LED gauges are done

[DaBlackSamba]

well after searching from one of the internet to the other trying to find a plug n play LED to work in the original gauges, and could find nothing at all, so i found these LED strips at the local autozone

first of all, i did canibalize a set of gauges for this cdonversion, it was from a 1971 squareback parts car that someone had already canabalized the odometer out of it


so on to some pics

we all know how bright the stock gauges are with the incadesent bulbs, and how kinda blah the stock color is

so on to the progress pics
i heavily primered, and painted the insides of the stock cans gloss white to brighten up the already bright LEDS

i used the side firing LEDs i found at autozone, i decided to go with blue in the 28" lenght

had to do some serious trimming for the fuel gauge section

here is what it looks like with the 1971 speedo just set in with all the trim in place

with my 1973 speedo fully installed

sorry for some of the blured pics, my digital camera sucks for dark pics, and i am waiting for the blue LED 194's to show up so i can put one in the tach so that everything matches

what i did for the tach was its an autometer 2300, and pretty much took is all apart including the front bezel, and how i made is fit was took the clear lens from the tach, and the chrome bezel from my extra clock i had, mixed up a little JB weld, and attached it to the fronf of the tach, and shoved it in the hole

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1968 VW variant

[vlad01]

All I did with mine was well I built my own custom gauges for the speedo and tach so the brightness isn't a problem.

As for the fuel gauge I made my own custom globe as I couldn't find a higher wattage in that socket style. I also primed and painted the housing white inside as you did


then I got some VDO brand green colour globe sleeves.


the end result was much brighter and a much greener shade of green.

The advantage of this is the backlight dimmer works as before. with LEDs it does not as they are a voltage dependent devices and depending on their current draw either wont dim or just turn off suddenly at a given point on the rheostat.

The fact that that function is lost would give me the shits.


but yeah nice work, they look good.

[supaninja]

You could still have a dimmer function. In my old 914 and my beetle I upgraded to LEDs then built a current limiting circuit for them. It was pretty sweet, the LEDs were never overdriven and they were dimable. I bet there is a circuit somewhere on this site http://www.discovercircuits.com/list.htm (that site rocks! I can spend days of my life looking at all those cool circuits).

Edit- here's one with brightness control http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm2794.pdf

Here you go, you can buy a LED dimmer for $15 http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index...ht%20Hobby
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http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y163/chucky1974/ninja.gif

Nick
Megasquirted Type 4 powered Notch http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=427890&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
Blog of Doom http://supaninjanick.wordpress.com/

[EatACactus]

Sorry, I had to

End result came out good, but the blue just isn't my style.
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'73 Squareback Bodydrop Build
11th Hour Industries

[DaBlackSamba]

the dimmer still works as designed, the only one i have a problem with is the single 194 in the tach, but thats a minor issue

i gave serious thought to what color i could go with, i could have gone wit the white LEDS, and decided to go against it since everyone has done it, so i went with blue since the car was blue, and thought it would be a nice touch... these things are insanely bright, you can even see them in daylight
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1968 VW variant

[supaninja]

The UV LEDs are pretty sweet is you have a black background and white letter.
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http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y163/chucky1974/ninja.gif

Nick
Megasquirted Type 4 powered Notch http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=427890&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
Blog of Doom http://supaninjanick.wordpress.com/

[sharkskinman]

Oooooooooo
Me Likey the Blue

i have some i thought about doing that to
but will have to get some Side emiting ones

i have to see if i still have my other set of guages

you did a good job
they look great
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74 Mexi Swamp Thing. 70 square volksrod (Swamp Rat)..65 C10

[Brent]

Anyone used these? Not sure if it's BA9 or BA7 that fits, would need to measure later. Only about a buck each. I was thinking of getting the wide angle ones.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index..._specs.htm
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69 Fastback Build
Berg5 Build

[vlad01]

[vlad01]

[supaninja]

[Brent]

Pardon my ignorance here...

Are any of the bulbs in our fuel gauge reverse polarity? What about the generator light when I have an alternator?

I'm not sure which bulbs should be standard or reverse polarity.
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69 Fastback Build
Berg5 Build

[Yeti69]

Hi Brent,
all bulbs are standard. The connection inside the black backplate takes care of that. Just use the wiring diagram and standard bulbs and you should be good to go.

The backplate automatically connects some bulbs with permanent (+) others with permanent (-), depending if a sensor or regulator connects the (-) or a switch, like the driving light switch puts the (+) to the bulbs.
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1966 Fastback "The Volksback"
watch my Blog: http://yeti69.blogspot.com/
My Baja build Blog: http://volksstreaker.blogspot.de/

[sharkskinman]

i like blue!!

but white is too bright and the normal green'ish just isnt Crisp enough

Blue is a good night color
Its easier to adjust to the light in a quicker manner

red would be good but i Hate red
even Orange wouldnt be bad

2 cents...


I would like to have a Clear Thru dial on a black back
if i could figure a way to cut out (basically) the numbers and notches
just seal the side and Only the Numbers will light up....MMMmmmmmm
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74 Mexi Swamp Thing. 70 square volksrod (Swamp Rat)..65 C10

[Brent]

Thanks for the info.

I've been doing some reading and there's a guy over on Pelican's forums, Etarga, that seems to sell a quality product. When he asked me about reverse polarity, I had no idea.

And he has blue shark!
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69 Fastback Build
Berg5 Build

[supaninja]

[sharkskinman]

green just doesnt go with my Motif
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74 Mexi Swamp Thing. 70 square volksrod (Swamp Rat)..65 C10