Hey guys, The #1 question I get from people that purchase parts from me is "how do you change the needles colors without any orange / without damaging them?" Well here is your answer.. A step by step photo document from start to finish. Yes there are some needle documents but let this be the end all. If other swappers have slightly different methods, please chime in as knowledge is wealth! This is how all of my needles are done for my customers. Hope it helps some of you out!

First off, make sure the needle color you choose will work with the led color you chose. For example, if you have all green leds installed, blue needles would not work out that great. Or if you have all red leds, green needles would look a little off with red led light.

If you want to have a different color needle than the led work itself, use translucent vinyl like the type I sell on my website to turn the gauge faces whatever color you want "back the vinyl with white leds". With the white leds behind the gauge faces, you can chose whatever color needle you want and the gauge faces can be whatever color of vinyl you choose!

First turn the needle gently until you feel it stop. Mark that point so you can re-install them later. Pull stright up hard on the needle. It will pop off with force. Another method I have seen if they are really stuck is to use two spoons, one on each side and pry up with both. Once the needle is out, this is what you will have... Take notice of the little round black plastic rivet heads...




Next, take an exacto carefull not to slice your fingers and cut off each small plastic rivet head.



Once the rivet heads are cut off, gently pull up on the black plastic part of the needle and take it apart like this...



Once the needle is apart, use a razor blade to scrape off the old paint. Use sweeping motions with the blade. You want a semi rough surface so the paint will hold tight. I have repaired other needles from other swappers that used a chemical only to remove the paint which leaves a slick surface. The repair work I had to do was repaint them as it was flaking off from the smooth surface. Once all the paint is removed, it will look like the pic below. use an LED flashlight or other to make sure all orange is gone by shining it through the needle.




Once the needle is clean, your ready to paint! Use a fine detail brush or toothpick to paint the needle the color you desire My choice in paint comes simply from walmart in the hobby section. I use Kustom Kolors. It turns out great, is bright and lasts!Paint ONLY the bottom side of the needle were the original paint was. Make sure to use two coats. If the coats are done correct, no need for white paint behind the color of your choice!

If paint runs a little on the sides of the needle, no worries. Use a q-tip and soak it with a small amount of paint thinner. Then whipe along the area that the paint overflowed on to clean it off for a nice clean edge. Make sure to paint up along the colar of the needle "not on the lense" and you will get a perfect effect with no white shining through on two tone work.







Next, test each needle with an led flashlight for imperfections in the paint...



After each needle is tested and dry, put the needles back together...



Put the black plastic cover back into the needles. Use a light duty glue on top of each rivet to secure the needles. For a permanent install, use gel superglue "do not install the needles until they dry!!!" Yeah I had a customer glue his needles to his gauge faces Felt bad for him so I sent him some spares I had. Below is a pic of the glue in the rivet hole.



When you install the needle, shove it back on leaving 1/16th of an inch from the bottom of the needle to the gauge face. Then turn the needle in the direction of the stop place you marked in the first paragraph. The needle should stop well before the marker. You will then rotate the needle against the stopper and you will feel it turn with tension. Turn it until you align it with the stop point you marked. Once it is lined up, that needle is set!

Once the needles are installed, test out the cluster to make sure they move correctly and do not snag on anything. After that take a long drive and enjoy! And no accidents from staring at your gauges and not the road!











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amazing!!! we need more of these write ups from you!

 

Very nice DIY bro. Very helpful, ill be looking at this again in the near future lol

 

Cool guys thanks, and just did another writeup on how to remove and solder on a plcc led for you DIY peeps

 

very nice write up!

 

if anyone know how to change the gauges and needle color and would like to do it for me...hit me up and i pay you

 

That is what I do on this forum Perform swaps for people. Let me know and I can have you send in your items!

 

Or you could look at mine here

http://www.scionwiki.com/How_To:_Nee...nting_Scion_tC

I put a few more of mine there as well. Good site :D

Good writeup as well though Jeremy!

Some things on mine that will make your life easier though.... Soak a piece of tissue in 90% isopropyl alchohol, set the needles on it for about 5 minutes, and all the paint will wipe right off. No scraping or work needed. Works flawlessly and does not fog up the needle like other chemicals will. MUCH easier. I used to scrape until I tried that.

Also, if you put a coat of white paint on last, the needles will me a tad brighter (that is how they are stock as well). The white reflects the light that makes it through the color. Here is one I did using that method and blue needles:

 

Right on man good info! I still have to do the tool list as it was a late night and drawings on the photos.

With the paint I use, there is 0 light transmission through the paint itself with two coats so white paint does nothing for me.

Not sure what paint you are useing but the chemical whipe that leaves the needle super smooth, that was were I was finding paint peeling up / flaking after a few months on another small swappers work. Was not one of your clusters Dave so no worries I still do the scrape to get the semi rough surface on the plastic of the needle to insure it holds tight.


This pic had a little less exposure on it but this is the way my needles turn out when done at night.



Or with a little mor exposure dialed in to the camera haha!

 

Havent had that issue on mine. Mine have been painted for over a year now with no worries. However, I clean them VERY well after removing the paint and use acrylic paint, which is very hard to get back off. It sounds like the other person you mentioned did not clean it very well or re-coated too quickly. My first coat is nearly clear it is so thin :D Hitting them with a peice of very fine sandpaper is not a bad idea either. I do that if I let them sit for an hour or more after cleaning them just to make sure no oxidation or dust built up.

 

Gotcha, also could be our 160F+ degree Az in car temp down here that did it... Sucks I have to test any new mods in the oven on 175 to make sure it will work out down here haha.

 

Awesome write-up! In your first step you say "turn the needle..." is that counter-clockwise? Also what color needles work well with blue LEDs? Thanks!

 

Nice write up man. Doing great work as usual.

 

Blue needles work great I have seen some red that did not look to shabby but personally if I do any other color needle other than the color of the led "not including white leds" then I will grab a peice of vinyl and back everything in white leds as it makes the needle look 10x better.

I turn them counterclockwise on the speedo, tach and temp. The fuel I turn clockwise to mark. Will make a short video soon of how to put them back on right as everyone seems to goof it up. Most of us swappers have it down were we can do them by eye everytime and be dead on every time

 

I had mine painted red with blue leds a long time ago, and it wasnt too bad. But still stands out a lot better with white leds behind them. Of course, my new setup with blue gauges and red leds behind red needles stands out even better :D

 

Yep that looks the hotness I have the same on my car but with blue needles that are lit anytime the ignition is on the car. Looks killer!

 

Mine are lit all the time the lights are on (no dimmer) which looks awesome, but changing them to being lit any time the ignition is on next. The way they look in the daylight, they should have designed it that way to start with!

 

Why do the 2 best LEDs have to be on SL!?! how do we choose

 

Do I really need clear vinyl if I want my needles to have no color? I want to do color changing needles (white to red)...

 

Very nice write up guys!