Pic of red cluster in Camaro...

[jmeccia]

Here, I finally snapped a photo for you guys. I just used the regular autozone red bulbs (the cheap ones). I know they may fade over time, and that's when i'll consider the APC bulbs, or maybe a different color. Sorry the pic is so bad, my digital cam isn't the greatest at night. Also, notice how I kept the "brights" icon blue. I just left a clear bulb in that socket. When it was red, it wasn't too bright, and I need that thing to be bright so I know when my brights are on [img]smile.gif[/img]

[NBMA4V6]

ok how exactly did you do this..LOOKS AWESOME..except i want blue like the VW's...

on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the hardest) how hard was this to do?

if you could give me a run down of how exaclty you took the dash apart and what all had to come out....

thanks..and my comliments

Jeff W

[DirtyBird17]

that looks awesome man, i want to put green neons in my interior so i could probably do green in my dash, how did you do it cause i'm too cheap to buy indiglo's.

[jmeccia]

First take apart the whole dash (that big black plastic piece that surrounds the instrument cluster). You're going to have to take the panel underneath off, and the piece that surrounds your stereo to get to some bolts. The top to the dash (i guess the dash cover) needs to come up also, there's two bolts you need to losen. To do that just gently "pop" it up.

After that, the cluster is self explainatory. Unplug it from the harness and turn it over. Id be real careful with it, you probably don't want to drop it ;) . Ok, on the back of the cluster you have several torx screws. Unscrew those and voila! To take the bulbs out turn the sockets slighly. Now since the actual bulbs in the sockets are like a #161 (?) they are shaped just slightly different than the #194s. Don't worry about that at all. 194s are a lot more standard so use those! Pull the bulb out of the socket, break it if you have to... you can't use it again after it comes out anyway. Clean the socket of glass etc and slide the new bulb in. You're actually going to have to bend the little metal prongs around the bottom of the socket it ensure a good connection. Repeat as necessary [img]smile.gif[/img]

Difficulty: 4 (now, im biased because ive torn apart my car so many times, i practically have every nut & bolt memorized)

Time consumption: Id safely say 3 hours. The top of the dash is a little tricky, and if you don't have the right tools it takes a lot longer! :(

I don't know how to setup web pages, but I do have a digital camera. I don't mind taking a step by step picture process if someone else wants to setup the page..

Tools required:

1) 7mm socket (extensions and flexibility recommended)

2) T-15 Torx bit

3) Phillips screwdriver

4) ~19 #194 bulbs (avail. practically anywhere) And I say approx 19, because you may want to leave some clear, like I left my "Bright Lite" icon clear.

Thats it. :D ;) [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/dunce.gif[/img]

[J-Dubb]

Those look AWESOME, and that's something that I wanted to do for a while, so that I could keep my interior somewhat "Color coded". Now I can match my after market head-unit with the rest of the lights in my cluster. And if you wanted to take the step by step pics and e-mail them to me, I would be happy to set up a web-page for the install for everyone.

Jason

[Jason McCallister]

That looks good! I do miss my Firebird's interior... I always enjoyed the red of the 'Bird. When I disrupted the red of my 'Bird with the aftermarket headunit, I was a little depressed. :(

Could you take another picture from your eye's view (zoom out) while sitting in the driver's seat? I'd like to see a pic of what it would normally look like to the eye while driving. :D I'm looking for the glow factor! ;)

[Woopededoo]

What about the rest of the interior dash lights? Is it possible to change them also? Im talking about the stock cd player lights, A/C, and light switch panel, and door window switches.... I really like the look of the red cluster, just wonder how it would look with all the rest of the lights being the stock color....

[jmeccia]

First to answer Jason McCallister's question: <blockquote>quote:</font><hr> Could you take another picture from your eye's view (zoom out) while sitting in the driver's seat? I'd like to see a pic of what it would normally look like to the eye while driving. I'm looking for the glow factor! <hr></blockquote>

I'll try. My digital cam isnt that good at all at night. In fact, the reason I took the pic so close what because I wasn't getting enough light for it to register anything. Trust me the glow factor is there! You can see the red easily from outside the car! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Second, Woopededoo's question:
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr> What about the rest of the interior dash lights? Is it possible to change them also? <hr></blockquote>
The bulbs behind the AC unit are real tiny. I can't even figure out how to take those out!! I actualy broke one trying to pull it out, so now 1/2 of my AC panel is dim. :(
As far as the others, well theres a #194 size bulb in your glovebox, and also in the ashtray, and even in the center console box. (Im not sure about the 97+'s). The mirror's lights can also be replaced, but thats a different style bulb. Im sure AZ carries it, I just haven't checked yet.
I'll keep you posted as I discover more [img]graemlins/dunce.gif[/img] :D

[Mike Mayron]

I don't know why GM decided to use that tacky green instead of red like the firebirds in the first place (what are vettes anyways?). I bought my head just because it could switch between red and someother color. I can't stand anything that's not red anymore ;)

I'm trying to find a red indiglo that's basicly an inverse of what the firebird looks like at night, but then again I keep my lights as dim as posible so it may be too much light for me.

[IBJanky]

Hey guys I just did this mod yesterday with a hepl of a friend. jmeccia is right... it'll probably take you 3 hours or so if it's your first time doing it. It looks awesome once your done. Well worth the effort. I bought the damn "no fade" Japanese bulbs by the way. Cost me $30 for 8 of them. You only need 7 bulbs to change the backlight, 19 bulbs, like meccia said, if you want to change EVERYTHING (turn signals, high beam, SES, etc.)

Once I get batteries for my stupid digicam, I'll take pics from inside and outside the car.

My instument cluster look exactly like the pic above. It's blood red at night...friggin' awesome!

Now if I can only figure out how to change the bulbs/color of the A/C and headlight controls then I'll be set... hee hee hee :D

[ January 30, 2002: Message edited by: IBJanky ]</p>

[ItalianStallion1]

I just did this last week and the light where the window and lock switches are are the same as the cluser light bulbs except smaller. Tomorrow I'm gonna go to the mall and see if the ricer place can get them. As for the A/C and center console, I'll check tomorrow because I don't remember off the top of my head.

[Need2MoreCylinders]

"hey turn your damn brights off!" :D :D

[IBJanky]

Here's some pics of my red gauge cluster...













Pretty cool mod if you ask me. It even matches my Kenwood MP3 player...

Now, time to change the damn A/C control and headlight control bulbs... ;)

[jmeccia]

IBJanky - you obivously have a nicer digi cam than me. Mine won't pick up the red at night, but yeah it looks the same!! Good job man!
[img]smile.gif[/img]

[IBJanky]

Hey jmeccia, have u figured out how to change the lights/bulbs in the A/C controls and headlight controls? I really wanna do those too....

Get back to me at ibjanky@yahoo.com if you can