Well, I've seen a lot of questions in both of the threads by Bauleycivic( https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=661308 ) and green00EX ( https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1054824 ) about how to do this for the 96-98 civic. I have taken it upon myself to get this done. Now, enough chit chat........

<FONT SIZE="8">Update on page 4</FONT>

Things you will need:
1)Philips head screwdriver (a magnetic one REALLY helps)
2)A very small flat head screwdriver
3)6 #24 bulbs
4)1 #195
5)Some patients and a little flexability.

I bought my bulbs from http://autolumination.com/74.htm and installed the cluster ones last night. I purchased the red ones and they look ******* awesome.

As far as the cluster goes, just follow what green00EX did, his is the exact same thing as ours. The climate control is what is the difference. Lets get this bitch done, shall we?

1) Start off by removing these two screws underneith the climate control.


2) Then get the screw that is down on the bottom right corner of the knee guard. Then pull it down, there is a clip on the top that is holding it in. Don't be afraid to use a little force with it.


3) Some of you might have some screws behind the glove box and that knee guard you just pulled down. I took pictures of where they would be if I had them. (thank you Luserkid for NOT putting them back )








4) Start fiddleing with the lower center console piece, with the right pulls and pushes in the right direction, it will come out with no problem. It should now

5) Now, remember that tiny flat head screwdriver? Now is when you will need it. Pop the rear defroster and hazard lights buttons out. And then unplug them.


6) Then unscrew the 2 screws behind the buttons.




7) It's time to get up under the dash and disconnect the wire from the heater/AC unit. Pull the end off and take it out of the clip. It should look like this now:


8) While your under there, find the 3 screws holding the climate control in. There's one in in the middle towards the front of the car and then 2 on the sides closer to the rear of the car. Get those outta there. Then unplug the brown and green plugs out from behind the climate control.




9) Grab the whole bezel from the top and pull, there's about 4 clips on the top holding it in. It should come right out. Pull the whole thing out.


10) No there is no need to remove the climate control unit from the bezel. Just find the 2 black sockets on the bottom of it and pull those out. Those are you blubs. Get those old POS ones out and pop the new ones in.




11) With the #24 bulbs you'll run into a slight problem... they are a tad bigger than the stock ones, so you can't shove the new ones in all the way. If you mess with them and find the right spot they will fit in and light up just fine though.

12) Before you put everything back in keep the bulbs out of the hole in the climate control and plug the green plug back in. Turn on your lights to make sure that they light up.

13) If it all lights up fine, put the bubls in and put it all back together in reverse order. Don't forget to hook up that temp control wire back up.

14) Congradulations, you're done. And now for the new climate control. Sorry I don't have any before pictures, but trust me it looked like ****. It was a whitish orange, the red looks great IMO. Got some new pictures, shows how it looks a million times more. Enjoy






I wanna thank Bauleycivic for the original write-up on amber clusters and climate controls, green00EX for his write-up on the 99-00 civic, and Luserkid for resizing my pictures.


Modified by SOHC4life 96 at 11:18 PM 3/20/2005


Modified by SOHC4life 96 at 3:08 PM 3/22/2005


Modified by SOHC4life 96 at 10:58 PM 3/26/2005


Modified by SOHC4life 96 at 11:01 PM 3/26/2005


Modified by SOHC4life 96 at 8:13 PM 4/14/2006


Modified by SOHC4life 96 at 8:13 PM 4/14/2006

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SOHC4life 96 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">3) Some of you might have some screws behind the glove box and that knee guard you just pulled down. I took pictures of where they would be if I had them. (thank you Luserkid for NOT putting them back )
</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

Nice write up!

One day I'm gonna do this using the write up Bauley did for the 92-95!!

 

Thanks man.

 

Bump for everyone to see.

 

Great writeup!

 

nice write up...
thanks to bauleycivic as well, these are how my cluster and climate control turned out... on a 95 hb.

 

tight! i just did this last month too, exact same process too

 

this looks really great! would someone be kind enough as to post the link to bauleycivics writeup on the cluster? thanks a bunch.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sleepyEK &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">this looks really great! would someone be kind enough as to post the link to bauleycivics writeup on the cluster? thanks a bunch.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's in the beginning of my write-up. You might have to copy and paste the link though. Let me see if I can fix that.

Edit: Fixed it.

And, JHU EH2, what bulbs did you use?

 

has any one had this done for awhile? just wondering how long the bulbs will last as far as the color coat goes (fading )!?

-JC

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDC97ex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">has any one had this done for awhile? just wondering how long the bulbs will last as far as the color coat goes (fading )!?

-JC</TD></TR></TABLE>


My other bulbs, I had them for about 4 months, were fading. However, I didn't use the same paint that bauley did. I used some clear model paint that was in a little jar. My lights looke like **** too. I really like my current lights and don't think they will fade at all. They show no signs of fading at all.

 

great write up . I'll let everyone know how my turns out with my OEM amber bulbs

 

Bump for new pictures of the cluster and climate control and temp stock radio. ****** theives.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SOHC4life 96 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks man. </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

wow great write-up... with great pictures too
the amber looks good

 

finally had time to start on it, thanks again for the write up.



took a little break and snap a pic

 

man finally one for a 96-98

 

looks sweet i wanna try

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tribalnx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">man finally one for a 96-98</TD></TR></TABLE>
i know huh!

 

SO i can use my #24 bulb instead of buying # 74's?
it wont fit!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SOHC4life 96 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">



</TD></TR></TABLE>

Clean amber dash, I'm gonna do it, but the radio station? lol..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LilMrTinnie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Clean amber dash, I'm gonna do it, but the radio station? lol.. </TD></TR></TABLE>

It's a local rock radio station here. But if you knew that, then oh well, I like it. And besides, my car got broken into a week and a half ago so I can't listen to ANYTHING but the radio.

Thanks for all the positive comments guys, I'm glad this has helped a lot of you.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DJ_CARY &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">SO i can use my #24 bulb instead of buying # 74's?
it wont fit! </TD></TR></TABLE>

What do you mean? The #24's fit fine in the cluster, the climate control just takes a little bit of finness(sp) to make them work. The #74's are way to small.

 

clean!!! doing it tomorrow!!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EeeJayEight &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">clean!!! doing it tomorrow!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

lol I want to soo bad, and I dont' even work tomorrow...just too damn lazy