Brighter Gauges Idea

P0WER · 10-20-2005, 09:45 AM

Since that http://www.flamingeye.co.uk/ is no longer taking orders I am going to have to do it myself the clarks-garage way.
However, he said he tried a reflective paint like chrome or aluminum and it didn't work well, he didn't say why. So he just taped aluminum foil over the surface that needs to be reflective and said that worked fine.

I don't really like the idea of taping foil to it, it just seems, well, rigged.

What about using metal tape like this

Anyone see a problem with that?

IanS · 10-20-2005, 10:05 AM

I used exactly that, and I don't think it worked that well. The sticky side just isn't as reflective as the non-sticky side. However, it does apply nicely and adheres quite strongly.

I'm going to remove the lenses and paint the area under the lenses white, which should significantly increase light output. I'm also going to resilver the initial reflector under the black cover. I'll tell you how it goes later today.

I'm hoping to be able to replicate his results with $10 in LED bulbs and some labor, but we'll see.

-Ian

Tapage · Tapage's Garage

someone try little mirror cuts in the reflective parts .. ? I already use the alum foil with no really good results .. I thought mirror is a way ..

P0WER · 10-20-2005, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tapage
someone try little mirror cuts in the reflective parts .. ? I already use the alum foil with no really good results .. I thought mirror is a way ..

Good idea, you can buy small mirror squares like 1/2" x 1/2" at the craft shops. I may get a bunch of those and glue them on

Brando · Brando's Garage

I did like clark's garage... double-stick tape on aluminum foil that was polished up nicely.

I ordered 3 replacement LEDs (my far left bulb is burnt out). It's easier that way.

Panzer909 · Panzer909's Garage

Nobody here had good results with aluminum foil per the Clark's Garage method?

I tried it and it was night & day, IMHO. Big improvement. But then again my dash lighting was almost non-existant to begin with

IanS · 09:36 AM

I didn't have good results, but I used the sticky side of the aluminum tape, and I think that didn't work well. I think polished aluminum foil and double stick tape would work much better. After taking out the reflectors completely, the sticky side of the aluminum tape is not much shinier than what was left on my stock reflectors.

Also, without removing the black cover, you can't redo the initial reflector, which was in bad shape on mine. I would recommend everyone remove at least that black part. If you do it carefully, it'll pop right back on fairly securely. Its just there to protect the silver coating when the gauges are being removed.

-Ian

aribop · 02:20 PM

I used a sheet of plastic mirror like material that can be cut. Cut it to fit over the triangular reflector after cleaning with acetone. glued it on the sides sparingly with superglue. Covered all the lense assemblies with black tape to avoid any light leaks.
Works great!

I also have the Flamingeye kit and let me say it is definitely worth it! I'm glad to see his issue is temporary. I would hold out until he starts taking orders again.

IanS · 10-22-2005, 12:47 AM

Here is the final result of my work:

It looks pretty similar to the flamingeye kit pictures, which was my goal.

Basically, I removed the reflector and put aluminum foil on the bottom in addition to redoing the top, and installed some super wide angle 5-led bulbs from superbrightleds.com. I also painted the hole the bulb sticks into with a bit of white paint to help it reflect a bit more, but I don't think that mattered that much.

It looked equally bright with the stock 2w bulbs, so if you don't want to change the color of the illumination, just do this and keep the stock bulbs.

As you can see, the rest of my dash now looks really dim in comparison. Any fixes for that?

-Ian

IanS · 10-22-2005, 12:24 PM

Here are a few pictures of what I did. I'm also uploading another picture of the result. It looked Ok on my computer, but worse once uploaded.

Result:

Putting reflective tape on the underside of the plastic lenses:

The reflectors being redone:

Everything back together:

I also did an A/B comparison of painting the area under the lenses white versus using reflective tape, and I felt the reflective tape was slightly better, though both were a big improvement over black. Also, reflective tape is easier if you already have it lying around.

I also compared the two types of LED bulbs I bought, and the 5LED super-wide angle ones with LEDs mounted sideways were better than the 6LED ones with all of them pointed forwards, which is what I expected. The LEDs I bought are $2.79/each + $5 shipping.

-Ian

Tapage · Tapage's Garage

Wouuu .. last saturday I try to do the same thinig .. but poor result in my case .. alum foil, but I thought the goal are the bulbs ..

did you buy this ones .. ?

http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/r2415_specs.htm

IanS · 10-24-2005, 01:48 PM

No, I believe thats just a raw LED. You need LED bulbs which are made for 12v car usage.

I recommend the WLED-x5 on this page: http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/bulb_specs.htm

-Ian

Tapage · Tapage's Garage

you bought those ones ..

WLED-R5

IanS · 10-25-2005, 10:40 AM

Yes, I bought Red, so I guess they are WLED-R5's.

IanS · 10-29-2005, 12:35 PM

So the good news is that my lighting is working out well.

The bad news is that my voltage gauge is messed up. It appears to be weak or sticky. It doesn't go all the way down after turning off the engine(unless you tap on the plastic) and it will jump up to 10 when starting, then slowly move up to 12 when running, but no higher.

Any ideas what I might have damaged and how to fix it? The car starts fine and I checked my battery, so there aren't any real problems.