upgrade to factory rallye gage backlighting

[moparmat2000]

Hi Y'all,

I am restoring the rallye gage cluster on my 67 cuda. I did all the usual stuff. Cleaned and repainted the housing with bright white paint, got brand new lenses, and bright green LEDs, got rid of the blue diffuser covers trying to maximize my lighting output and be able to read the instruments at night. All i could get was just ok spots and really bad dim spots.

I ordered some peel and stick flexible LED strip lighting. I only wanted 1 meter of it to line the perimeter of the gage housing. They actually sent me 5meters of it lol. I think i payed $7.00 shipped for it. I used #5630 uncoated non waterproof LED strip. These are from what i understand the brightest leds in strip light form, and can be used for even underwater exterior lighting in waterproof form.

Anyway, i used the black and red wire leads already soldered on the strip, and i soldered them to one of the bulb sockets and popped it back into the circuit board, and snapped the led bulb back into the socket as well, and then ran it around the perimeter of the housing, and trimmed it at the cut point on the strip where it met back at the starting point, then i reinstalled my gages, and temp installed the front with the lenses back on, and fired her up with a 9 volt battery.

Holy crap what a difference. I wont even need to run these at full brightness. No dim spots, and everything is 100% clear and readable. I am still modifying my volt gage so its face is currently off in the pix.

I would recommend this to anybody who is not happy with their gage backlighting at night in any mopar instrument cluster, plus these take very little amperage to run. Now i am thinking of getting a roll of this in soft white to back light my kitchen cabinets at night to light up the countertops.

Matt

 

[diymirage]

looks pretty good, where did you order it from?

 

[moparmat2000]

Evilbay it came wrapped on a spool from hong kong

 

[diymirage]

too bad I don't like green, or I would have you send me a foot or so

 

[philcollins]

Nice job, i'm going to try it on my 1971.

 

[moparmat2000]

They are so cheap to purchase and many colors. No doubt you can find what you need. Lots of places sell these in 1 meter increments.

I am looking at soft white for my kitchen now.

 

[TrailBeast]

I did kind of the same thing only in white gauges with florescent orange needles and super white LED's.
The gauges are aftermarket but installed in the factory holes.
The speedometer is a totally different animal also, after I got done messing with it.
Those strips would have made it a breeze, so thanks for posting this because I have uses for those.

These are lit and not lit, and oh baby can you see them.
I have also since done the clock with the same white face and orange hands, but still need to get in there and hook up the lighting power to it.
Each one of those gauges has a custom mounted LED inside them instead of the bulbs they come with, and the speedometer has the two factory sockets with LED's and a single LED built into the very top of the housing to balance out the light in the center of the speedo face.
They do dim also.

 

[diymirage]

good point trail, do these strips dim with the regular switch?

 

[moparmat2000]

Not sure, but iran mine on 6 volt, and 9 volt and the brightnesses dimmed to the corresponding voltages. These strips i have been told can be used with a rheostat for countertop backlighting so from this standpoint i cant see why not.

 

[TrailBeast]

Not sure, but iran mine on 6 volt, and 9 volt and the brightnesses dimmed to the corresponding voltages. These strips i have been told can be used with a rheostat for countertop backlighting so from this standpoint i cant see why not.

I agree, they should work and dim fine if the different batteries worked because all the rheostat does is vary the voltage.

 

[moparmat2000]

Heres how i soldered the wiring into the light socket.

 

[TrailBeast]

Heres how i soldered the wiring into the light socket.

You have alternative tendency syndrome my friend.

Yea, it's a disease.

 

[moparmat2000]

Alternative tendency syndrome?
Sounds funny, what is it?

I just didnt want to drill extra holes and maybe solder onto the circuit board.

 

[TrailBeast]

Alternative tendency syndrome?
Sounds funny, what is it?

I just didnt want to drill extra holes and maybe solder onto the circuit board.

It's a tendency to do things in alternative ways (like I do)
I don't mind drilling or soldering wherever I feel the need as long as it doesn't drastically alter the OE things so it can't be undone.

 

[moparmat2000]

I was thinking up different ways of doing this, while the strip lighting was in route after i purchased it. Once i recieved it, using the light socket to power it was a eureka moment.

I am now brainstorming my kitchen cabinet indirect lighting i want to do. My wife had me shitcan our trash disposal, so now i have an outlet for a 12v power supply under the sink, and a light switch on the kitchen backsplash that i can use to turn the LEDcabinet lighting on and off. My wife wants the soft white LED. No problem. 5 meters of 5630 waterproof are $10. Shipped. Thats the smallest length i can get. I am sure i will find other uses for whats left though.

 

[360DartGT66]

Heres how i soldered the wiring into the light socket.

That's pretty clever.

This whole idea is great! There's no end to what you can pimp with LED strips! IKEA have them really cheap if you want ones that are already safety approved.

 

[moparmat2000]

That's pretty clever.

This whole idea is great! There's no end to what you can pimp with LED strips! IKEA have them really cheap if you want ones that are already safety approved.

Yeah the UL listed stuff in the states, however 12v is small voltage, and if you use common sense in routing them, and protecting them from shorting with a small fuse in the circuit any of this stuff would work fine in a home application.

 

[360DartGT66]

No problem at all. Just promoting IKEA!

 

[diymirage]

No problem at all. Just promoting IKEA!

let me counter that by saying that unless they change their stance on sodomy I will never spend another penny in their store

(nothing against swedes, just the principle of the matter)


I was looking those strips up on the 'bay last night and their are plenty of them that come with a 12v plug

 

[moparmat2000]

Butt sex BAD !!!!! LED light strips good !!!!!!

Now before we get this thread booted into the circular file , lets get back on topic.

The lowest these 5630 LEDs will dim down to is 6V , and for indirect instrument cluster lighting, this is perfect. I even thought about making a small diffuser and directing this light down towards my heater controller in the dash but from the front kinda like they used to light up the E body dashes from the front and directed the light towards the gages. If i could do this without it being easily visible, so it blends in hidden, i may do it. I mean, i have more than enough left over from a 5 meter roll !!!! LOL.

 

[moparmat2000]

Finished up my ammeter to volt gage conversion. All thats left is to clip off the needle on the volt gage and use the original ammeter gage pointer on the volt gage so everythings a perfect match, and tweak the pot to get the needle to read where i want it at 12v.

I also installed a mini denso 50A alternator. Its plug has a spot for a fault light. I am contemplating installing a very small diameter red led next to the discharge side of the gage face. Something thats not obtrusive and easily overlooked unless its lit.

Also thought about doing this with my in dash vacuum gage with a small high bright amber 12v led hooked up to a hidden adjustable proform shift light. Same thing make it un obtrusive unless lit. Any thoughts on this? Good idea, bad idea?

Matt

 

[360DartGT66]

I'd go with clear lens LED:s for the indicators. And paint the protruding rear part black to avoid stray green light from showing.

 

[Princess Valiant]

dang, I need to try this in my 68 B-body rally cluster and see if it looks as good....

 

[moparmat2000]

I'd go with clear lens LED:s for the indicators. And paint the protruding rear part black to avoid stray green light from showing.

I decided to feed a second bulb into the parking brake indicator housing for my shift light. This way its truly hidden.

The red led for the charging indicator i may fit into the upper periphery of the gage face, so i get the red glow from it, but not directly see it. I will have to temp install it with tape and light it up, and see if its visible that way before i make it permanent.

Rani, this led lighting is cheap, and i am betting your B body dash wiuld light up much better with it. I always thought the dashes on both my 68 and 69 charger were lacking in the backlighting department. However i had these cars in the mid 80s thru the early 90s. No hi tech strip lighting then.

Matt.

 

[moparmat2000]

Finally got the dash all back together today