So I gave up on selling my Explorer cluster & decided to do a little modding to it instead.
(didn't have my camera with me today so after pics to come)

Much like Jp7 did, I carefully took apart the clear cover from the black trim backer. I wanted something different, so instead of painting the black trim white, I painted mine gray to match my interior.

A few coats of Krylon (not fusion this time, nobody around here carries gray Krylon fusion!) indoor/outdoor spray paint did the job.

The only major problem I had was the clear cover had a few areas that were lightly scuffed. I didn't want to break apart the cluster in my truck just for the clear cover, so I decided to try to remove the scuffs myself.

I used a 6" cotton buffing wheel with a mandrel for a cordless drill. I just happen to have a good selection of buffing compounds & I grabbed my white bar made for plastics. After about 30 minutes of careful buffing, all the scuffs are gone & the surface is silky smooth compared to the paper-ish texture it had before. I went ahead and buffed inside & out to make sure everything was crisp & clear.
I surprised myself in how well it came out. I just need to clean the clear cover a few times with window cleaner & it will be ready to re-attach to the new gray trim.

 

Pics or it didn't happen

 

Pics...
uploading now...

 

And now for your viewing pleasure....























I still haven't attached the clear cover back to the trim panel, but I should get around to that in a few days.

If you notice, I now have all the wiring for the back of the cluster. I got lucky & the guy where I got all the other parts still had the Explorer setting in a field.

 

Looks good

 

I wanna see pictures once its installed again.

 

looks good! why not do some LEDs also. I like the gray - I have that color in my Evo IX.

 

Thanks,
I've got some LED's on order... going to try the plug-in's first & if they don't look great I'll probably build some individual LED arrays.

I haven't had time to take it out to the truck to see how the gloss gray looks, ie: if it has too much glare. If it reflects too much sunlight or looks funky, I'm going to shoot a few coats of matte clear to see how it looks.