With some spare time I started to make JDM styled gauge faces with an extra cluster lying around.
The jdm look for an EG civic is nice but i would prefer mph over km/h in the states. so why not make them?

these pictures are the first print on normal paper to get an idea of where i'm going, and it seems i need to make the color a bit darker and fix the alignment of everything

PLEASE any input would help out tons
and ignore the white frame (it was from a ricer who owned it last )

 

It needs some refining, but in the end I think it could be a nice add-on to stock gauges without going overboard.

 

it definitely needs some major work, but i hope it will give the jdm look and not the confusion of converting mph to km/h

i'm making this for my DD (heavy driving for work) but once i'm finished hopefully others can use them too

 

Are u going to make any with RPM's I'll buy one

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cln92eg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Are u going to make any with RPM's I'll buy one </TD></TR></TABLE>



it's all going to be done, but i'll keep this updated with progress made

the cluster shown in the pictures above was the only spare one i had

 

now just get a little jar of testors paint and hand paint the needles red. i did it on my cluster and changed the bulbs to amber ones and i love it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Flint707 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">now just get a little jar of testors paint and hand paint the needles red. i did it on my cluster and changed the bulbs to amber ones and i love it.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Lets see it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Flint707 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">now just get a little jar of testors paint and hand paint the needles red. i did it on my cluster and changed the bulbs to amber ones and i love it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

if you have a picture that'd be great!

 

ill post a pic of it tomorrow, my wife has the camera in her car. looks dope though.

 

Perfect it some and i'll but one

 

im in for piks

 

I did this same thing to my cluster a couple of years ago. Its cool to see someone else got the same idea! Its an awesome alternative to the popular and expensive japanese eg clusters. Are you going to laminate the gauges after you print the final product? I laminated mine with a very thin layer of laminate, and cut the gauges out in big squares so I could get all of the holes right for the needles, screws, and the little plastic "nipples" that help hold it in place, then trimmed them down little by little till fittment was perfect. For my needles I used testors competition orange, and my numbers were a little darker than yours, but not much darker, you are almost there in color. Good luck to you buddy!!!!!

 

Try doing it with matte photo paper and an exacto knife ... you'll get cleaner cuts.

 

bump for custom gauge faces

if you can pring out custom "spoon" redlines and custom "spoon" look speedometers, id consider one

 

YOu guys talk about painting the needles red. How do you go about doing this. Is there a way to take the needles out to paint them or do you just tape everything off and paint them?

 

i dont think you can take out the needles, but saw some sites that used fluorescent red paint, and used q-tips to paint the needlies came out pretty good.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NAB18CR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">bump for custom gauge faces

if you can pring out custom "spoon" redlines and custom "spoon" look speedometers, id consider one</TD></TR></TABLE>

I could if they get good enough and people are interested in buying them.


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Eran &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Try doing it with matte photo paper and an exacto knife ... you'll get cleaner cuts.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm printing on better material and yes they will be cut that way. That one shown is only the first print

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by daluv &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I did this same thing to my cluster a couple of years ago. Its cool to see someone else got the same idea! Its an awesome alternative to the popular and expensive japanese eg clusters. Are you going to laminate the gauges after you print the final product? I laminated mine with a very thin layer of laminate, and cut the gauges out in big squares so I could get all of the holes right for the needles, screws, and the little plastic "nipples" that help hold it in place, then trimmed them down little by little till fittment was perfect. For my needles I used testors competition orange, and my numbers were a little darker than yours, but not much darker, you are almost there in color. Good luck to you buddy!!!!!
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Lamination will go down only if needed. Too glossy and the light will glare and might reflect. But this is only the beginning.

Thanks for the interest guys!

 

Im Painting my Needles today I wonder how its going to look

 

i used scotch tape mask the needles and hand painted them with red testors model car paint. i used a really fine tip brush fyi. i also painted them little rings behind it black so there is no glare in the cluster... ill post pics tonight.

 

Hey man this is awsome. I have wanted a jdm cluster for a while but i cant afford one. How did you get the exact size of the gauge. Did you print it off somewere or did you create it yourself.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BlueIntegraBoy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It needs some refining, but in the end I think it could be a nice add-on to stock gauges without going overboard.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by almostjdmeg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hey man this is awsome. I have wanted a jdm cluster for a while but i cant afford one. How did you get the exact size of the gauge. Did you print it off somewere or did you create it yourself. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I scanned in a DX speedometer gauge first and vectored it in illustrator so everything lines up as best as it can.

 

looks like a good start, but i'd rather just buy the real thing.

 

here is the pic... it lights up amber but i dont have a pic of it in the car since i took it out to do the needles.

 

damn dude!
they look hot as hell