[Rob]

If i was to scan in my faces and reverse the black and white. Then print this out on regular printer paper...would it still light up right? I want to have it backlit with a blue color also. Will the light be evenly distributed? I dont want to have "bright" spots in my faces. Also will the blue 194 bulbs from autozone do the job? Thanks
-Rob

 

[BSR]

When I did mine I used the regular 194 bulbs with stage gel to change the color when lit. I noticed that the small guages light up well, the tach is OK, and the speedo doesn't light up to good because of all the mechanisms behind it. But it is readable and it looks much better during the day.

 

[GreenBird]

If i was to scan in my faces and reverse the black and white. Then print this out on regular printer paper...would it still light up right? I want to have it backlit with a blue color also. Will the light be evenly distributed? I dont want to have "bright" spots in my faces. Also will the blue 194 bulbs from autozone do the job? Thanks
-Rob

No. because printer paper isn't ph neuteral, it will yellow. also, you need a mask for the back so it doesn't light up the entire cluster (annoying and hard to read).

Sit tight a couple weeks. A TCCoA member has been working on some NICE gauges, and has said he will sell them cheaper than anyone else is currently.

 

[Aaronj]

You won't know for sure if you like it

until you try. However, I would suggest using something a little heavier that standard printer paper. I made up some prototypes for my volt/fuel gauges that I put on the other day to test a design, I used like 92lb, very bright paper and I was astonished at how much light it let through. However, I've got a new idea now, so the design I made up is pretty well worthless. You should probably use a photo paper or maybe try a "bumper sticker paper" such as what Wal-Mart carries, which will likely be more of a vinyl, and it's supposed to be weather proof so it shouldn't yellow.

 

[BSR]

Yeah regular paper will yellow so you need to get them laminated.
Also about the volt and fuel gauge face they light up very well compared to the speedo & tach so you should try the speedo face to find a better balance of light that you like.

 

[Aaronj]

BTW, dunno if anyone else's seen this.

A friend directed me to this page some time ago. I dunno how well the style would work in out cars, what with the gauges all being seperated, but it's still really cool. Might help out if you're looking to actually make a back mask.

<a href="http://www.rangerpowersports.com/interior/customgauge.shtml">Custom Gauge Fab. @ Ranger Power Sports</a>

 

[GreenBird]

Gauge Faces by Scott:
Clicky-Clicky!

 

[ShadowDragon]

Re: BTW, dunno if anyone else's seen this.

A friend directed me to this page some time ago. I dunno how well the style would work in out cars, what with the gauges all being seperated, but it's still really cool. Might help out if you're looking to actually make a back mask.

Go figure...

Yeah that's how I did mine, it's just more pieces. The second layer is black with the numbers being about the color of the scrollbar on this site.

 

[Tim Groth]

I'm the one making the guages.

Hey man if you want some good white faced guages give me like a month or less and I'll have some up for you to check out. Tomorrow I'm hosting the Roanoke meet and one of the guys is bring me his old set of stock 97 faces so that I can make them for more newer guage faces. Right now I have the 85 MPH ones ready to make but it's going to be cheaper if I send the newer 120MPH faces with it. These will be made out of the same plastic as stock and are being cut out by a laser, so the quality is going to be awsome! The first set should be done soon and I'll send you some pictures of them if you'd like.

As for the paper idea, I did the scanning and changing the colors and I printed them on Photo Paper. I put a blue sheet of film behind them to block light and what not. To make this short and sweet it looked bad for the paper doesn't evenly distribute light, like you asked. Really blotchy and stuff. I ended up changing them back. IF you're a perfectionist when it comes to your bird (like me) don't do it!

Hold off and I'll hook you up with a steal of a deal. No $120 like some of these people want. I'm trying to keep it under $80.

 

[BlackTbird96]

Hey Tim,

Are you going to have sets with the 145mph speedo? I got a 96 tbird and swapped in a 145mph speedo and now I want cool new guages.

 

[ShadowDragon]

I'll bring you the stock 145 speedo face today (if I can find it in the next 45 minutes.. heh)

The problem with the splotchyness is Fords design. If you look at the back of the gauges the only thing that lets full light through is the 11, 12, and 2 o'clock positions of the speedometer, everything else is filtered with white dots to keep it even.

 

[About2beBAD]

I like those bullit guages. They looked good.

 

[GreenBird]

I like those bullit guages. They looked good.

Scott is almost done. Should be announced soon. soon compared to the few months he's been perfecting them..

 

[scotthrbacek]

Here's the latest

Let me know what y'all think.

http://www.geocities.com/slhrbacek/BullittGauges.html