HOW TO: Change Gauge Colors - Honda Prelude Forum

natemanas · 05-10-2008, 12:33 AM

Alright.
I've seen this asked a billion times with only mediocre answers, and it could be that I'm not looking in the right places, but I have done this a few times now, and i figured that it'd be nice for those who would like different gauge colors to know a good method.

I assume NO responsibility if you do something to eff up your car in any way, and Preludeonline also assumes no responsibility for anything you do to your car.
That said: Read along, and the directions should explain themselves if you just follow them as i write them, not skipping steps or improvising.

Tools Needed:
1 phillips head magnetic screwdriver (not too long, maybe 3-4 inches)
1 electronics phillips head screwdriver (very small head)
1 flathead screwdriver, the head wrapped in cloth or tissue as not to scratch anything.
1 sharpie and piece of paper.
Bottle of acetate/fingernail polish remover
Sheet(s) of acetate 'paper' (art supply stores usually have it) or testors model glues work nicely too.

Photos coming soon!!

Step 1:

Using your cloth wrapped flathead, gently pry off the tweeter covers, careful not to yank them as to not damage the tweeters.

Step 2:

Sitting in the driver's seat, reach up toward your gauges, feel above them for the valance, and notice that there are a series of screws spaced apart at an angle toward you.
Uncsrew these screws and poke them through your paper, noting on the paper that they're valance screws.
You really wanna do that part cause you'll end up with extras and mismatches at the end if not.
Take off the valance

Step 3:

In between the gauges and the gas/temp/clock is a plastic piece held in by 1 screw. Unscrew this, putting the screw in the paper (do this with all screws from here on out) and take the plastic separator out.
Be sure to put all your parts in the same area as to not lose them.

Step 4:

For the speedo/tach cluster there are 4 screws holding it in place, on each corner of the gauge cluster., remove them, being careful not to drop them, being in a deeper area.
Now you'll feel your cluster drop a little bit, so don't be alarmed.

Step 5:

To the left of the cluster you'll notice 3 pigtail connectors.
Disconnect them.

Step 6:

To remove the cluster, press down firmly (not aggressively) and carefully twist FORWARD bringing the top of the cluster toward you.
It should now just come out of the dash fairly easily.

Step 7:

Now that you have the cluster out, here comes the fun part...
On a towel or something soft and non abrasive, place your cluster face down, gaining access to several gold screws.
You'll notice them all in the pictures attached (coming soon)
Go ahead and unscrew them all and number them with your marker (and noting them on your paper.
NOTE, there are screws on the back AND bottom of the cluster.
When you inscrew the bottom ones, your odometer and another circuit will come loose.. note their positioning

Step 8:

The white plastic guard should now come off or flip down if your tape is intact. You'll now see 4 more gold screws. Unscrew them, note them SEPARATELY from the previous gold screws.
These will let your needle assemblies come loose, which is really important to their calibration.

Step 9:

Now you can look for the areas where the tinted face is still connected to the cluster, and GENTLY pry the clips loose using your wrapped flathead.
Your tinted face will now come loose.
Be careful not to get fingerprints inside, it'll piss you off when you put it together and see fingerpints in there.

Step 10:

Take your small phillips head, and you'll see 4 small screws holding on the gauge faceplate. Unscrew these.

Step 11:

This is a specific step, so mind it well..
On the faceplate, underneath each needle is a small black peg that keeps the needle in place, Leave these intact...
Place your cluster on its bottom as it would be positioned in the car.
Now what you need to do is carefully pull the needle assy toward you until your faceplate is no longer stuck on the odometer peg. Now carefully slide the faceplate up, away from the needle assys, and off the entire gauge cluster, but BE CAREFUL not to let your needles go spinning out of control. You must maintain their general position (not letting them spin forward 360°). This is why i placed the cluster upright so that the needles would get stuck pointing against a table or flat surface.

That was the hardest part. I suggest taking a break, renew your brain, and go eat or something.

Ok, now we're ready.
Step 12:
Now your faceplate is off, flip it over, being careful not to smudge the front, as fingerprints don't come off of the faceplate front.
Take the acetate/fingernail polish remover, and using a q-tip or cotton ball, rubb off the backing of each number you desire to change (usually all).
You'll notice that the "premium gasoline" doesnt come off.

Step 13:

Now that youve gotten the color off the numbers, you'll see they're all clear.
Cut out the acetate paper to fit the area(s) you wanna change.
You'll be placing this paper on the back of the faceplate, so you can either scotch tape the acetate down, or glue it with some 3m adhesive spray.
You can also use testors model glue in light coats as to not obscure the light coming through.

Step 14:

Once the color is dry/set, you can reassemble the whole thing.
In order to get the faceplate back on, point the needles up a bit so the small pegs are in place, then once the faceplate is in, let go of the gauges so they 'float' back to their original position.
Now you can slide the faceplate and needle assys backwards away from you and over the odometer peg..

Now reassemble the cluster, go test it in the car, and then reassemble the dash area you took apart.
NOTE: you'll need to give the cluster a little gentle force to get it back in the dash.

Step 15:

Send me results on this thread! and don't ever delete your pics for reference.. or you can PM me and gimme your email, and I can host them for you instead.

GOOD LUCK!

If I've missed anything, just lemme know and i'll edit as needed

Here's an older pic so that you're held over till i can get my pics up next week.

boymeetsfence · 05-10-2008, 01:37 AM

Crap, I got all excited thinking this was for a 5th gen...
lol I'm retarded

natemanas · 05-10-2008, 07:37 AM

You're in the fourth gen forum, but honestly, I can't see it being much different.. I dunno though, I've never owned a 5th gen.

omegared · 05-10-2008, 08:33 AM

that cool man when do you think you will have pic so that i may do it to my car and how much would you sell an set already blue if you was to seel them

natemanas · 05-10-2008, 01:26 PM

Umm, I don't have a blue set right now, but if you wanted to send me yours I would charge $65 shipping included.
I don't mind doing this service at all, but I HIGHLY recommend you doing them yourself so you can become more familiar with your car.
Basically, you could take your cluster out and ship them to me once your paypal'd me your payment, then gimme about 2-3 days to get the color done, and UPS ground back to you, so I'm guessing a week and some change turnaround.

ChicagoRSX · 05-10-2008, 04:19 PM

natemanas, i know i bugged the crap out of you, so now I thank you very much.

natemanas · 05-11-2008, 11:31 AM

No problem man, it kinda just pushed me to do what I wanted to do for a while.
Y'all can just call me Nate BTW..

ChicagoRSX · 05-11-2008, 02:46 PM

well Nate, props to you.

jaguar.rj · 05-25-2008, 10:56 AM

Good description Natemanas!

Waiting for the photos.

natemanas · 05-25-2008, 02:04 PM

Yeah, i'm waiting too.. I am waiting on a new cluster (my tach never worked, and now the needles won't light up) so once I get the new cluster, I'll be doing this and taking pix step by step for ya'll

Nate

el_baby · 06-15-2008, 10:59 PM

if you want to change the color of the miles, you remove the plastic it haves and add the paper?

i havent tested with acetate, but i doubt the color of that plastic will go out

natemanas · 06-17-2008, 05:20 PM

in order to change color on something like that, you need to know what complimentary color will filter out the original color.
Take off the plastic in front of the mileage counter, then lay PINK acetate film over the counter (youll need it plugged in to do this so you can see how many layers to add).
This will result in WHITE counter. Then above the PINK acetate film, you will then add the acetate film of your choice...
If you're just changing them to blue, then don't worry about the pink, just overlay blue, as it will naturally absorb the green light.
Hope that helps..
BTW everyone, I should have pics up in the next few weeks finally!

el_baby · 06-17-2008, 06:33 PM

i didnt find acetate papers... but i use navy treat bags from walmart, like $1.20
i just used 1 for the tach and speedo.. and 2 for all other things

i though you were talking about acetone, and i read over there that they take the color of the miles with it or something like that... i "burn" the miles plastic with acetone... so i just put the papers there in that hole...

i do the same for the gas/temp and clock gauges, putting the papers (not continue burning them!)

but it will look something blur... it can be corrected putting the papers in the LCD's instead of in the other plastic?

natemanas · 06-18-2008, 09:43 AM

you can use ACETONE to rub off the color on the tach/speedo, but nothing else..
ACETATE is a clear acrylic plastic that comes in various colors:
Colored Acetate Sheets - Boreal

natemanas · 06-18-2008, 09:44 AM

BTW, those thin plastic bags are not gonna give you the color you want without layering MANY bags, giving you less light output.
I'd go to a arts and crafts store, and ask them about the colored acetate..

ChicagoRSX · 07-13-2008, 12:08 PM

seriously shouldn't this be sticky'd or at least put in the FAQ section?

natemanas · 07-13-2008, 01:42 PM

Hehe, I hope so.. I just got the new set of gauges, and will be redoing this mod very soon, so stay tuned

Meanie5470 · 07-14-2008, 06:53 PM

damn thats pretty sweet. Always wanted to do mine a cobalt blue like the vw's. Only thing that sucks is it wont match the gas/temp display anymore.

Blamo · 07-14-2008, 09:41 PM

You can tint the Fuel/Temp cluster in the same manner. It's a faster process, as well. I just finished tinting a full dash for a friend of mine. Should look nice once we get it all installed.

Lo Key · 07-14-2008, 10:41 PM

props, you actually make that seem fairly easy. This should be in the FAQ forum fo sho haha