hi i was wondering if this will work...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW

and i just want to make sure that i need 194 when changing the background light on the cluster to red on my 96 civic ex...thanks!!!

and also!! will blue look good? and does anyone have pics of doing this? thankss!!

 

Those led's are CRAZY DIMM, I've had several and I'd sooner run this style led's, their output will be brighter and fill the cluster better:

The main problem is the 96-00 ex cluster only uses <u>one</u> 194 bulb, the other four bulbs are #74 which most led replacement units are directional and only create a spot of lights over filling the cluster with light...

 

so what do u suggest i do?? i want your full opinion! =]

 

anyone??? how dimm are they?? dimmer than stock?

 

Those wide angle led units you listed are dimmer than standard 194 bulbs to the point of them not even being useable (least the ones I've gotten) for license plate lights...

I've not used this style #74 led but I think it'd be a good option if sticking to replacement bulbs:

LINK (just a bit down from the top)

I personally after doind the replacement led's, went the extreme and used led flex strips from Oznium, had to mod my cluster to make them fit but the output (after sanding the diffusing paint off the back of the gauge faces) is enough that when dimmed all the way down the lights are still extremely visable:
*images borrowed from Addiction2bass*


^showing the trimming of the interior plastic of the cluster

 

What does that look light when it's complete?

 

*pics from ozniums action page for the flex strips, I can tell you tho when fully dimmed they are only a bit dimmer than full bright with incandesent bubs... full bright is overwelmin (blue screw with your eyes at night BAD)...

 

WOW! That looks amazing! I'm assuming you have to hard wire the lights correct?

 

You can, I simply wrapped the wiring around the factory bulb holders contact pins so if I choose to change it out later on I'd not have to worry about a hard connection being on the gauge membrain. The only hard wiring I did on my cluster is I have my needles sprayed with UV clear coat and I soldered the contacts for the UV cold cathode inverter to the positive of the illumination wire and to the nearest ground (cluster dimms the ground connection, not the postive) so the needles stay bright all the time...

 

Wht lenght di you use.. looks like 12 or 18"

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CarbonizedDX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You can, I simply wrapped the wiring around the factory bulb holders contact pins so if I choose to change it out later on I'd not have to worry about a hard connection being on the gauge membrain. The only hard wiring I did on my cluster is I have my needles sprayed with UV clear coat and I soldered the contacts for the UV cold cathode inverter to the positive of the illumination wire and to the nearest ground (cluster dimms the ground connection, not the postive) so the needles stay bright all the time...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Excuse my ignorance but that has my mind all messed up now lol. So I can just wrap the wires around the bulb connectors then? Do you still have bulbs in them or are they just the lil sockets?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DDEVIANT1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Wht lenght di you use.. looks like 12 or 18"</TD></TR></TABLE>

I used three 9.5" strips


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sniper1088 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Excuse my ignorance but that has my mind all messed up now lol. So I can just wrap the wires around the bulb connectors then? Do you still have bulbs in them or are they just the lil sockets?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I removed the factory bulbs long ago (from a previous led conversion bulb swap) but I kept the empty bulb holders in place when I swapped to the flex strip and if you look at the bulb holders they have two copper contact pads that when you twist them into the cluster they contact the copper pads on the cluster membrain, I simply wrapped the bare wire around those copper pieces on the bulb holder and then twisted the bulb holder into the cluster. This lets me quickly spin the connection around if I connected it backwards while in the car vs. having to take the cluster back inside and resoldering the contacts...

 

It makes perfect sense now. Thanks!

 

Do you have pictures of what you sanded?

 

From this:


To these (note the missing ligh shields as well as various bits of plastic):


and then showing the placement of the flex strips:


AGAIN, these are Addiction2bass's photo's, I'm just barrowing them..

 

keep em stock

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jahdamanga &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">keep em stock </TD></TR></TABLE>

The stock color is lame so some kind of modification is needed.


I installed the Flex Strips and I'm disappointed, especially for the cost. The strips still create a spotlight effect; certain parts of the gauges are brighter than others. I'll play with it a little more tonight but as of right now I give this install a big thumbs down.

When I replaced the bulbs a few years ago I still didn't like the result but at least it only cost me about $5.

 

Thats some good work for the gauge cluster.

have you had any troubles with the flex strips burning out?

I've had some people work with some LED strips to heat and bend into angel eyes for their projectors; burned out after about 2 weeks.

 

thats a lil bright for my taste but not to bad on the diy....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mechanix619 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I installed the Flex Strips and I'm disappointed, especially for the cost. The strips still create a spotlight effect; certain parts of the gauges are brighter than others. I'll play with it a little more tonight but as of right now I give this install a big thumbs down.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

When you look at the back of the gauges you'll see black coloring, this is used to dim the sections close to the incandesent bulbs which inturn results not having the best output with the led's. At points yes there is going to be hot spots (can be lowered by sanding or putting a layer of tissue paper between the strip and the gauge) which is simply due to the direct nature of the led's....


The only place I have failure (well it flickers on and off randomly but mostly off) is in the lower right corner where the strip is at an extreme bend angle, it only bothers me slightly but it's going to be replaced with a full RGB smt strip that's going to illuminate the cluster indirectly (which can be better and worse at the same time)....

 

so you ever get them replaced?

i need to upgrade mine to red.....

 

Yea I finished a full swap out using RGB ribbon strips, I mounted them along the edge of the hosuings firing inwards, this coupled with a custom rgb controller I'm able to get any color combo I want:

The red is what I'm running currently, since when at night it's the best for not messing with your eyes. The blue with this set up is bright but the green takes the cake... The controller also lets me do crazy things like fade and strobe the leds:
[youtube]tNEqnKoAVWw[/youtube]
and yes the video sucks and this is the most pointless mod possible.

 

hells yes thats nice and come on at lest 15hp lol

 

Seriously....



This set up nets me 20hp per lug nut, god people never get that right.

 

lolololololol