GUIDE: How to install white faces and Blue LEDs in VDO gauges

[Black_cabbie]

The mother of all guides!

So, here we go.

You need 3 of these...

The goal is this.

Take your Dremel with the cutting disc.

You can also use this but it removes more plastic so you might have a problem later when you put them back together. I didn't

Here you see aproximetely where you need to cut.

Mask the area arround the gauge to give you a guide line.

I hope your hands don't shake.....

Gauge opened!

The Cover

Cleaned

Undo the small nut on the back to be able to remove the guage from the case.

Now, this is I think the most difficult part of the whole project.
THE NEEDLES!
I used to small screwdrivers as you can see and very gently pulled the needle off. I doublechecked that I didn't cause any damage to the gauge before continuing by putting the needle back and checking if its moving smooth.

Time to design the white faces. I used Coreldraw 12 to do mine since I found it very easy to use.

After a few hours....

This is the exact size of the gauges. Print it and they fit straight away.

Trial test of the oil pressure gauge

Now, on to put the LEDs in.

I used a hot glue gun to glue the 2 LEDs inside the plastic housing of the gauge

The LEDs. 5mm Ultra Bright Blue.

There is a reason they are bent. You will understand in the next picture.

After you glue both of them, route all 4 wires from the hole in the back of the case.

I used a 470ohm resistor to wire all of the leds in parallel. Since I was doing it in my house using a power supply rated at 2 amps, I noticed that everytime I connected one more LED, the rest lost some of their brightness. That is probably because of the power supply but it can also be because I am using one single resistor for 6 leds. Since I am out of resistances I can not test how it will look with one resistance to each led. Maybe somebody else has something to say on that.

Final result...

Day.

And night

I hope this guide will give you some ideas and probably do some of the things I did different and better. If you have any hints please post them and I will edit my guide to make everybody's life easier!

PS. some VDO gauges ready to go under the knife

Modified by Black_cabbie at 11:29 AM 7-25-2005

[Mixagolf1]

I wonder how you will assemble all this back?!

[Black_cabbie]

EDITED after completion of the guide
Thats the least of my problems Mike.


Modified by Black_cabbie at 8:58 AM 3-14-2005

[blast47]

Quote, originally posted by Black_cabbie »

Here you see aproximetely where you need to cut. http://img.photobucket.com/alb...0.jpg

Why is there a pic of your crotch where "you need to cut" . . .that's uh.. dangerous

[VeeDubDriver1990]

YAY!!! George does it again!!!!

Another one I saved in my favorites- well done George!

Oh, I have a question- were you always a genius or was that an
aquired skill?

[Moljinar]

Like this?

I don't have a matching font installed at the moment so I just cleaned up the ones in the image but I could've replaced them. To do this properly I'd replace all the hash marks to.

[qwikxr]

Ok. Use a different cutting tip. Use the Dremel's cut-off wheel. It is 1" in diameter, and about .075" thick. Makes for a clean cut, as well, versus "chewing" the plastic away.

[chef.stephen]

This is sweet, I can't wait to do this!

[kuklaki]

Quote, originally posted by blast47 »

Why is there a pic of your crotch where "you need to cut" . . .that's uh.. dangerous

Dang, you study the pics a lot...I'm a girl and I still didnt notice the shot

[VeeDubDriver1990]

Quote, originally posted by kuklaki »

Dang, you study the pics a lot...I'm a girl and I still didnt notice the shot

Let's all share a collective "oooooooooooooooooooo" like when
someone got in trouble in elementary school

[Black_cabbie]

EDITED after completion of the guide

Ok, Oran was kind enough to help with the cleaned face. I am going to print it and continue with the assembly and the blue leds.
Stay tuned for more updates!


Modified by Black_cabbie at 8:58 AM 3-14-2005

[Black_cabbie]

After spending an entire afternoon with Coreldraw, I redesigned the faces from scratch using the original dimensions.

I am missing the oil temp in Fahrenheit. Can somebody post a good picture of a gauge to use it for reference?

This is the JPG ready to be printed. Print it in Photoshop/Coreldraw and they dimensions are ready. Plug and play !

[Outsyder]

Thanks for this guide George. Its something I will do for sure.

[qwikxr]

VERY good job, george!! (again!)

[topduko19]

And george great thread on VDO guages but you know instead of using the two screwdrivers to remove the needle you can use a fork and it will be a lot easier to take out and it lessens the chance of breaking it... just another super ghetto ideas that helps out...

[Black_cabbie]

Quote, originally posted by topduko19 »

And george great thread on VDO guages but you know instead of using the two screwdrivers to remove the needle you can use a fork and it will be a lot easier to take out and it lessens the chance of breaking it... just another super ghetto ideas that helps out...

We will gather all these small points and create A GREAT guide for the other groups to envy!

Update on the VDO.JPG (added red bar in voltmeter and changed the oil temp gauge)

[topduko19]

I actually got this idea off a mk2 thread... they got a few tricks up there sleeve too

[Black_cabbie]

We are getting there.....

I printed the JPG on standard self adhesive paper.
I used two layers. One white and then the printed face. I did this because the paper is not that thick and it's semi transparent, thus allowing the black face and number to appear. With two layers of paper the result is very good. I used my thunb and pressed the paper carefully on the edges of the face. Perfect result!

[qwikxr]

Sweet result, G-money! warm and a to you!

[VeeDubDriver1990]

Quote, originally posted by qwikxr »

Sweet result, G-money! warm and a to you!

Wouldn't you want George to have a cold ? LOL!

But anyway, looks great George!!

[topduko19]

George that looks really good... does your RPM & Speedometer guage faces line up the same with Photoshop...

[momo_bro]

where'd you put the LEDs and what do they look like lit up?!?

did you superglue, or model glue the gauges back together?

[Black_cabbie]

Quote, originally posted by topduko19 »

George that looks really good... does your RPM & Speedometer guage faces line up the same with Photoshop...

The ones I created yes. They line up.

As for the LEDs I have no idea yet. I will connect them tomorrow and see what happens.

[topduko19]

so where can I download Coreldraw??? is ther a sertain type of coreldraw that I gotta download???
i wanna do this A.S.A.P. to have a hott speedometer & guages...

[Black_cabbie]

I got mine from emule..... version 12.

[85 diesel]

Quote, originally posted by VeeDubDriver1990 »

YAY!!! George does it again!!!! Another one I saved in my favorites- well done George! Oh, I have a question- were you always a genius or was that an aquired skill? [/Q[QUOTE=VeeDubDriver1990]YAY!!! George does it again!!!! Another one I saved in my favorites- well done George! Oh, I have a question- were you always a genius or was that an aquired skill?

I agree you did a SWEET JOB on the lights. Have you done the dash lights yet. If so what did you use to change the color to blue like the MK4's I love the way it looks on my 2000 Jetta. It would be cool to change the lights on the cabby to blue to match the 2000. If you have done this PLEASE IM me with how you did it THANKS

[Black_cabbie]

Quote, originally posted by 85 diesel »

I agree you did a SWEET JOB on the lights. Have you done the dash lights yet. If so what did you use to change the color to blue like the MK4's I love the way it looks on my 2000 Jetta. It would be cool to change the lights on the cabby to blue to match the 2000. If you have done this PLEASE IM me with how you did it THANKS

I will wire the leds tonight. As always I will post pics

[topduko19]

I will start this when I get a second set of VDO guages from ebay...
but good job George... I luvin the guages

[Black_cabbie]

Make sure you don't get the voltmeter with the metal housing like mine is. There are two different voltmeters.

[Black_cabbie]

Almost there.....

Modified by Black_cabbie at 9:52 PM 3-9-2005

[qwikxr]

schweeet

[Black_cabbie]

FINISHED!

and the result is better than I expected.

Will post all the details if the LEDs/wiring/puting back together tomorrow as I am done for today!

Off to bed now!!!!!

[VeeDubDriver1990]

Bravisimo, George!!!

Can't wait to see them all lit up at night

[topduko19]

so how did you put all the stuff together & where exactly did you place the LEDS...

[qwikxr]

Quote, originally posted by topduko19 »

so how did you put all the stuff together & where exactly did you place the LEDS...

Quote, originally posted by Black_cabbie »

FINISHED! and the result is better than I expected. Will post all the details if the LEDs/wiring/puting back together tomorrow as I am done for today! Off to bed now!!!!!