Changing the color of the instrument panel

[bigmahlman]

Has anyone attempted to change the color of the lcd display? Red would be a lot better for night driving.

 

[Eric Smit]

Actually, the display being blue was a win for me. Blue is my favorite color, so I was fine with it. My wife's old Murano had orange lights, and I hated it. Her mustang is blue too, and it's just something I prefer.

To answer that, no, I don't think anybody has done that yet.


-Eric Smit

 

[CoHPhasor]

It would be nice if they had RGB LED lighting that you could change via a knob.
I drove a Mustang as a rental for work a few years ago that did that for the whole interior, it's not rocket science or that expensive, so there isn't too much of an excuse to exclude it.

 

[Eric Smit]

And it would be way cool!


-Eric Smit

 

[Dragcamaro]

id say it wouldnt be that bad if someone was brave enough to take the cluster apart. Ive changed colors in my old camaro before. That was a 2001 though, hard to tell if its going to be plug and play or if their soldered in. Ive grown kinda weary of dealing with new soldering, a touch too much heat and the board is fried

 

[1967stella]

The body repair manual that somebody posted a little while ago has instructions (to take it apart that is) or at least the majority of the way

 

[bigmahlman]

The body repair manual that somebody posted a little while ago has instructions (to take it apart that is) or at least the majority of the way

Links?

 

[HareBrained]

I'm real interested in seeing this get done. I have trouble seeing blue light (too bright and can't see the shapes) and it kept me out of VWs and it will keep me from buying a Sonic.

 

[ThatTmoGuy]

i changed out my dash lights in my toyota from the ugly green to orange for the cluster and blue for the instruments, that was really easy. but it was a win for me that everything was already blue because i would have had to undertake the challenge of swapping it all out.

 

[bigmahlman]

found this http://www.automx.co.za/manuals/chev/Chev Sonic/chev_sonic176.pdf So if somone wants to go on an adventure and pull it apart and see what the light source is we can probably change it easy enough. If not I will do it once my RS is in

 

[J_CUDi_]

I tried, but I could not get the plastic trim off from the cluster to get to the screws. I didn't wanna pry it off and break it, therefore, I stopped.

 

[doreo]

I did to paint it but that was a while ago

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[J_CUDi_]

Yeah, I eventually got it off. I was wanting to change the indiglo gauge color, but I realized it was not that easy when I looked at the back and saw the circuit board:/

 

[CoHPhasor]

Yeah, I eventually got it off. I was wanting to change the indiglo gauge color, but I realized it was not that easy when I looked at the back and saw the circuit board:/

Please, tell me you got something out of it - like a picture, for the rest of us to do research on?

 

[J_CUDi_]

I am sorry, I did not. It is so easy to get to though. I could go in for round two and get something out of it for you guys.

 

[severous01]

they are probably led, like most are moving to. easier to control, more direct lighting, brighter, cooler running, and cheaper to produce.

if it is, it's as simple (used loosely here) as removing the led, and re-soldering the new on one...

 

[J_CUDi_]

i was able to get all the way to the circuit board after a sore finger and 2 broken tabs, but i made it. i got some pics for you guys to figure out since i know nothing about circuit boards at all. i have one pic of the whole circuit board and two more of close ups of each half of the circuit board for a closer look. i am going to leave it off for today, so if you guys need any more pics, it will not be a problem

 

[CoHPhasor]

That seems to be the back side.
Is the front side sealed or were there things to view?It looks like several tabs and a few "twist" metal tabs hold front and back together.

We thank you for daring the warranty gods.

 

[J_CUDi_]

i do not wanna say it was some sort of sealant holding it down, but i could not get the circuit board off for anything. i tried the small white tabs also, no luck. are you saying those "twisty" metal tabs have something to keep somebody from getting it off? because i did not know what those were, therefore, i did not mess with them.

 

[Maddmatts]

The twisted tabs are probably there to help keep some of the weight of the LCD panel off the solder points. Unless the backlight LEDs are integral to the panel, they'll be along 1 or 2 of the edges. Seeing the other side of the circuitboard would help more.