Gauge Cluster Needles: Paint Question

[whudafux]

I used a light coat of oem super red II touch up paint. Comes in a little eye makeup type brush bottle.

They're 60mm amber/white premium pro sport gauges. Camera makes them look not quite white.

Can I get a picture of those at night time? I'm only really looking at the speedo, tach, and fuel in this case as the other gauges came with the red, lol.

as if people are gonna take the time to paint the insides again....much easier to paint the outside.

damn you all are going mall ninja with this anti glare shit.....its like reading the glockforums all over again....all these suburban hicks that rig themselves with weapons mounted lasers and shit expecting war....lame.

It's a valid point. All of my needles are off right now. And I scraped the paint from the bottom why would I not paint the bottom of them again?

I would certainly paint the bottom of the needle with a flat paint. The clear needle will give it the shiny look anyway.

This was my next point. I may not need the translucent paint because the light will shine thru on top of the needle illuminating the paint thats on the bottom of the needle from the top.

After googling a bit, I found something meant for it, but it was made for older muscle cars and I read somewhere that their gauge needles are metal. So it might make the difference. Also it's not really the red I'm looking for. This one is more of a red-orange.

http://www.hipoparts.com/product_info.php?cPath=74_76_79&products_id=437

 

[CRE]

It's a valid point. All of my needles are off right now. And I scraped the paint from the bottom why would I not paint the bottom of them again?

That is the way to go. The reason not to pain the top is entirely related to illumination. The only light available if you paint the top is that which leaks out from the sides or the bottom... not very effective. I the case of using translucent paint on the top it too dims the light as the light is filtered heavily to allow only one wavelength through. Reflection permits more light to return to the viewer.


EDIT:

as if people are gonna take the time to paint the insides again....much easier to paint the outside.

Around here, you bet most of the people here take the time to do it right. (Hell, usually it's no big deal as the car won't be running again for months. :icon_razz)

damn you all are going mall ninja with this anti glare shit.....its like reading the glockforums all over again....all these suburban hicks that rig themselves with weapons mounted lasers and shit expecting war....lame.

What?

 

[Kckazdude]

What?

I think his voices were screaming in his ear when he posted that.

 

[MK3.0dudeman]

The Dude:you cluster is just what I want.Jealousy isnt the word

 

[whudafux]

I used a light coat of oem super red II touch up paint. Comes in a little eye makeup type brush bottle.

They're 60mm amber/white premium pro sport gauges. Camera makes them look not quite white.

do the needles you painted light up bright red at night or are they a dull red ?

 

[gaboonviper85]

I think his voices were screaming in his ear when he posted that.

dont make fun of my voices!!!!!!!

 

[The Dude]

do the needles you painted light up bright red at night or are they a dull red ?

They don't really light up at all, but it's because my dash back lights are very dim (dimmer is up), so I need to look into that. I plan to replace them with red leds anyway to match my prosports. I've got other important things to do first though, like get the car running again, lol.

 

[Guyana00]

Did ya do it yet! Heh!? :icon_razz
Just want to see what color you go with and how it turns out. I guess your cluster is probably in pieces, but do you have a before shot? I want to get a feel for what it looks like from so I can "gauge" the difference...lol, no ok really though, if your cluster is stock then nvm, but if you have anything special or aftermarket goin on then put one up. Thank

 

[whudafux]

Did ya do it yet! Heh!? :icon_razz
Just want to see what color you go with and how it turns out. I guess your cluster is probably in pieces, but do you have a before shot? I want to get a feel for what it looks like from so I can "gauge" the difference...lol, no ok really though, if your cluster is stock then nvm, but if you have anything special or aftermarket goin on then put one up. Thank

The cluster is completely stock. But there is a huge difference to me at least. I messed around at work a little bit on it and it turned out great.

After I scraped all the orange paint off with a razor blade I put this stuff on with a microfiber cloth. It worked awesome to get it to a clear finish.

Then I put some of this paint on (Like The Dude recommended)

And it came out like this, (Sorry about the cell phone pics, my g/f has my camera) PS - I know the speedo and tach are a little bit off.

You can see on this one, I spray painted the middle pieces of the needles with a satin black spray paint because I couldn't get to the orange in the center.

I also ordered new LEDs for the back of the cluster. 4 red 194 LEDs, 3 super white 194 LEDs, 1 red 74 LEDs, and 5 super white 74 LEDs. The super white 74 LEDs are for the random things on the cluster, like the seatbelt light, turn signal lights, high beam light, etc... Anything with a colored filter on it. I have no clue how the white will look against the filters so it's more of an experiment than anything.

 

[The Dude]

Very nice. Ah yeah, forgot to mention I painted over the centers with low gloss black. Also ended up doing the whole gauge bezel that color to match the painted pro sport gauge bezels. Can't wait to see some night pics with your new leds.