emosubaru

i didn't get pictures of it, but by far the coolest, nicest, and most fulfilling and happy part about this whole thing was finding that there was an unused COMPLETELY DEVOTED illumination plug that was UNUSED on my single-cd single-din stock head unit... the violet(+) and orange/white(-) wires going to the stereo are the illumination and by using two male quickconnect spades i was able to just use that plug for the wiring. so if i decide to uninstall my LED illumination, all i have to do is pull out my wires from that plug and then pull them from the cluster(the soldered ends of the four circuits that make an effective parallel of series will need to be cut, but that's better than having to desolder everything while it's behind the dash)
off:

on:

notice the hotspotting!!! it's worse than before but at least it's true HOT spotting instead of DIM spotting! with better arrangement and using more diffused light i'm sure this kind of setup could be very successful... alas, mine freaking sucks. here's more dusk pictures, blurry but whatever...




as you can see, the output is really blotchy and hotspotted, but it's a lot brighter than before and the best part-

IT DIMS USING THE STOCK LIGHTING STALK!!!!

now this is completely dependant on the kind of LEDs you get and what kind of circuit you put them in, but the kind i got with the 330 ohm resistors dim beautifully over the full range of the dimming ring- i haven't tried it for an extended period, so i don't know if it will shorten the lifespan of the led's or not(a possibility) but i'm just happy it works at all!

if you're thinking of doing this, i suggest you think about the placement of the LEDs more than anything else- making circuits, learning to solder properly, and finding out what kind of resistor to use is CAKE when compared to guessing how to position the leds. if i did it again, i'd face ALL my led's backwards(away from the faces) and use ALL white for the wires, tape, and anything else i put in there. the black is probably absorbing a lot of the light and making it more blotchy than if i had used white tape to insulate the LED leads.

also, don't be afraid to cut off long leads that you don't think you'll be using. for the majority of my circuits i had way more wire than i needed and it got in the way- you can see how crowded the wiring was in the guages in the picture before i put the faces back on.

vicwrx

I have a 2005 WRX.

I put in the Blue LEDs as said in the first post... and above is what i got. Any idea why it's so dark vs Salty's? I bought the #74s (NOT the T5) and there were basically only 5 slots that i could put in that lighted up the gauges. They're not bright enough to light up the needles either.




If you look at this picture... I put in the blue LEDs where this guy circled red except for the middle one

http://img84.exs.cx/img84/2194/cluster139td.jpg


Anyone have any ideas/suggestions???

kravdra

'99 OBS and exact same problem. Thats why i was interested in the blue film/scraping route. I put them in, and in places the blue was bright enough, but without needles and with it so dim it just didn't work. Tried purple too (hopeing that'd light the needles) with even worse results.

Guess that doesn't help you, but you arent alone

Jumpman23

iTrader: (8)

is it possible to do all white in the instrument cluster with red needles? i avent seen anyones with white yet..

emosubaru

i've seen it, i think it turns out better than any of the others so far.

Jumpman23

iTrader: (8)

can you post a pic if you have one...or if anyone has one!?!? PLEEEEEEASE i would like to see it

halfpound

Just a quick tip for using the superlumination #74 red LED's in HVAC.
To avoid all the cutting and grinding to get the 194's to fit, take the clear 74's and drill-bit slightly smaller that the diameter of the led.
Drill into the light-emitting end of the LED to create a inverted cone shaped, frosted front to the LED. It will give you almost 100% even distribution of light. Makes it much easier to get light out to the edges of the HVAC display.

(Props to everyone doing these mods, now if I can just get the cluster amber, I'll be pumped!)

voyager2000

Did you have a picture of this led drilled?

Onizuka

iTrader: (17)

The problem with using replacement LED's in place of the filament type bulbs is that you will get dim spots - since the LEDs are directional while the filamentous type bulbs radiate light. Autoluminations now has new bulb replacements that I highly recommend, but only in red for the filament type. Do not get blue filament type, they will light up green/aqua. I used them as direct replacements for my 04 STi HVAC and they look wonderful, if anybody needs a picture, let me know.

DittySAE

Wow this is crazy thread going on here. Good work to everyone. I was wondering if anyone has found a way to do the lights on an 05 WRX for the HVAC controls. That seems to be the trouble area. It looks like someone has already done the cluster (check) and keyring seems pretty easy (check). Any word on the HVAC controls? Again this is for an 05 WRX.

The an$wer

I have an 06 TR. I did my deck and the a/c area (forgot) name all red, with condoms and i think it looks fine. Im interested in doing my gauges, but are all the bulb sizes still the same for me? I have 6 194s left from my other car. Im wondering if i could use those since there just sitting here. I havnt read all the threads so if im re-asking same questions sorry. Just dont have time to go through the whole thread...

szeto

ok after reading this threat for like an hour, there are a million things going on in my head
i have a 04 impreza, and im going to do the blue LED

#1. i went to autolumination.com and if you look at their site now, am i supposed to get the #74 wedge based bulbs for 2.50 each?
#2. for the #194 bulbs, could i get the "wedge matrix led bulb"? it seems like it would be a good choice.. if not, which ones do i get?
#3. i don't need to take off the green film right? i'm pretty sure that's already a no..........but i just wnat to ask anyways to make sure

it just seems like all the bulbs explained in this thread are no longer specifically described and named in the autolumination.com site

my car is completely stock right now, so if i just swap all the bulbs, it should work? my needles should look....greenish i think? and those #74 wedge based led bulbs for 2.50 each should produce an even amount of light in my cluster?

The an$wer

I have 194s they dont fit. You have to get the 74s. I orderd a buncha bulbs sunday so they should be here today or tomorrow. Im going to just instal them with out sanding that green film and see what happens. The matrix bulbs work great but they dont fit, i had em on my other car and the blue shined threw the green film like it wasnt even there. To bad we cant use those... check this out http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...+cluster+bulbs

szeto

oh yeah i post much more regularly on TSC than here, and i've read trunk monkey's thread a million times.... but i dont want to use the condoms cause i want to make mine blue

but.... yeah i remember the #194's dont fit, but if we do a little shaving here and there it should fit ok right? and im talking about the 194 going into the HVAC, not the cluster... is there a green film in the HVAC?

The an$wer

On my 06 there isnt flim on the hvac, but i have a TR. Ill take pics of mine when i do it in a few days here. Still waiting on the bulbs...