witchdoctor
Gringorican
- Joined
- August 8, 2003
- Messages
- 245
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 98 Sport, 02 Triumph S4
as i have changed all of my other lights to blue (except for that factory headunit which is next to go), i wanted to change the display color of my new message center that i installed a month or two ago.
here's how to do it (yes it can be done)
remove the console piece containing the m/c and disconnect the 3 wire plugs on the back. now you can take it inside and work on your workbench or kitchen table.
flip the console over. you will see 4 screws holding the m/c screen to the console. take these out, and remove the screen unit.
now flip the screen unit right side up. there are 4 more screws holding on the top frame. remove these and carefully lift off the black plastic frame.
now you will see the screen and the exposed circuit board. if you look very closely near the perimeter of the glass, you will see what appears to be the outline of a piece of film cover. this is really a green coating (like translucent paint); the screen display itself is really white.
using a bright light at an angle to see the glass surface clearly and a razor blade, carefully scrape off the green coating. take your time not to scratch the glass. you should try to get the bulk of it off and then go back and clean up the remains; you won't get it all the first time.
once the coating is all off you're all set. for color, i used a piece of blue polyester film (gels for stage lighting) which i bought a pack of 4 colors for $7. probably translucent glass paint would work as well, but i used the gel, cut it to the size of the glass, and taped it at the border with scotch tape. keep the tape within 1/8" of the gel border so it doesn't show behind the frame.
then just put it all back together, plug it in, and enjoy!
sorry i didn't take pics but my batteries died when i started. it is an easy fix, though, about 20-30 minutes if you go slow.
here's how to do it (yes it can be done)
remove the console piece containing the m/c and disconnect the 3 wire plugs on the back. now you can take it inside and work on your workbench or kitchen table.
flip the console over. you will see 4 screws holding the m/c screen to the console. take these out, and remove the screen unit.
now flip the screen unit right side up. there are 4 more screws holding on the top frame. remove these and carefully lift off the black plastic frame.
now you will see the screen and the exposed circuit board. if you look very closely near the perimeter of the glass, you will see what appears to be the outline of a piece of film cover. this is really a green coating (like translucent paint); the screen display itself is really white.
using a bright light at an angle to see the glass surface clearly and a razor blade, carefully scrape off the green coating. take your time not to scratch the glass. you should try to get the bulk of it off and then go back and clean up the remains; you won't get it all the first time.
once the coating is all off you're all set. for color, i used a piece of blue polyester film (gels for stage lighting) which i bought a pack of 4 colors for $7. probably translucent glass paint would work as well, but i used the gel, cut it to the size of the glass, and taped it at the border with scotch tape. keep the tape within 1/8" of the gel border so it doesn't show behind the frame.
then just put it all back together, plug it in, and enjoy!
sorry i didn't take pics but my batteries died when i started. it is an easy fix, though, about 20-30 minutes if you go slow.