I do not like that they are white....might just to mess with it and see if I can make it look stock.
Mods: AGP GT3076R DBB Turbo
"The Cobalt firmly grabs you and whisks you along your way instantly. It does so with authority and poise, but while slipping relatively unnoticed through traffic, never being violent, or dare I say it, frightening. When you ask the SRT-4 to take you somewhere fast, it punches you in the face, throws you over its shoulder, and runs, screaming, so quickly that its tires can barely keep up."
But behing the gauges the EL wire will not transmit enough light to shine through. There actually is a fix to the hot spots with the LED lights, simply sand the end of the bulbs a bit, it helps to dull the end and more light goes out the sides than the end that way. Only Time I see it not happening the way it should is on the HVAC cluster, I tried everything and I still get hot spots, thinking of buying one of those lighted gauge bezels but I do not like that they are white....might just to mess with it and see if I can make it look stock.
You dont have to get white, i have a set with a black background and red letters. My entire dash and hvac is all red, its kinda like beeing in a submarine. :P
But behing the gauges the EL wire will not transmit enough light to shine through. There actually is a fix to the hot spots with the LED lights, simply sand the end of the bulbs a bit, it helps to dull the end and more light goes out the sides than the end that way. Only Time I see it not happening the way it should is on the HVAC cluster, I tried everything and I still get hot spots, thinking of buying one of those lighted gauge bezels but I do not like that they are white....might just to mess with it and see if I can make it look stock.
I'm just curious if you order the one with a black background with blue lettering, if that would look better than switching out the bulbs for blue LED's.
If your looking to make and even sort of light in the cluster just get the 5 way LED's that are that color. I have them in mine and the hot spots are not noticable.
I still think the best thing for you is fiber optics. give it a shot
lol, best thing for me to electrocute myself. although, if i could figure it out, multi color gauges might work. just swap out the LED in the central light source, rather than 6 LED's behind the gauge. i think i may just try the superstar LEDs. looks promising. hopefully i'll get to see what they look like this weekend.
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different gauge panel retro
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