White gauge face needle visibility

[exploreraudio]

Hey, everyone

Just wondering if anyone has done the white gauge face mod? I noticed that the gauge needles in my 98 Limited are white, also...does that mean that they would be invisible (or almost) in the daytime?

I had some thoughts about maybe scraping the white off the back of the needles (they look to be just clear plastic with white paint on the back) and painting them another color (i.e. red). My thought is then that they may not be visible at night! Does anyone have any experience with this?

The other thing I am wondering is what kind of lights light-up the gauge needles? Or if it would be possible to have a red LED in there, or something.

Thanks alot in advance, everyone...this board is a Godsend!

 

[RytM1]

I put the white gauges on my 98, and I painted the top edge of the needles with a thin coat of orange paint. The needles look like they work on a fiber-optic principle, but I didn't bother to see if there was one bulb for each needle, or if one bulb lit up more than just the needle.
Daytime:

Night:

 

[yob_yeknom]

I'm not so sure painting the needles is a good idea. Paint adds weight. The needle will weigh more and won't read right. That's the way it worked on older vehicles anyways...

 

[RytM1]

Yeah, I read that in the How-to section in this site, and the NRAuto instructions said to paint them. Dead Link Removed I used an acrylic enamel paint that I found at a craft/hobby shop, and thinned it a little bit. Then I put a thin coat on the on the top edge of the needle only. I haven't noticed any problems with them yet, and have "tested" them up to 65 MPH, by pacing a friend.

 

[Quick]

I left my needles white and during the day I have no problem reading them, and at night they light up tanish so it is easy to read as well.

 

[wpurple]

White face gauges

Where did you buy the white face kit?
Are there any "heads up" on installing them?

thanks,
Kurt

 

[exploreraudio]

RytM1:

So, you just painted the TOP of the needles and they still light up like that? That looks like exactly the look I am out to accomplish! Thanks for the reply.

Now all I need to do is find a source for a Canadian (km/h) guage kit!

ExplorerAudio

 

[RytM1]

Hmmmm, have you tried contacting NRAuto yet? There is also a company that is selling indiglo gauge faces Dead Link Removed and the site shows them in km/h also. A couple guys on the site have them, but sound like they are a little more difficult to install. Dead Link Removed. And yup, only the top edge of the needle did the trick for me.

 

[fordkrazy]

couldnt you just get the guages for a canadian sport trac?