The quest for better interior lighting revisited (inst. for Direct Replacement LEDs)
#107
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.
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.
#109
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Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: San Jose Area, CA
Posts: 39
Car Info: 2004 WRX 5-Speed, Java Black Pearl
Originally Posted by GetawayInBouldr
Me and a buddy cleared the green film off my cluster, but at the very end of the procedure, my buddy *accidentily* pushed the tach needle into the cluster, which has given it a slight skipping action under WOT. The cluster looks great at night, but is rather unevenly lit during dawn and dusk hours. I just purchased an STi cluster off eBay to replace my stock cluster.
BTW, clearing the green film off was a MAJOR PITA!!!!! It required some special tools.
BTW, clearing the green film off was a MAJOR PITA!!!!! It required some special tools.
#112
Originally Posted by 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.
Ryan
#113
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Davis and San Francisco
Posts: 2,295
Car Info: 2005 STi Silver
Originally Posted by googe
great info, although i really want even brighter. bright like the red is (i have an sti) and emits a bright blue glow from the cluster. like the aftermarket gauges you have on your steering wheel. any tips on how to get the gauge cluster closer to those?
Originally Posted by Salty
About your best bet would be reverse indiglos eventhough all the ones on the market today have white faces. The STi has red film on it just as the MY02-04 WRX's have that damned green film in the cluster too. If you wanted blue in your cluster you'd need to get aftermarket faces or gut the red film which is difficult. If you want brighter red lghting then get red size 74 LED's and throw them into the cluster.
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.
#114
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Join Date: May 2003
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Car Info: 2003 WRX, 2008 Camry
Originally Posted by SkylineR35GTRx
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.
Originally Posted by SkylineR35GTRx
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.
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.
#115
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 871
Car Info: '02 WRX, Aspen White, Stage 1 Cobb
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?
#116
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Originally Posted by Heavy Dan
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?
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.
#117
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Location: Bay Area, CA
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Car Info: '02 WRX, Aspen White, Stage 1 Cobb
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
#119
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.