dash light upgrade... help?

[Stingray42]

Hey everyone, I am interested in doing the dash light upgrade... but am not sure about how to go about doing it. Does anyone hae pics of exactly what pic I need to chrome paint? I tried once, but believe I painted the wrong part

Thanks

[mhicks]

After you take off the clear plastic lense, the very next piece that comes off is a black metal frame that goes around the gauges and speedo and fuel. Remove that and the back of it is painted a light blue. Spray that light blue chrome. That is how I did it in my '73.

[cochino12]

I also took my gauges out and painted the inside of the whole cluster. Make sure you tape off the connectors first

[badone07]

this afternoon. Don't have any before pics but they were really, really dim. I'm sure the dirt buildup in the cluster also made them dimmer than normal. I painted behind the gauges. I removed the cluster from the dash and removed the bulbs, sockets and harness. Masked the gauges off rear good, especially the front and any openings in the back. Then painted with some duplicolor chrome paint. Repainted the front metal black, since it was faded. I only masked for the black, didn't care if silver paint oversprayed to the front cover. It wasn't totally dark outside when I took these and battery was somewhat drained from leaving doors open earlier.
But it's a big improvement and worth the couple of hours invested.

Bah, let me try hosting them some place else.

[hotrodhomi]

I cant see anything but little boxes with red X's...is it just me?

[badone07]

Quality of the free image hosting site isn't great, but you should get the idea.

[Senor_paco]

Ok, you need the 168 light bulbs. Brighter. you need 11-13 of these, I can't remember. also the dupli-color chrome. use light coats, I did mine in the evening. Don't use clear. I had to start again. Oh well, learning curve. Mask your electrical connections. I took the pic of mine connected to power to check lights, but not reinstalled in my dash yet. The chrome paint is only $4 or something like that, and used just a little. take your time. That's the key. Do it when it's cool out too. Here's a pic of what's needed. Whipped up a pic, and hosted on my scout site. enjoy

[Senor_paco]

While you've got it out, may as well freshen your guages as well. masking the pointers off, got an airbrush w/flourescent orange paint, and gonna repaint the pointers. May as well, when you have it apart, eh? Could even use a hobby brush w/thinned paint if you don't have the airbrush

[Russell]

Make sure you clean the needles off real well or the paint will fisheye...

Personally I only painted the bezel housing, didn't both with the black peice, and got overspray on the first set of gauges that I sprayed the backing of. I found that just painting the housing made a phenominal difference.

[78SilveradoSWB]

This might help....Its from Jeff's site (BigBlock73)

http://73-87.com/7387garage/interior/dashlights.htm

[mckpaul]

The piece right behind my clear plastic lens (the reflector panel thats black on the front and greenish blue on the back) was plastic. I didn't go as far as to paint the whole inside of the cluster housing. I just painted the back of the front reflector/cover. I used masking tape and a razor blade and masked off the holes from the blue side to make sure none of the chrome paint ended up on the black front. Probably would have been easier to just pick up a can of black spray paint, paint the chrome side without worrying about it getting on the black, then flip it over and repaint the black. Wouldn't matter if a little black made it's way to the chrome back since it doesn't show anyway, and I would have had a fresh black front.

Oh well, painting only the back of the front reflector with chrome paint will give you a big improvement, and I'm sure painting the whole inside of the cluster housing chrome would make things brighter still, just requires more dis-assembly. Either way you go, it's worth it. I posted a thread in 73-87 Messqage board about making the AC/heat control panel brighter as well. I have some pics of what I did there to, will post them on that thread when pic posting is working again.

[mhicks]

If you are going to clean the dust off of the gauges, DON'T use any kind of cleaner (windex) on them. It will wipe the white lettering right off.

[Senor_paco]

Originally Posted by mhicks

If you are going to clean the dust off of the gauges, DON'T use any kind of cleaner (windex) on them. It will wipe the white lettering right off.

I saw that by rubbing a painted area off the gauge where you can't see it. comes right off. That's why masking the face off to paint the needles is going to be slow going. just wanna take my time. You can't rush these things.

[cliffsta]

I still don't see why you blind bats need a brighter instrumentation I have 20/200 vision, and i can see everything in the worst light, that is in orange street lights at night. Even pitch black i can see everything. My gauges are faded beyond recognition and the retainer lense is anything but clean
And another thing, in every picture of the "after paint", the light looks uneven in the guage, which to me would make it harder to read than a "dull" gauge.
Someone please enlighten me!! (no pun intended)

[MylilBowTie]

Its like that because of the way the light displacement is in the cluster. I dont really see any drawback to doing this other than some of the parts being brittle. But if take a weekend and take your time with it results are well worth it.

I forgot to add some of the lighting placement may be due to the camera. I did my cluster and its evenly light for the most part. I have one bulb socket that likes to wiggle lose then it doesnt lite up. So I have to wiggle it again and it comes back on. Im not sure whats thats all about other than age of the parts.

[kevinr1970]

Ok, whats the secret for getting the gauges out of the dash? Is there some sequence you need to follow, or is there still something attached that I can't see that is keeping it from coming out??? I am trying to get the complete cluster out in one piece.

[badone07]

If all the screws are out then it's probably either the speedometer cable, wire harness or both. My truck doesn't have ac so I remove the headlight switch and reach through the square hole next to it. Press in the speedometer retaining clip. It can be located on top or below the cable, but attached to the rear of the speedometer housing. The cluster should then pop forward a little. Then to the left of the speedometer cable, squeeze the 2 clips (top and bottom) holding on the harness and removing the connector. The cluster should now come right out.