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iTrader: (17)

well, you see how i made the base up there. that's one of the tricky parts. if your contacts aren't perfect they make the needle sag. also, you have to find or make a sleeve for the main mount to slide onto. while trying to mount the led, you also have to keep it aimed perfectly at the needle or it won't fire correctly. a good example is the tach needle in the above picture. notice it is dimmer than the rest. in this case the problem was a leaky gate in the diode and i had to completely rebuild it. however, that is what one looks like if you dont spend 30 minutes or so perfecting the angle of the led. after the led is mounted, mold your contacts into the unit.

when your contacts and needle are set, you now have to mount and trim the base. keep in mind that everything must be perfectly set at the correct angle for the needle to operate correctly. being just one degree off in the contacts and base can affect your readings by as much as 3 points.

After that is all done and set you need to fill in the back of the needle so it doesnt do what you see in the above picture. i use a variety of silicone and various sheets of metal, plastic and whatever else.

Calibration is the biggest issue. if you have never calibrated them, they will never get right. it took me 5 months to figure out calibration and truthfully there is no real way to teach it, it is a learned skill. If the average person builds a needle, the temp may be 20 degree's hotter, or the tach may read 500 rpm off, the speed may be as much as 10 mph off, and the gas may read 1/2 a tank when it is almost empty. SO BE CAREFUL if you attempt this. My first cluster i did when i was experimenting 6 months ago was off on every guage so bad they were useless. i tried and tried to get them right but by the time i was close, i no longer knew what it was supposed to read. my gas was lower than when i started and i had no way of knowing how to get it back ontrack because i didnt know what it should be reading.... big problem.

Thankfully i've now done roughly 35 clusters and have it all worked out, but craftsmanship and skill are the only thing that will get you through in a DIY situation. I knew there was a problem with the needle's but i never knew how bad it was untill i started running auctions for them. I've had to pull all my auctions because i got overwhelmed. i'm staring at 6 clusters right now and have no idea how i'm going to get them all done in a week.


I'll get as many pics as i can and try to help everyone attempt this, but there are so many factors to aiming , calibration, and overall apperance it is going to be hard to give a writeup that will be accurate enough for you to learn the skill of aiming and calibration. But i'm willing to try

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

Finishing the needle with the cover looks like this:

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iTrader: (17)

Here's one i just finished. I am going to do a sunset cluster next. orange/red blend with possibly white needle's. i'll have to see how it all comes together. i'm just going to play until i find something unique that i like. if i get this sunset cluster right, it should be hyperwhite needle's with a combination of red and orange backlighting to create a tropical effect.

https://www.clublexus.com/gallery/da...lusterside.jpg

DaizenLex

im doing the same conversion mine is costing me about $30 in leds, ill have pics up by thursday with my full conversion. I removed the old bulbs and welded the leds in their place so they are still in the factory sleeves, however with leds you cant dim them or make them brighter but theyr preety bright, im sure you guys will love my cluster. pics will be up soon and my fuel and temp gauges are hyper white while my 2 middle clusters are blue. And they go from white on the outsides to a liitle bit of light blue on the very tip of each cluster to blue right in the middle.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

That's great!! you shouldn't tease us though, give up the pics let's have a sneak peek.

Why can't you dim your led's? I have been able to use the dimmer just fine. did you use resistors in line and /or make a new circut?

I wannna see some sneak peek pics How much testing have you done with it? I found a few things that made a big difference with resistors in certain places.

DaizenLex

i used them with a resistor without them they always burned out on me

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iTrader: (17)

sweet. well, looking forward to seeing it !

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iTrader: (17)

I'm going to be able to get a lot more precise with measuring the duty cycle of the needle's and led's now. look at my new toy

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...gory=4677&rd=1

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

Hey daizen, show us that good stuff


here's an interesting fact... look how much longer the ES needle's are than the sc. the tach and temp actually rub each other on the way up if the temp is at halfway.

https://www.clublexus.com/gallery/data/500/13879es.jpg

Overclocker

Isn't it great when you're the only bidder on the item you want.

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iTrader: (17)

yeah, and i got me a few more toys too


Speaking of things that make me happy... check out these YELLOW/ GOLD needle's. You guy's know i have seen a lot of needle's... NOTHING looks as good as these in person. they would go on ANY color car and look stunning. When you dim them they turn a perfect shade of soft yellow gold. At full intensity they are bright yellow with a gold tint. I couldnt get a great shot of them at this time of day, but i assure you, this is the most amazing color i have ever seen. I will personaly be buying ES needle's to cut and shorten to fit onto my sc.

https://www.clublexus.com/gallery/da...3879yellow.jpg

https://www.clublexus.com/gallery/da...879yellow2.jpg

By the way..... while i'm playing over here... anyone got any requests?

Overclocker

Damn that looks tight! Keep up the great work.

As for requests, have you already done needles in the current stock colors?

PS, will you be doing needle repair as a business?

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

i've done the stock smd's before and they looked decent, but i have grown so accustomed to the waterfall needle that i wouldn't have the stock amber smd's anymore. if i can ever get a decent camera i'd show you what they REALLY look like. Anyone have a digital camera they wanna get rid of for a pair of needle's ? and a climate job? and a radio job?

edit: no not really over.... I could do it as a business, but i couldnt enjoy it as a hobby anymore. I dont mind doing a few clusters but day in and day out would be a pain.

Overclocker

In my last post I ment current, like 2003 stock color needles? My mom's LS has very vivid red ones that amazingly arn't harsh on the eyes.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

i edited to answer your other question up there ^

The new needles on the 2k's and better are cathode tubes i think.