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Couldn't see my gauges

K5-Kelly

K5-Kelly

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A couple of weekends ago I was forced to cut through the bush with my 91 K5 as the highway had a rock slide and as it was getting dark I was having a problem seeing my instrument gauges. I have great eyesight but I couldn't see a thing so the other day I took the gauge cluster out to see what was wrong and that's when I realized they were dusty and dirty! So I took them all apart and cleaned the gauges with a lightly damp (hot water) lint free paper towel and then I polished the lens with plastic polish, Novus 2 and Novus 1. I changed all the bulbs out and installed all new #168 bulbs. The cluster was equipped with the bulb and socket assembly that you are required to change out as an entire unit but I just used a tiny screw driver and broke the soldered connection loose and slipped the new bulbs in place and wrapped the bulb wires over the socket connections. Now my gauges look like new and they are really bright! As a side note when I was off road I could hear this nasty squeak noise, turns out the dash sheet metal was slightly bent and was rubbing on the instrument lens probably since it was new.
 
another thing you should have done while it was apart, was spray paint the "bucket area" where the gauges and bulbs mount in, along with the back sides of all the gauges with a high refelective silver of chrome type paint...

I did this and used the brightest bulbs i could find, and it looks like a brand new dash cluster. :wink1:
 
Actually it was a light blue color and it was dirty! I washed all that crap out and it was about 50 times better. Tonight I ran a video back to the store and I can't believe how nice it is. And in true redneck fashion I have not put the dash cap or the instrument bezel on as I'm re wiring the deck and speakers. The previous owner was a wiring hack and loved that quick crimp crap. Say that ten times real fast :haha:
 
4xcrazy said:
another thing you should have done while it was apart, was spray paint the "bucket area" where the gauges and bulbs mount in, along with the back sides of all the gauges with a high refelective silver of chrome type paint...

I did this and used the brightest bulbs i could find, and it looks like a brand new dash cluster. :wink1:
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I painted mine a while ago and it made a big difference.

I need brighter bulbs though. Which ones did you use?
 
I did the reflective paint bit also, helped out quite a bit. While I was in there, I also painted all the needles with orange Tester's paint. Now they look like my Lexus gauges.... It's awesome!
 
GM used both both 194's and 168's in the dash IIRC. The 168's burn hotter (duh, they are brighter) not quite sure yet that long term, the cluster housing/bulb holders won't melt if not designed for them. May just have been cheaper for GM to use the weaker bulbs where not "needed".
 
I'll probably pick up some 168s then and see how they work out.
 
mine were a little dim,so i did this:D
gauges.jpg
 
another way of getting a brighter dash is to use LED's u can find some off ebay that r used to replace 194s and 168s, i have white LEDs in my gauges and love it.
 
shaun89 said:
another way of getting a brighter dash is to use LED's u can find some off ebay that r used to replace 194s and 168s, i have white LEDs in my gauges and love it.
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Got pics of this? Sounds interesting.
 
Problem people have said is that the LED's are too directional. I know they make different lensed-LED's to combat that, just curious how they work in real life.

Do you have pics of them at night?
 
Col_Sanders said:
I painted mine a while ago and it made a big difference.

I need brighter bulbs though. Which ones did you use?
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I used the 168 bulbs over the 194's. The 168's are much brighter than the 194's but they have a shorter life span. But over the years I've found out if you drive with the dash lights dimmed down they die rather quickly. Run them on high and they last forever. Serious, we have customers that have more than two bulbs burned out and they are chronic dimmers....
 
dyeager535 said:
Problem people have said is that the LED's are too directional. I know they make different lensed-LED's to combat that, just curious how they work in real life.

Do you have pics of them at night?
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hey, sorry i dont have any pics, im at my girl friends house, but ill get some when im home on my computer tomorrow, but as for the directional problem, i bought these,kinda cheesy/cheap but they work real well! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/10-x....c0.m245&_trkparms=72:543|65:12|39:1|240:1318
 
jonathon said:
I never understood the point of dimming... :crazy:
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If your lights are bright enough, it makes a huge difference on how much you can see OUTSIDE of the vehicle. Same reason you don't look at oncoming headlights. All about night vision.
 
I meant stock. I'd love to go to Autometers or something, but it's not in the cards at the moment.
 
SnackPack said:
Got pics of this? Sounds interesting.
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heres the pic,sorry its a tiny bit foggy and stuff my sisters camera is a little $$$ and touchy. o ya, and the reason they look a little bit different colored is because some of the backs of the gauges is either white or metal so it reflects different.
IMG_6873.jpg
 
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