I pulled the Cluster apart and cleaned up the characters per the How-To.

Use the glass paint, the brightest red i could find, Ruby Red, to paint characters.

Well the paint dried, the back side of the overlays looks just right for the red color BUT when you view the front they are to pinky in color.

Has anyone used RED on their gauge clusters, what color red ?

Th Emerald Green looks ok, the amber/yellow looks ok BUT the RED $ucks.

HELP, Please.

Thanks

 

i'd try to put it on a bit thicker (other coat) on a small number/character and see what that looks like and hold it up to a florescent white light to see if it made a difference. I think im going to re-do mine soon lol

 

Did that last night waiting for it to dry.
The Ruby Red dried on the back side looks perfect I think the white characters built in the overlay is the problem, red and white makes pink.

I think others have used the Ruby Red that is why I looked at that color, when I asked if there was something brighter the clerk said it was the brightest; maybe not the right approach.

We will see when I get out in the garage in a while.

thanks for the idea.

 

Why would you not use red leds? I used red leds on the cluster in my ix and it came out awesome!

 

I guess I “assumed” it was the correct way to do it BUT even if I used RED LEDs the end color would still be on the pink side because no matter what red and white = pink.

I haven’t looked at the second coat yet this AM, just ran in the workshop and turned on the heat; didn’t look.

As soon as I eat and go back out there I will see if two coats make a difference or not; I am hopping it will.

Now will red LED on top of the red glass paint do any better at making things red I am not sure.

There is a company, US Speed, that makes Overlays for with red characters but they do not have one without the Tach like I want to install.

 

I was in the process of doing RED Characters and lines and found the following:

1) If the original gauge face has white characters, the white will not come off and it will be hard to get a true red, the glass paint “Ruby Red” and the White OEM color on the gauge face ends up… you guested it PINK. NOT going to happen!

2) When applying the paint, don’t apply it too thick if you want to use the OEM light diffusors; you will end up with a face that does not lay flat.

3) All of the colors will change a shade or two if the OEM characters are white.

Also, I am using a No-Tach Cluster from a ’00 Ranger, when you hook up the AA Battery to calibrate it you it reads 20 MPH not the 70 MPH as in the procedure.

I am working with a Company now try to set up a Black Face with Red Characters, he is working on it now and will get back to me soon with pricing for a brand new gauge faces that will replace the original faces.

Here’s hopping for the best and a good price.

 

Trevor used a transparent glass paint combo pack from a craft store. There's a pic of it in the LED/cluster color change how-to he wrote up(search led cluster color. All my idiot lights are painted in the red that was in the kit and it came out beautifully. He also did the red color swap on my buddy's 98 and it too looks awesome and is a true red.

 

I'm sure you could figure something out that would be much cheaper than buying an overlay. By the way, any word about your Superlift?

 

Did your gauge faces have the white in them to start with or were they clear ?

I will look into the Combo Pack and see if that is different.
I just went by the store that sells this stuff on the way home I wish I had checked my mail earlier.

Thanks

 

Maybe I'm not quite understanding this line. Here's a pic to show why I don't understand it...






When sanded, it's clear, not white. Whatever is laid on the back, that's what color it'll project. In this case, my blue led's with no paint on the cluster overlays..

 

That’s the difference, the ’00 Gauge Cluster w/o the tach has a white base color as part of the face of the gauge. Your line show clear when the paint is removed mine show white.

If mine were as your are, then mine would have worked perfectly, the Ruby Red dry to a great red .

Maybe the white faced gauges are clear with the paint removed and the black faced ones are white; don’t know.

My whole idea went out the window when the pink showed up.

 

I get it now. Sorry for the confusion. Its the same as the 'normal' black faces...tach or without. My buddy's '98 has his stock black face sanded, painted, and LED'd and it's a true red.

 

I am hopping for this Site I found to have what I want, fini, all done.

Thanks

 

Good to hear.

Here's a pic of the cluster I mentioned earlier...crappy pic makes it look orange...but in person it's very red. Only pic I got.

 

I don’t understand what i have to ?
Who is it that did these and do you think they would answer some questions ?

 

TrePaul86, no longer a member here. He did the exact same stuff as in Grigg's color change how-to and used red 194 LED's. He can be contacted on AIM usually. TJpaul86 is the sn. Or on RPS under the same SN. He's also a member of Ranger - Resistance . com (minus all the spaces).

 

Yeah its easy to do. Ill be doing mine with paint in the spring its way to damn cold out now to mess with my truck. I have spare clusters in the basement so i may take one and try it out

 

I will talk to him thanks.

99offroadranger, when you take the cluster apart check to see if the characters are white or clear once you have removed the paint from the rear of the face pieces ?

 

they are clear. I have sanded the stock ones before.
terrible pic, sorry but these are my stock black gauges with blue led's
if u sand them down, they will be clear but it will still look white during the day with the lights off...its weird i know but thats how it will be haha
Day (lights off):


Night:

 

That is what I was thinking, but white isn’t clear and if you apply a red color to white you will get a pinkish tone to the numbers.
I am not happy with that… my idea of red started a few years ago, I took a ride in my buddy’s Audi at night which had RED gauges, really nice.
On the Gauges I have been working on, I took the coloring off of the Km/H, (they too were the OEM White) but I put Royal Blue on them, they looked good. So the BLUE works OK because blue and white mixes to a lighter blue that is all; if you start with a dark blue you get lighter blue, not too bad.

Like I said I am working on what I want now and I will have to pay the price; I am not satisfied with the OEM Stuff so that is it.

Thk , ltr

 

Have you tried putting red lights in behind the red you painted to see if that brightens it up any? Or since you have glass paint, paint the light bulbs and test it?

I want Red gauges also and I have the black ones myself, as i think white gauges are ugly. so I'm interested in how to do this.

 

seems pretty clear to me....if u look at the 40mph u can clearly see my finger through it.



Here i just used red sharpie on the back side of the overlay. I just did 1 "coat" i guess u could say. the glass paint is thicker...this is just a MARKER. it won't look pink



now time to get the sharpie off

Time for the cluster to sleep lol

 

The marker appear red’r than the paint does.
i have not tried a red light but it is a good thought.
I will try it today and see where that gets me.

Thanks

 

haha.... sucked in by the beauty that is audi, i know your pain.

have you tried maybe a darker red?? or maybe a candy/metallic red, since you say a bright red is giving you pink when blended with white. so try using a darker red and see if that gives you the desired effect. or, go buy an audi.

 

No but it is a good thought.
I will have to check out what is available.

Thanks