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Old 03-01-2013, 11:46 AM   #751
cincysubie
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I'll check it out. I wanted to go the simplest route. But idk what parts to get
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Old 03-01-2013, 12:50 PM   #752
thebeephaha
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If you have a WRX around the same era as my Forester, the bulbs I used will be the same for you.
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Old 03-27-2013, 02:29 PM   #753
XSV Klutch
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how long does this process take?
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Old 03-29-2013, 10:38 AM   #754
silverbullet7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rubr_Duky View Post
^ yes

However, the better way to go - with more choices for colors, and truer color, leaving the needles unchanged (and amply lit) is to use stage lighting gels.


I looked at your post about this but all the pictures are gone! I want to change my cluster blue can't find a custom one to buy, doing the LED change out with sanding film off seems to lose the needles and give bright spots . I hate my dim green lighting!!!!! makes me want to go to sleep

How do you remove the existing filter ?

I don't quite understand how these gels work. I googled staging gels but there are a million sites and I dont' even know where to begin!
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Old 03-29-2013, 11:52 AM   #755
silverbullet7
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Wait .. you have a template then you have a place create something with the stage lighting gel? How does this come out? Do you have a pic I can see??? I really am interested in this process
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Old 04-08-2013, 06:45 PM   #756
XSV Klutch
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I would like to go blue as well, but i do not know what to use
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Old 06-05-2013, 01:18 PM   #757
CrazyCatfish5
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I'm assuming if one were to want a white gauge cluster, you would only have to sand away the green tint?
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Old 06-09-2013, 10:34 AM   #758
ShinjiML
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^^^ yes, you would have to sand away the green tint if you want a white gauge cluster

Also, as for going blue, you don't actually need to sand away the green tint because the two colors are close in the color spectrum. If you go back 2-3 pages, you can see a picture of my gauge cluster. I simply used blue LEDs that were 3 times the brightness without modifying anything else and the result is quite blue. It does looks slightly teal, but I was fine with it.

Just leave the Odometer bulb stock, or maybe use a white led, because otherwise your needles would become very dim and hard to see.

The whole process took me about 30 min., including the time it took to remove the gauge cluster.
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Old 06-09-2013, 12:28 PM   #759
CrazyCatfish5
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To go white, would I have to use white LEDs or is removing the green tint enough?
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Old 06-09-2013, 01:50 PM   #760
ShinjiML
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Removing the green tint would be enough to make it white, but since you already have the gauge cluster out, you might as well swap in some bright white LED bulbs.
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Old 06-12-2013, 12:21 AM   #761
Shiftee
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by swapping bulbs, what size bulbs do you need? I wanna do white lettering but wasnt sure on the bulb swapping process. I lost my soldering iron :/
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Old 12-27-2013, 01:52 PM   #762
Baxid
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Thought I would add on to this a little more since many people still seem to have questions. I decided to do this mod to my rex, took me all together about 2hrs and I was pretty meticulous so could be done faster if wanted to.
I went ahead and ordered 10 red #74 bulbs from autolumination.com, not LEDs, just the regular ones, ran me $20. I didn't use all 10 but bought extras just in case.


Then I used this video:
for most of what I needed to do, this guy shows how to remove the gauge faces completely (easy and pretty harmless) making the job much easier, doesn't seem that that's included in TrunkMonkey's DIY.


Then did a little sanding with 100 grit sandpaper and finished off the areas with nail polish remover and qtips, works awesome!




When white light shines through like in the picture above and there's no traces of green, you're good!

Then, I replaced 5 of the cluster bulbs with the red ones (2 behind the gas/fuel gauge face and 3 behind the tach/speedo, no need to replace more, all the other bulbs are responsible for different cluster lights, not actual illumination.


And here's the result!



Really happy with it, turned out great in my opinion! The pictures are a little off, looks better in person. I did leave the odometer green because I kind of like the contrast, it's pretty easy to change to red as well (replace the odometer bulb to red and pull out a little green rectangular film from it). Like I said, took about 2hrs and is a pretty easy job, don't need to be mechanically savvy, just need to be careful. Cheers!

Last edited by Baxid; 12-27-2013 at 02:01 PM.
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Old 02-03-2014, 12:30 PM   #763
redneckbane
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My speedometer is stuck after doing this any ideas
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Old 02-23-2014, 11:47 PM   #764
Baxid
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redneckbane View Post
My speedometer is stuck after doing this any ideas
Both my speedometer and tachometer didn't work at first when I put everything back together, check for tiny black rings under the base of the needle, they're supposed to be pushed down to the gauge face, mine by accident pushed up into the base of the needle and I didn't even see them at first but then I pulled them down with tweezers and pushed them back to the gauge face.
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Old 03-04-2014, 09:44 PM   #765
22kahn
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Ive been playing with an Idea.

About 6-7 months ago I did a cluster color conversion. I am at the point where I can not stand the hot spotting and Im thinking about doing something a bit more extensive than just properly diffusing the light or adding more LEDs. Heres some photos and some explination.

Here is the bulb swap and cluster conversion pretty much right after I finished it.


Yesterday I finally completed a clock conversion. Could not stand the green with so much else now white. (dont get me started on the head unit. Im working my way down the project list towards the Raspberry Pi based headunit.) I bought this clock and then 3d printed a caddy to make it all fit as close to OEM as I could.











The picture of the clock installed really made me want to fix the cluster.

I am playing with a couple of other ideas right now. One of which involves the Adafruit Neopixel ring.



These Neopixel rings are made up of RGB LEDs, so you can tune the color to exactly what you want through a USB connection without taking a single part off of your car.





They are also individually controllable. You can base how they are controlled on analog inputs. For example; progressive or abrupt integrated shift lights based off of your rpm gauge, or color change of the temp gauge backlight.

At the moment Im still learning to program, and possibly looking for help in that department. Im also looking for any feedback you guys have on what I have done and plan on doing in the future.
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Old 03-06-2014, 01:32 AM   #766
Scoobiesdoobies
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redneckbane View Post
My speedometer is stuck after doing this any ideas
Buy an sti cluster lol.
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Old 02-21-2015, 12:44 PM   #767
MMK21
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I took off too much of the film around my gas gauge and now it illuminates some of the warning lights. Do you think I'd be able to color part of it back in with a sharpie or paint part of it?
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Old 04-09-2015, 03:27 PM   #768
DeathhGhost
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Default Needles

Hey guys, sorry I can't find anything about my problem. I recently changed all the bulbs for my 07 Impreza 2.5i and the lighting for the gauge needles isn't working everything else lights up.
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Old 05-20-2015, 03:45 PM   #769
koticone
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well this might be my weekend project. the stock are way to dim
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Old 03-09-2016, 09:48 PM   #770
Lucien_Gauvin
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I'll have to give this a try this weekend, thanks for the write up
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Old 05-24-2016, 03:24 PM   #771
Ryan2286
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I know I'm late to the party, but does anyone have the photos/links to the original post?
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Old 01-19-2017, 07:40 PM   #772
sad_ej25
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Any new links for the lamp covers? Original links aren't available anymore
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