Is there a way to change your dash lights?

**WRXVinny** · 11-30-2004 12:10 PM

I have a 2002 WRX and I hate the "green" dash and controlls lights. Is there a way to put in differend bulbs to make them light up "red" and do the clock as well, or am I smoking something and I should forget it..LOL! Thanks!

**bluerex47** · 11-30-2004 12:14 PM

you could be smoking something, i don't know

but search for led condoms. they just go over the led, like a condom....hense the name. take a look at scoobymods. they might have tutorials on it

**Zem** · 11-30-2004 12:15 PM

HVAC and stereo are easy. I asked kingb333 to do it, and he did. I'm certain there's a faq on it somewhere around here. The clock, I think you're hosed. There are some other methods for the gauge cluster that's...umm... well, I haven't tried it yet. Do a search, pick one, and tell me how it works out.

**WRXVinny** · 11-30-2004 12:41 PM

Man that was quick, thanks guys! Yeah, I went to Scooby mods and they said to tkae the condoms off for the HVAC...and get red bulbs or paint the clear ones red. But nothing on the Speedo cluster??? I love red, that would look tight!!! Prolly why is is stoc on the STI..lol

**GetawayInBouldr** · 11-30-2004 01:08 PM

Click here. I think I started posting on the 3rd or 4th page. This will tell you how to make your cluster what ever color you want, nice and bright. But let me give you a piece of advice; I wouldn't do this unless you are ready to spend $400 on a new cluster. This mod is a major PITA and its very hard to do right without f'ing up your cluster. I did it and at the very end, my tach needle got *accidently* pushed in and it never worked right afterword. I tried fixing it a bunch of times, but to no avail...

Also, the lighting really didn't come out as even as I wanted it to be. At night, the cluster was really evenly lit and pretty bright. But during the day, the cluster had this off hue of red and it was really uneven. It actually bugged me a lot. At dusk, the cluster just didn't look right. Certain parts were visibly red, others were faintly red, and it really looked bad.

Since you have an 02, you could just change out the bulbs in your cluster and it will probably look alright at night, but it will be pretty dim and leave you wanting more. This thread on i-club will pretty helpful. Good luck man, PM me if you've got any questions.

**WRXVinny** · 11-30-2004 02:57 PM

I found a great link! http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthr...threadid=44681

Anyways, I have placed white face guages on my 96 Stang GT and 01 Honda 600 F4i bike. I have the expereince to know how to disassemble and how hopefully not screw up the needles and other stuff. I am going to give this a shot and I'll post pics up. Bulbs are easy to do. That green condom film might be a ***** to scrape off the instrument cluster. I want to go them red like the STI and my stereo deck can turn red/green. I have an Apexi EBC that is blue and with my Cobalt Autometers it will look sick!

**zoinks** · 12-01-2004 12:46 PM

Here's my tutorial that I did a few months ago...

Tutorial on changing instrument panel color.

Oh and I just realized that my dumb*** didn't put it the tutorial section so if a mod sees this, could you please move it. Thanks

Hope that helps
Shane

**WRXVinny** · 12-01-2004 09:12 PM

Okay, check this out guys. Instead of buying fancy bulbs and condoms, I used the stock ones. i bought $5 red glass paint in an aresol can and went to town. The HVAC was cake and the cruise light and fog light were not too bad at all! I even got my clock to turn red by using a red sharpie on it like someone else from this forum posed about. The instuments like speedo and tach I am leaving it last. It will be PITA!!!! But looks good so far. I'll take pics when I am done. THe needle needs to be painted or something? Any ideas guys?

Zoinks, I love your lights in your avatar. How much and where did you get them?

**zoinks** · 12-01-2004 09:27 PM

Originally Posted by WRXVinny

Zoinks, I love your lights in your avatar. How much and where did you get them?

Thanks, but unfortunately I don't have those anymore

But I sold them for a utec though

They are morettes that were left unpainted in the center. They cost $589 + paint, however I got mine free because some idiot smashed the front of my car.

**zoinks** · 12-01-2004 09:29 PM

Oh yeah, I take it that you checked out my tutorial. yeah the instruments are a bish but it looks so much better than the green. Just take your time and have some precision screwdrivers or the like to scrape off the film. The longer the better. I will have an STi cluster someday....oh yes it will be mine muhahahaah.

**WRXVinny** · 12-04-2004 09:00 AM

Finished! Took 2 hours to scrape the backside to the spedo cluster. The gas and temp were the biggest PITA. I used a jewrey screwdriver to scrape off the green resudue on the backside. It looks great in red! But I screwed up all the needles...lol! I had to fiddle with them to get them back to that "sweet" spot so they woud work. This is not a too hard job, you need a lot of patience. It is not a mod for the faint at heart but the results are awesome. I'll post some pics of it at dusk because I tried to do them at night and the flash of my camera counter acted my dash lights. Thanks zoinks for the great tutorial!

**zoinks** · 12-04-2004 10:29 AM

lol yeah the fuel and temp suck the major azz. I was sooo tempted to pull those two needles off. My fuel gauge actually sticks sometimes, I'm just too busy to fix it so I watch the miles. Oh yeah and I found out that the low fuel light works independantly from the gauge.

Now I just want to change the AUTO on the window switch to red. post some pics.

**WRXVinny** · 12-04-2004 06:52 PM

I'll post pics tomorrow, I forgot and it got too dark again..Damn-it!! I think my fuel guage wors..so far..LOL!!!!

**WRXVinny** · 12-05-2004 04:11 PM

I had to put my finger on the flash so you can actually see they are red. The pic does not do it justice unless you see it in person. They look bas-a$$. I got my fuel guage to work!! LOL!