arveetek
02-25-2004, 19:27
I upgraded the dash lights on my '81 tonight.
I first learned of this mod over at www.67-72chevytrucks.com (http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com) They have a 73-87 board over there that's really good. One of the members came up with this trick, and it works really well. You can read about it in full detail here. (http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/interior/dashlights.htm)
I had a burned-out turn signal indicator on the dash, and I couldn't get to the bulb from behind, so I had to tear into the dash. Basically, I just pulled the dash apart, removed all the guages, painted the plastic bezel the guages go into with a chrome paint, painted the needles on the guages with a glowing orange paint, and then reassambled everything. Didn't take all that long, couple of hours maybe, and the results are fantastic! My dash lights are at least twice as bright as before. And the bright orange needles look great. I was also able to fix that pesky high-beam indicator that didn't want to work most of the time.
One of my future upgrade plans is to install some aftermarket guages like this (http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/interior/gauges_recessed.htm). But that will have to wait until the turbo project is done. Until then, this is a really cheap mod that works really well!
The instructions in the link above don't say anything about painting the needles, but that's another trick I learned. It's well worth the effort.
I just thought I'd share this for all you fellow 73-87er's.
Casey
I first learned of this mod over at www.67-72chevytrucks.com (http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com) They have a 73-87 board over there that's really good. One of the members came up with this trick, and it works really well. You can read about it in full detail here. (http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/interior/dashlights.htm)
I had a burned-out turn signal indicator on the dash, and I couldn't get to the bulb from behind, so I had to tear into the dash. Basically, I just pulled the dash apart, removed all the guages, painted the plastic bezel the guages go into with a chrome paint, painted the needles on the guages with a glowing orange paint, and then reassambled everything. Didn't take all that long, couple of hours maybe, and the results are fantastic! My dash lights are at least twice as bright as before. And the bright orange needles look great. I was also able to fix that pesky high-beam indicator that didn't want to work most of the time.
One of my future upgrade plans is to install some aftermarket guages like this (http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/interior/gauges_recessed.htm). But that will have to wait until the turbo project is done. Until then, this is a really cheap mod that works really well!
The instructions in the link above don't say anything about painting the needles, but that's another trick I learned. It's well worth the effort.
I just thought I'd share this for all you fellow 73-87er's.
Casey