Brighton96 Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Just doing to do a basic tutorial on changing the color of your HVAC lights. I had 2 units and had 2 ways to change the colors. One way is to use a Sharpie marker, the other is to use a colored tint. Materials Required -(3) New bulbs 272-1154 (Optional) -Spare HVAC Unit (Optional) -(3) LEDS 3mm NEO3-BHP Total Cost $7.12 New Bulbs (optional) $5.00 Spare HVAC + $5.85 Blue LEDs $17.97 DIY Guide for Ashtray LED relocation and conversion http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=251906 DIY Guide for Floor Light LEDs http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=253431 DIY Guide for Underhood light http://legacygt.com/forums/showthrea....html?t=259451 The Blue Tint Method Did NOT work, I only left it up so I can show why to not do that. The top is the from a 97 and that is the sharpie version, the bottom is a 96 and that is the tint version. http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/HVAC%20Color%20Change%201_zps0u6iqobh.jpg Firstly take apart the unit and clean it, I'd suggest wiping the soon to be colored parts with alcohol. Also, a good idea to clean the whole thing, the build up of human slime can make the buttons sticky http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/HVAC%20Color%20Change%209_zpsrg6b3fyb.jpg Depending on the year of your HVAC, the bulbs are either soldered in or are in little twist in sockets, either way you will have to remove the little green bulb condoms http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/HVAC%20Color%20Change%202_zpselrmknso.jpg http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/HVAC%20Color%20Change%203_zpsvk1qg2s4.jpg Sharpie Version Pop each of the buttons off and color the backs of them (don't color the defroster button) http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/HVAC%20Color%20Change%204_zpsanng8nsb.jpg http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/HVAC%20Color%20Change%205_zpsmqdu4yhg.jpg Carefully remove the face plates from the unit and color the backs of them http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/HVAC%20Color%20Change%207_zpsdqwdho1o.jpg I forgot to take a picture but color the inside of the fan speed dial as well Optional step You cannot change the color of these LEDs without replacing them so you can try to color them in or just leave them alone. http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/HVAC%20Color%20Change%206_zpsetxcvnoo.jpg Finished product sample http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/HVAC%20Color%20Change%208_zpscbcg9qsa.jpg Tint Version Wrap the ends and faces of the clear plastic pieces http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/HVAC%20Color%20Change%2010_zpsofwmrizg.jpg Wrap the LEDS and the clear pieces that the temperature slide attaches to. When it comes to wrapping them, it's easiest to use one piece and wrap from top to bottom and then color in the sides with sharpie. That way you get full coverage Update: If you wrap the LEDs with tint, they will not fit back into their original housings, so just use a sharpie to color them http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/HVAC%20Color%20Change%2011_zpsd8lcrtis.jpg I will have a picture of it installed once it gets a little darker out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted April 18, 2016 Author Share Posted April 18, 2016 Well that didn't work as well as I thought it would, the stock bulbs don't put out enough light the get through the tint I guess, it's not well lit and kind of gray in color. Guess I'll be going to get some LEDs and soldering them in. I'll post more stuff about that later http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSCN2957_zpsf8yvlp2r.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max626 Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 What kind of LEDS do you plan on using? I was going to order led strip and retro fit it into the housing..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted April 18, 2016 Author Share Posted April 18, 2016 What kind of LEDS do you plan on using? I was going to order led strip and retro fit it into the housing..... I'll let you know once I figure that out myself. I am going to radioshack in a few minutes to grab a few and see what works. I'm going to get small ones I can solder in place of the bulbs. There isn't much space to do strip LEDs so I don't know if that would work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted April 18, 2016 Author Share Posted April 18, 2016 Here's the LEDs I chose. They should work and it only ended up being $4.75 for 4 of them. Radioshack also had rectangular LEDs so I may look into replacing the 5 button indicators on the board as well. http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSCN2979_zpsu9ounkon.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted April 19, 2016 Author Share Posted April 19, 2016 Just a little update, DO NOT buy the through hole LEDs (unless they are rated for 12v). They burned out immediately since I was too dumb to see they were only rated for 5v Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1692 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 I'm pretty sure that somewhere in the thread I linked to below, it shows you the LED's you can use for doing this. When I had my 96, I switched out the 3 lights with the little green covers to all be LED's, and did the blue AC switch as well with an LED. I got them all from https://www.superbrightleds.com/ but I can't remember the specific ones I ordered. They were definitely a bit more durable than the Radio Shack ones. Hopefully this may help a little bit! http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/change-heater-control-lights-95-99-legacy-26408p2.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max626 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 That sucks the less didn't workout, i don't plan to change my color but i would like for the gauge to be brighter then the stock dull look. I already modified my gauge cluster using the how-to and the led rings and its 10x better was hoping for the same outcome with this hvac....hopfully were able to figure this out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted April 19, 2016 Author Share Posted April 19, 2016 That sucks the less didn't workout, i don't plan to change my color but i would like for the gauge to be brighter then the stock dull look. I already modified my gauge cluster using the how-to and the led rings and its 10x better was hoping for the same outcome with this hvac....hopfully were able to figure this out. I did the LED dash conversion too and it is MUCH better than OEM. But I just went back to radioshack and got a little brighter normal bulbs to solder in, I'd rather have it dull and the color I want instead of continue to drive around with a hole in my dash and deal with trying to find LEDs, superbrightleds doesn't give as much information as I'd like so I'd rather not guess. I will measure the available space to do the LED strip for you though, and I have pictures of the positive and negative sides of the sockets so that you know where to solder your strip to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share Posted April 20, 2016 So since the LEDs burned out and I'm tired of installing and removing the unit, I just went back to normal bulbs and got a new set from radioshack just so at least I got a longer life out of them. I added more tint to the clear pieces as well http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSCN3018_zpse4zyqc13.jpg http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSCN3041_zpsktowq5cm.jpg http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSCN3009_zpsr4dbyp48.jpg I also found which sides of the sockets are positive so that if you want to use LEDs you will know which side to solder to which, it's indicated on the board with a little blue + http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSCN2982_zpsy8lxnowd.jpg So here is it installed with just the tint, I am not happy with the results, they still look green and as a negative, they are darker then before :/ http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSCN3048_zpstwuvqkuc.jpg And just for giggles and a comparison, here is how the tint looks when I also install the buttons that have sharpie colored on the back of them. http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSCN3056_zps8ysj5vmq.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share Posted April 20, 2016 That sucks the less didn't workout, i don't plan to change my color but i would like for the gauge to be brighter then the stock dull look. I already modified my gauge cluster using the how-to and the led rings and its 10x better was hoping for the same outcome with this hvac....hopfully were able to figure this out. Here are your rough measurements on how much space you have for installing LED strips. http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSCN3033_zpseptqscrj.jpg http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSCN3030_zps60dy9q4c.jpg http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSCN3040_zps684dxzhi.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max626 Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Thanks for all the picture and measurements, i ended up ordering a 6" green strip off eBay Ill let you know how it turns out.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted August 23, 2016 Author Share Posted August 23, 2016 Just a little update, using normal bulbs with the blue tint made them look more green then blue so I got a hold of LEDs. You will need to order the 3mm LEDs and they can be found here https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/instrument-cluster-gauge/neox-led-bulb-high-power-instrument-panel-led/221/1008/ I'll have an installed picture soon http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSCN3696_zpswmj4s5ok.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted August 24, 2016 Author Share Posted August 24, 2016 Here's the final result, this is using Blue LEDs and none of the blue tint I previous said to use http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSCN3714_zpsdvfuyg0k.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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