Help! Question about gauges

[joegarrelli]

Does anyone have any experience with removing, or at least know how to remove the needles from the gauges in their MINI? I am changing my interior illumination from amber to blue and I need to remove the needles to get at the LEDs beneath the gauge faces. I tried to lift up on the needles but they didn't seem to want to release very easily.

[chiph]

Google found a couple of pages on needle removal, but one (important!) unknown is whether the MINI's needle is press-fit or threaded.

If press-fit, take a look at:
http://www.linkline.com/personal/dba...tefaceinstall/

If threaded, you'll need to find a way to hold the shaft without damaging it while you unthread the needle (warning: possible left-hand thread!)

BTW, if you screw up, it's likely to be very expensive to replace. (but I'm sure you knew that!)

Chip H.

[minizzin]

Quote:

Originally posted by joegarrelli
Does anyone have any experience with removing, or at least know how to remove the needles from the gauges in their MINI? I am changing my interior illumination from amber to blue and I need to remove the needles to get at the LEDs beneath the gauge faces. I tried to lift up on the needles but they didn't seem to want to release very easily.

have you done this yet? id love to see pics of what it looks like

[joegarrelli]

Sorry the picture is kinda dark. If I use a flash you can't really see the blue. I'll post a better pic when I can. I'm still trying to change the heater controls to blue- its more difficult because the illumination is from bulbs shining through orange plastic. And just for the record, the needles on the gauges are pressed on and need to be carefully pryed off.

[6f7]

SO COOL!

Is this difficult to do? Would you mind putting together a quick how-to or list of bulbs needed? I'm inspired to start taking taking things apart!

Any idea if it possible to do this to the stock stereo so it would match too?

[noahe]

That's really unique. Bound to be pretty-near one-of-a-kind, 'cause although I think it's really cool, I'm WAY too scared to go to the extreme of replacing every LED, especially since it means tearing out the dash.

Great job though... Looks kinda like the VW dash. I wonder what other variations might look nice? White LED's are neat, but run on 4.5v rather than the standard 3v.

Did your OEM orange LED's get destroyed in the process? Some people were looking for these orange LED's for custom stereo, radar and other installs, for example, swapping out the LED's on a HU for these exact orange ones, for the perfect match... Just a thought, maybe you could make someone really happy, or even get a few bucks for them.

[mars31971]

Where did you get the supplies nessisary to do this project, and can you give some how to's.I think this looks awesome and would love to do it in my MCS.

[joegarrelli]

I'll post info on the blue LED swap soon. I have to finish some artwork before my deadline first.
-André

[chiph]

That's really cool, not only from an aesthetics point of view, but also from a practical viewpoint. One my concerns is that I'll miss one of the red "something is seriously wrong" lights because it's too close color-wise to the orange background. Switching to blue LEDs means that the contrast will be greater, and a red light will attract my attention that much sooner.

Chip H.

[CooperSpeed13]

How exactly did you change the color???

[ARitz]

Looks great

I remember seeing a custom dash that had a gradient from blue to red on the speedometer as the MPH increased. That would be cool.

How does the blue affect your night vision since it's on the other side of the gradient? Supposedly red affects night vision the least (orange bing second).

-Andrew

[Romhog]

so is this blue dash for real or what. The thread is quiet.
Thanks

[Nosdrovni]

this is awesome man

If this was an option kit I'd pay 100 upto 200€ for it for sure! I remember I was thinking when I ordered my MCS 'pitty the dash lighting aint blue' ..

C'mon MINI stuff & spares sites!! put a kit together !! Cheap production costs, cheap parts, and a high cool-factor. You could make a good profit on these kits !! what are you waiting for

[joegarrelli]

sorry for the wait everyone, here is some info about the LED swap-

If you can't solder very well you might want some help in doing the LED swap.
You will need roughly 50-60 LED's depending on if you are also changing the illumination on the toggle switch panel, sunroof switch, clock, etc. And incase you might damage any during soldering it would be good to have some spares. I found flat-top blue surface mount LED's at a couple of sites:
http://www.alliedelec.com/catalog/pf.asp?FN=479.pdf
and
https://www.netdisty.net/ds/smr10r3kh/default.asp
I used the AND6BB model from allied electronics- at 470nm it is a bright blue, the other model at 430nm is closer on the spctrum to blue-violet.
The tach is held with 2 T-25 torx screws from behind. remove the tach and then pull off the dash piece behind it(the piece with the rubber attached - there are 4 clips holding it in). Remove the 2 phillips screws on the back of the tach and then you can unclip the rest of the cover. You have to pry the needle off carefully(mine was held very tight and actually launched into the air when i pryed it off). *PAY ATTENTION TO THE POSITION OF THE NEEDLES BEFORE YOU REMOVE THEM* Once the needle comes off you can remove the gauge face and then you will have access to the LED's.
For the center dash cover you must remove the glovebox for access to the screw on the lower right side of the panel. The upper screws are right above the hazard and dimmer switches -all are T-20 torx. My dash panel had no screw on the lower left behind the drivers knee bolster, but yours might so check to be sure. Once the 3-4 screws are removed the panel just pulls away from the dash- it is held by 4 retaining clips. Now remove the 4 T-20 screws holding the speedo assembly to the dash and then disconnect the 2 plugs on the back of the panel. Now you can just unclip the cover for the panel and carefully pry off all 3 needles *REMEMBER TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE POSITION OF THE NEEDLES BEFORE REMOVAL*. You should be able to remove the speedo face now and gain access to the LED's.

[joegarrelli]

this is the piece behind the tach to be unclipped