who has done this that can help me out with a few questions?

i have the tamiya paint for the bulbs but i still have a few questions.

1-where are the bulbs located in the guage cluster?
2-where are the bulbs located in the climate control?
those are the only questions i have i know how to remove them but are thier certain bulbs i paint and others i dont?

any help would be greatly appreaciated(spelling)

edit: i did a search under diy but came up with nothing on this topic even though i know ive seen this talked about before

if someone knows the link or the answers post em up


[Modified by B16A EH2, 7:18 PM 11/19/2002]

 

cmon someone knows the answers i need somthing to do tonight

 

the bulbs you need to change for the cluster on the eh2 have a brown housing unlike the others which have black housing

 

btw... didnt see the ? about the climate control

i heard it is a bit** to remove the climate control

you need to remove the head unit and take screws out from behind it

 

ok so paint the brown bulbs in the cluster

what about the climate control? which ones do i paint?
(im guessing all of them because the only bulbs in it are for the climate control lights)

anyone else with any imput to make it easier?

 

they arent brown bulbs

they have a brown housing which encases them

and once you get the encasing out of the cluster (5 brown ones) you have to remove the blue condom from the lights and then paint them

there are only 2 bulbs which need done in the climate control

 

just take off the cluster and take out your climate control, you shoudl then realize where everything is. its self-explanitory.

 

cluster=brown bulb housing and remove blue condoms
climate control=2 bulbs to paint orange
correct?

im gonna go do the cc now and ill be back before i do the cluster

 

yea i know the climate control should be common sense but i dont want to paint cluster lights that i shouldnt paint because some lights dont get painted

 

damn i didnt think the climate control was that hard to get out!!!
it took a while to remove the screws after i found then due to the location of the screws.

i got it out and all apart now im in the process of painting the bulbs amber so far so good

 

wanna explain how you took out the climate control.. step by step please

 

can someone take a pic of this orange paint?

 

remove the radio

locate the one screw in the middle back of the climate control (same place as screw under radio but its under climate control)

locate the two screws holding the climate control face in (behind the face facing the front seats they are in the bottom corners of the climate control)

unplug the climate control wire harness(leave it attached to climate control just detach it from the car and other things it might be plugged into so you can pull it out with the climate control)

remove the clip that holds the metal lever to the valve thing that chooses between cold and warm air(its a white clip just turn it and it will fall then remove the metal bar that the clip was holding up that has the metal cable attached to it)

next remove the metal cable from the bottom of the climate control(just carefully pry it down with your fingers it will snap out just becarefull not to bend ot crimp the cable because its a solid steel cable not a wire cable)

pull out climate controll slowly and make sure it is all detached and the wireharness isnt snagged on anything

after you get it out of the car put it on a bench and take the harness off of it completly(becarefull not to break any clips)

unscrew all the gold screws(you will see them on the bottom of the climate control dont forget the little tiny one and dont lose it)

next detach the gray face plate from the white part of the climate control by carefully prying the little clips located around the face plate (you have to detach the harness to be able to get it off because the 1234 selector is attached to a metal bracket thing that holds the face on)

after you remove the grey face plate you can paint the bulbs like that (this is what im doing)

or you can remove the white part from the black part by carefully prying the clips again to take the bulbs all the way out

if you have any questions just let me know

i took the whole thing apart then decided to paint the bulbs in the white part because it would be better for holding them still while i put a few coats of paint on them

the paint is:testors turn signal amber #2723 enamal it dries pretty fat if your patient and do light coats what i did was put a drop on the bulb with a tooth pick them moved the drop over the whole bulb to make one light coat then after it dries for about 20 minutes ill put another coat on (i think 3-4 coats will be sufficent)

this is a picture of mine when finished with 3 coats as even as i could get it:



[Modified by B16A EH2, 11:17 PM 11/19/2002]

 

What I have in bold you dont need to do. To get to the bulbs just undo the screws that hold the climate control in place(3 up front one in back), pop the buttons off so you can detatch the face, and slide the unit out just enough so you can take off the face no need to unplug it. Thats how I did it, whichever way you do it will work of course. here's my thread I made a while back. https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=304289






[Modified by AztecEJ, 4:16 AM 11/20/2002]

 

i know everyone is trying hard to find this tamiya paint. the one i tried is "clear orange X-26" That was when i took off the blue cover of the bulbs and painted them. this really sucked because after about two weeks, the paint was bubbling and running because of the heat. so i went to kragen or checker or whatever you call it. and i got 4 size 24 bulbs. these were amber sylvania bulbs i think. they come in a green package. anyways, i put these in, but it was too yellowish, so i just got a red sharpie marker and colored all the bulbs i just put in. and it still turns out amber and its WAY easier then painting it, then putting a 2nd coat and having uneven shades of amber. plus you don't have to worry about paint running all over the inside of your cluster.

 

sorry bringing up the other forum, you could check honda-acura.net in the civic forum, search for the topic, EX R8D did this and explained it throughly

*hope this helps you*

im going to try to get a link for you.

l8r.

 

i want to use the stock bulbs (5g climate box, and a 95 gsr gauge cluster). will they match or should i just get all new bulbs clear and paint them all b4vputting them in what is the best (longest lasting worry free paint to use ?)

 

Use the testors competition orange #1628 thats what I used and you see the results. Its been almost two months and I just took apart the climate control yesterday becasue I had a bulb burn out and the paint still looks as good as when i applied it.

 

i used testors #2723 amber turn signal enamel ...it looks bad ***

 

*In big boy's voice* After JaeOne and I pioneered this amber lighting thing, I have nothing but regrets personally. Even if done perfectly, the cluster just never looks right IMO. The JDM cluster doesn't have surround lighting like our US clusters, it only uses background lighting. Makes a big difference IMO.

Also, concerning the climate control...After replacing the bulbs about 4 times now, I have to shave down the bulbs to fit properly because the only ones that come close to fitting, don't really fit too well.

In all honesty, I'd avoid doing the DIY mod if I had the chance to do over because it always comes out cheap looking. Save up some cash and go buy the JDM cluster.

 

Yup the bulb doesnt fit in there perfectly, I just replaced one bulb in there .
As far as the appearance of the cluster, I love it and to me it looks a lot better then the usdm stock illumination. I may end up getting a JDM cluster soon though since my speedometer is acting up on me.

 

my bulbs fit fine..i use factory bulbs they are 5 bucks a piece but they fit fine

i got 2 extra

i also did the ashtray and it looks good
over all if this diy is done right with patientce it looks great
take your time and put the paint on it even coats and you dont have to paint the whole bulb just the part that sticks out of the socket

 

Trust me when I saw that I did spend plenty of time on the lights. I even went different routes as far as options of colors. I tried colored film as well, and the US cluster just never looks right, it always looks cheap and washed out because of the surround lighting. You'll see in a few months...

 

i trust you..how long could the paint last if it gets hot all the time

one day ill have the real eg6 cc and cluster but till then this will hold me over

 

I know what you mean about the suround lighting, I agree JDM cluster does look MUCH better. For now though I'll save my money that I could be spending on a JDM cluster and finish my other projects such as my turbo setup. Its been 2 months since Ive done mine and it still hasnt faded, Ive taken it apart to even check to condition of the bulbs.