Aftermarket guage lighting issue??

franky_402

Registered User
SO i have custom guages from scott, and i have upgraded the lights to w5w's but i still want the light to spread out a little more evenly?, i was thinking of using some 2000grit sandpaper and wetsanding the guage plate to kinsa frost it up and see if that would let the light spread better, has anyone tried this and have any results/pictures???
 
I think I remember something in an old thread about adding some extra bulbs in the cluster to help it light up better. Do a search, I'll do one also and see if I can find anything.
 
SO i have custom guages from scott, and i have upgraded the lights to w5w's but i still want the light to spread out a little more evenly?, i was thinking of using some 2000grit sandpaper and wetsanding the guage plate to kinsa frost it up and see if that would let the light spread better, has anyone tried this and have any results/pictures???

I warned ya ;)

Just kidding.
 
i did add the extra bulb at the top of the speedo guage but i want the guages to light up more evenly, its darker around 140mph, not that i will be driving that fast just a little more even lighting would be nice!! Thats why i was thinking the sanding thing! Also what glue would you guys reccommend for adhearing the guages back down as sanding will take all the old glue off???
 
There really not much you can do about it. The stock gauges or the premium aftermarket ones have filters behind the numbers, and the areas where the filters are get thicker where there is more light intensity. Thats how it evens out the light output. There is a grid of dots that gets larger to block more light where the bulbs are most intense. You will get sick of those gauges and you can add bulbs to but it will always be more intense where the bulbs sit as opposed to where they are not present. Frosting will help but will have similar results.

Get these are you will be happier, dont have to rely on he the factory bulbs.
the only thing they do is light up the needle it. It has two colors green and blue.

http://www.streetracerparts.com/Ford_Thunderbird_SC_1994_1995_Halo_Style_Illumiglo_p/srp-0129.htm

SRP-0129-2.jpg
 
i dont know i dont really like the look of those guages, ill have to figure something out to make them look mo better.
 
You might want to look into wires that light up. I think they are called Glow Wire. Not sure if you can control intensity or anything, but they are wire thin and you may be able to create a diffuse light source with them.

You want to be careful scratching the surface of any light source directly as it will often lead to increased heat inside the housing. Better to look at something like thin acrylic or lexan sheeting and rough that up to refract the light by placing it slightly in front of the light source but with an air gap.
 
You might want to look into wires that light up. I think they are called Glow Wire. Not sure if you can control intensity or anything, but they are wire thin and you may be able to create a diffuse light source with them.

You want to be careful scratching the surface of any light source directly as it will often lead to increased heat inside the housing. Better to look at something like thin acrylic or lexan sheeting and rough that up to refract the light by placing it slightly in front of the light source but with an air gap.

Im confused as to why it would create more heat?? i wont be scratching the bulb???? Just the piece that the guage adheres to!
 
Im confused as to why it would create more heat?? i wont be scratching the bulb???? Just the piece that the guage adheres to!

I thought you were talking about scratching the housing on the bulb itself. I.e. I've seen people cut down the tip of a LED bulb. Doing that adds heat to the LED itself.
 
Glue for what? Gorilla glue is good for some things. RTV for others, super glue for some.. all sorts of glue depending on what you're glueing.

Oh and now I see, on scraping the lens, if you mean the plastic cover over the gauges... I'd be afraid of sun glare getting to a point where it completely obscures the view of the gauges.
 
no, i will be scraping the plastic plate that the guage adheres to, thats why i want to know what type of glue to use to readhere them, since sanding will remove the old sticky film!!!
 
autozone has some spray adhesive for headliners, holds up to extreme conditions and works great in applications such as this.

i don't know the name but it comes in a grey aerosol can.
 
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