GetawayInBouldr

Wow-za!!! Awesome conversion on the stock stereo! What is that little light down in the lower left corner? A light ring around the cigarette lighter socket? Looks great! Now you just gotta change the color of the center clock.

I'm getting my v8 STi cluster in on monday and I'm going to install a temp sensor sometime soon. I'm also going to redo the rest of my interior lights and add seat warmers.

serrano

Key ring led and vdo boost gauge with blue led. And how about a bit more info on the led ring around the cigarette lighter.

staticzero

Could you post a description as to how you managed to get the green off? I'm most interested to know how far you had to disassemble the cluster and wether or not you needed to take the needles off (and if so how you got them back on and made sure they stayed calibrated). I really want to get rid of that green but have been too chicken to tear apart my cluster without first reading about how someone else did it successfully.

Infarct

IIRC there are 3 - 168's behind speedo and tach!!

GetawayInBouldr

Hey, sorry for the late reply. Basically I just took the cluster out, took off the clear plastic cover, and went to town on that green film with the tools shown above. It really sucks to do this though. Very tedious work and it takes a very steady hand. The big thing is having two people doing the work; one to do the scraping, the other to hold down the gauge face around the needles so not too much pressure is put on them. The only thing I don't like about my cluster now, other than the tach not working quite right, is when it's around twilight. The red lighting just isn't even, so the cluster doesn't look quite right. But at night, the cluster looks awesome! I always get complements on it. I'm sure if you work at the cluster for long enough, you could get the lighting pretty even by thining the plastic in some areas. Whatever you do, don't take the needles off! It will screw up your cluster FUBAR style. I've also read that acetone will take off the green film, but can really weaken your gauge face, making it brittle and prone to cracking. PM me if you have any questions about the process.

Ryan

BoxerRumble

iTrader: (7)

hi salty, i would just like to say thank you for putting the instruction up and helping eveyrone with their dash lighting and answering everyone's question.

i have a few question of my own. I understand that this is the brighest the wrx dash lights..(tach, speed), can get because of the green film that is really hard to take out. and that condoms and replacement bulbs wont really do, and u need superbright led's, which are bulbs..right, yeah, and u need to put them in. my question is, u know that picture of the STi guage cluster that is really bright red, if im understanding this thread right, there is no way you can get ur wrx to be blue and be as bright as that STi cluster that the light reflects off the top of the dash because of the green film? damn that really sucks, cuz if u had a blue guage cluster like the sti..that'd be so cool. and also you said the best thing to do if u want a brighter guage cluster is to go indilgo? how does indiglo work? is it a cut out and u put it over the stock dash, and i thikn iread a few posts up that the market DOESNT have the indiglo cutout for the 2004 wrxs? or they are out there..i just need to look? as of right now, the only alternative to the superbright blue led's for brightness is to find indiglo guages right? im sure they'll come out with them soon though. well thanks for ur time in reading this.

Salty

iTrader: (14)

I'm here for you.

You are correct!

As for the indiglos... they are what you described but last time I checked they only have them with white faces (which sucks). If you can produce a black indiglo face then you'll make a pretty penny overnight. The only downside to indiglos is they tend to be too bright and dangerous at they reflect off the inside of the windshield.

Heavy Dan

iTrader: (2)

Alright... So I drive a white 02 wrx and think it would be cool if all the interior lights were "bright white"... has anyone tried that? I've read that the cluster has green film... so I'm concerned it will look light green. Maybe I'm just confused?

Salty

iTrader: (14)

I have never tried bright white LEDs but the cluster on the 02 does have green film. It's worth a shot if you're willing to spend the money on a handful of LEDs. If you follow through be sure to post pics.

Heavy Dan

iTrader: (2)

the lights should have got here today..... I will be installing all of them in the next week and will post pictures regardless of whether they come out well... I suspect it won't look that great though

voyager2000

cool. But i really want the Sti cluster every time i check ebay to see if i can catch one

surferdude166

What did you use to trim the leds before you tried to install them? How much did you need to remove to get them in the sockets? I just ordered twenty blue leds from the website and would like to know a few more details about the prep work before I start this week.

wagon christ

Side cutters to trim the lens flat, sandpaper to finish. Exacto knife to trim the blades to fit the sockets. Easy.