[vivekji05]

The boring green backlighting of the original dials is very much 80's stuff or so I thought. Had tried to change the bulbs with white LEDs some time back but a miscalculation of the voltage and current resulted in the LEDs getting bursted no sooner than I turned them on.

This time the idea was to remove the green coloured cap of each bulb and cover it with coloured transparent paper. Obviously changing the yellow bulbs into white was not possible...so i opted for red cellophane from the nearby store. A piece of red transparent paper costed Rs 4 for an A3 sized sheet. For changing six bulbs, less than 1/8th of it only was needed.

First step is to remove the instrument cluster. There are two screws at the top.



Next remove the plastic cowl surrounding the gauges and take out the four screws surrounding it.


Detach the wires behind the panel and pull it out carefully. Time to get the bulbs out and their green caps removed.


Now all I needed was a pair of scissors and a roll of transparent cellotape. Also, get someone to give you company...in my case, it was the four month old 'Tippu' .


The bulb covered with red transparent paper. Finish is not all that important.

Follow the same with the bulbs on the central console too.

Wait till it gets dark and presto! There you have it-the red dials for that sporty look.

[ramie2400]

Aaahh!!! that looks killer buddy good works,even i was considering to do something lin my car

[Cyrus43]

There is a thread running on this already! I dont remember who, but someone has done Exactly the same!!

[greenhorn]

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...no-w-pics.html (White instrument cluster on a baleno w/pics!)
@ cyrus- there ya go!

[nithz]

Good work vivek (reminds me of school days )i too gonna try this out ,but what abt the paper doesnt it get a kind of faded over a period of time ? any idea that u get coloured bulbs of this kind so that we can try in other colours like orange or blue cheers: .This is what we call innovation

[vivekji05]

The link is wrong. Do you suggest that I should go and post this one there?

[danlalan]

OT: The doggy's dam cute.

[toiingg]

Brilliant finish. Isn't the light too bright during the night ?

[hell boy]

That a very good jod you have done very cool.........

[humyum]

Maaannnnnnnn.This looks mindblowin.really awesome.Gurus,possible in the zen to do the same in the zen?Is the panel in the zen too this easily removable?I would love to do this.

[vinit.merchant]

Thats brilliant.
Even I would like to do this on my Palio but I am unsure whether I will be able to open up the instrument cluster on my own. Gurus, any input?

[rjstyles69]

Creativity at its best I must say my compliments to you. What if the bulb over heats due prolonged driving, wont the plastic melt ?

[vivekji05]

Thank you...thanks everyone.

@nithz, rjstyles69

The paper i have used is the same as the one used by decorative lighting people, who cover their ordinary bulbs to get red, blue, green etc. This paper doesnt melt much as it can withstand the heat produced by the bulb. You can tell this to the shopkeeper and he should understand. Ordinary transparent paper at the book stall, used for craftwork by children will melt.

@toiingg

Actually it isn't. I used a camera with over exposure settings to click those pictures. The shutter was kept opened for nearly 1.6 seconds to let in all that light, so that I can shoot without the flash. I took those pics at around 7:30pm in the evening. You can see that the whole interior is lit up and there is a lot of red reflection on the surrounding cowl. In reality only the numbers show up while the silver dial is not visible.

The light is not too bright and is evenly spread across the dials. Most people thought it was stock.

You can do it on almost all Maruti cars. Have no idea of the Palio..but if you can remove the thing and post a few pics, I can tell you what to do.

[rr_zen]

That looks really cool. I might want to try the same on my Esteem now !

[s0uljah]

Originally Posted by vivekji05

Also, get someone to give you company...in my case, it was the four month old 'Tippu'

Great Job... difficult to get a picture to show what it actually looks like.

Also your pup seems to be very intelligent.. he's got that look in his eyes. I remember my boxer trying being nosy when I was doing the damping on my car... lol absolute clown.

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Creativity at its best I must say my compliments to you. What if the bulb over heats due prolonged driving, wont the plastic melt ?

Chetta this is the same film the use for stage lighting (fashion shows, plays etc, parties etc) and those lights emit intense heat so I guess this should not pose a problem.

Nevertheless might be a good idea to change it once in few months.