I did the 'brighter dash lights' upgrade too!

[arveetek]

I finished the dash lights upgrade tonight. Wow! What a difference! My lights are at least twice as bright, if not brighter, than before! I also painted the needles as was suggested. This is a really good, low-budget mod. It's probably one of the best 'bang for your buck' mods you can do! I plan to do Mike's dash upgrade one day, but this is definitely a huge improvement over the way it was!

One of my turn signal indicator lights was burned out, so I decided this was a good time to do this upgrade, since I had to tear into the dash just to get to the darn bulb. I discovered that one of the circuits for the dash lights on the printed circuit board was nearly melted, so I did some 'hillbilly' wiring and bypassed some of the circuits with actual wiring. I installed the 168 bulbs too. I was also able to fix the pesky high-beam indicator, since it only wanted to work once in a while.

I sure appreciate this board and the members on it for this suggestion!

Casey

[8t5Silverado]

How long did it take to do this mod? Can I do it after work, or should I wait for the weekend?

What did you paint the needles with?

[Russell]

8t5Silverado -- The part that took the longest was waiting for the paint to dry Take that waiting out, and it took me less than an hour to do this. Then again, I already knew exactly how everything came apart & came together, so it wen't fairly quick for me.

[arveetek]

85,

I think my total project time was around 2.5 hours, including repair the circuit board. I didn't know it, but I had also purchased 'fast-drying' paint. I used chrome spray paint I found in the auto section of Wal-Mart, and bright 'glowing' orange spray paint from the paint section of the same store. Both paints dried to the touch within minutes. Very cool!

If all goes as planned, you could do it after work one night. However, if you've never been into the dash before, and if something breaks in the process, you might want to allow more time. I would probably wait for the weekend if I were you. I started on mine last night, and finished it tonight. But I didn't have to drive the truck today, either.

Casey

[Prerunner1982]

like i said before if all you are doing it painting the plastic blue reflective panel chrome, and NOT pulling the entire cluster, it wont take very long.

i still have another bright dash light upgrade i want to try. i have done this one and it helped....i also run the 168 bulbs, but have something else in mind i want to try.

[87Silvy]

Jon,

What you got in mind, you sparked my curiosity?!?!?

[Zilverado]

Wow, I should have taken a patent out on this one - - I could retire on the royalties j/k of course. Although it does feel good to come up with a good idea every once in a while. I'm just glad I have been able to help so many.

Casey, I'm glad to hear it worked for you as well. I'm looking forward to getting back to work on my truck as well. I want to upgrade the bulbs and do the gauge needle painting too.

Let's keep helpin' eachother...

[Prerunner1982]

you will see when i do it, dont want someone else taking credit...

[Txstruck]

Originally posted by arveetek
I finished the dash lights upgrade tonight. Wow! What a difference! My lights are at least twice as bright, if not brighter, than before! I also painted the needles as was suggested. This is a really good, low-budget mod. It's probably one of the best 'bang for your buck' mods you can do! I plan to do Mike's dash upgrade one day, but this is definitely a huge improvement over the way it was!

One of my turn signal indicator lights was burned out, so I decided this was a good time to do this upgrade, since I had to tear into the dash just to get to the darn bulb. I discovered that one of the circuits for the dash lights on the printed circuit board was nearly melted, so I did some 'hillbilly' wiring and bypassed some of the circuits with actual wiring. I installed the 168 bulbs too. I was also able to fix the pesky high-beam indicator, since it only wanted to work once in a while.

I sure appreciate this board and the members on it for this suggestion!

Casey

Who is this Arveetek guy?? Is he a new guy? :p


Casey! Whats going on man? I havent seen you like in ages. Hey man, you wouldnt happen to have an extra 6.2 laying around would ya? Mine died.

[N2TRUX]

Hey I just did the dash upgrade too. Well actually I cheated and had it done. Crossy happened to have the parts I needed to repair my tach dash. I shipped it to him, and he changed the odometer that was all dingy, and the gas gauge that the PO had "tried" to paint over the Unleaded Fuel Only script.

Here's the results...

Before

[N2TRUX]

After...

[bigblock73]

Looks good Ken!

Dave, you did a good job.

[78SilveradoSWB]

Looks like Crossy put fuel in your tank too by looking at the fuel gauge.

[arveetek]

Originally posted by Txstruck



Who is this Arveetek guy?? Is he a new guy? :p


Casey! Whats going on man? I havent seen you like in ages. Hey man, you wouldnt happen to have an extra 6.2 laying around would ya? Mine died.

Hey Steve!

I still lurk around here from time to time! I read a lot of the posts, I just don't post much myself.

What happened to your engine? Yeah, I got a spare 6.2L sitting in the garage, but it needs rebuilt. It's my parts engine! I got a whole corner full of 6.2L junk.

Casey

[Txstruck]

Originally posted by arveetek



Hey Steve!

I still lurk around here from time to time! I read a lot of the posts, I just don't post much myself.

What happened to your engine? Yeah, I got a spare 6.2L sitting in the garage, but it needs rebuilt. It's my parts engine! I got a whole corner full of 6.2L junk.

Casey

Well just before christmas, the tranny went out, got it rebuilt and a month later the motor started knocking. So I just parked the damn thing. Any ideas??

[SixthFloorFreak]

Originally posted by Txstruck



Well just before christmas, the tranny went out, got it rebuilt and a month later the motor started knocking. So I just parked the damn thing. Any ideas??

whaddaya expect? "runs on mud"

you know that's not good for it, right?

[C-10volvo]

Originally posted by N2TRUX
After...

thats a nice job! looks like you got a full tank of gas out of the deal too haha

[arveetek]

Originally posted by Txstruck



Well just before christmas, the tranny went out, got it rebuilt and a month later the motor started knocking. So I just parked the damn thing. Any ideas??

Well, sometimes an injector can go bad and cause a knock. What you can do is start it up, and then loosen one injection line at a time. If the knock goes away when you loosen a line, then that injector/cylinder is the problem. You can then swap injectors with one on the other side of the engine. If the knock moves to the other cylinder, then it's the injector for sure. If the noise stays in the same place, it's something internal in the engine.

Is it a realy loud knock?

Casey

[N2TRUX]

Originally posted by 78SilveradoSWB
Looks like Crossy put fuel in your tank too by looking at the fuel gauge.

Yeah he did. That's just the kinda guy he is. He'll repair your tach dash, and throw in a tank of gas to boot...

[Slonaker]

Originally posted by N2TRUX
Yeah he did. That's just the kinda guy he is. He'll repair your tach dash, and throw in a tank of gas to boot...

The shipping must be outrageous...

Slonaker

[Txstruck]

It does seem louder in the mornings when cold and when going down the highway. I think I am going to save for a 6.5L turbo.

Originally posted by arveetek



Well, sometimes an injector can go bad and cause a knock. What you can do is start it up, and then loosen one injection line at a time. If the knock goes away when you loosen a line, then that injector/cylinder is the problem. You can then swap injectors with one on the other side of the engine. If the knock moves to the other cylinder, then it's the injector for sure. If the noise stays in the same place, it's something internal in the engine.

Is it a realy loud knock?

Casey