Easy DIY: Carbon Fiber Gauge Faces

for a total of $6 (tax included) i managed to change my stock gauge faces to look like they're made of carbon fiber:


get your clear carbon fiber: HERE! (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280279823176&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&viewitem=)

to buy die-cut reverse glow, black face/ red, green, blue glow gauges; check out 02legacygt's thread: HERE! (https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10668)



[1.] to begin, take the needles off your gauges: thank you Grafton (http://www.sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?t=10687) for providing step 1 :razz:

~before you remove the needles for the speedo, tach, and, water temp lift them enough to slip them past the little stoppers let the needles hang free

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/12/f_fgauge001mam_20226ee-1.jpg

~remember where they hang down to so when to go to put them back in you wont have to guess as much to get them back into reading correctly.

~when you go to put the needles back in it'll take a little force to get them seated properly

~to check to see if you've gotten them back in alignment for the 5spd ~31 mph is redline ~6250rpm for the L in 1st

~~I used this method to pop off the needles (carefully, of course)

~taking a flat head screwdriver, use the edge of the bezel as leverage to push up the needle as you pull em off with your other hand
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/12/100_1024-1.jpg



[2.] remove the 2 screws to access your gauge, if you havent sanded and colored the back to change your dash colors, now would be a good time to do so...
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/12/100_1026-1.jpg

* NOTE: you need to decide now if you want your carbon fiber boxes to go vertically up and down the gauges, or horizontally across them(i chose vertically) after you decide, make sure you pay attention to your choice throught the following steps!!


[3.] lay out your vinyl face down make sure its goiing the same direction you chose. and trace around your gauge leaving about .25" of clearance
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/12/100_1027-1.jpg

[4.] Lay your gauge atop the freshly cut-out piece to make sure that it will cover it all... BEFORE YOU UN-STICK IT!
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/12/100_1039-1.jpg
(it fits, the paper's just curved)

[5.] flip over your gauge and lay it on a roomy table or something of that nature, remove the vinyl, (be careful not to load it with fingerprints),take time to make sure that the boxes on the vinyl are straight vertically or horizontally. you dont want it to be crooked, trust me. when you feel its right, delicately lay it on your gauge.
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/12/100_1041-1.jpg

[6.] take the time to smooth out the vinyl on your gauges very well, the better you rub it in, the better it'll look. i just used the back of my fingernail, it seemed to work

[7.] now find something safe to cut on, i used a brownie box. mmmm... and use a box or xacto knife to cut the excess away. note the knife is actually amidst the colors to the right of the picture
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/12/100_1042-1.jpg

[8.]im sure by now you know to remove any bubbles by popping the with a thumbtack or sewing neeedle but if you didnt, now you do, poke and squish, but now you need to make the screw holes, the tach hole, and the tach stopper holes.. just poke them out with a thumbtack.
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/12/100_1046-1.jpg

[9.] reinstall your gauges to the bezel when you're all done
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/12/100_1049-1.jpg

[10.] before you put the dash back together, take the white thing, with your gauges exposed and hook it up to your car.. take a drive and take time to adjust your tachs back to the correct settings

[11.]put everything back together and enjoy!!

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/12/100_1052-1.jpg

[Huffer]

Excellent writeup!

[xXGTBspecXx]

awesome writeup!! im now debating if i wanna do it lol

[Grafton]

you know what would set that off nicely, one of those brushed alu or stainless steel gauge overlays

thanks guys!


you know what would set that off nicely, one of those brushed alu or stainless steel gauge overlays

thats what i was thinking, i have an extra stock one layin around... im just trying to figure out what to do with it...

[GTDrifter]

awesome.....very good detail too good job

[Grafton]

you think you would do that to my stock gauge faces i have laying around?just with blue coloring?

you think you would do that to my stock gauge faces i have laying around?just with blue coloring?

what do you mean?

[Grafton]

i mail you my stock gauge faces that i have lying around and you do the carbon fiber thingy to them just instead of changing the glow to red like you did change it to blue with $6 in the envelope as well :cool:

[ivwarrior]

i mail you my stock gauge faces that i have lying around and you do the carbon fiber thingy to them just instead of changing the glow to red like you did change it to blue with $6 in the envelope as well :cool:

Just $6? You should be tossing at least $30 in there. Money for the material, money for shipping it back to ya, and something for his time to do it for ya. Not sure how much time it'd take, $30 might not be enough.....

[GTDrifter]

or you could just go to your local autozone, advanced auto, or even walmart might have it and get the carbon fiber sticker, pick up a blue sharpie and follow the DIY thatll save you cash

someone bought a sheet. i saw the ebay quantity drop to 498 and before i bought it it sat at 500 for months so i know it was from here... who was it? =p

[02legacygt]

wow , not to took my own horn, but i feel i some how had a part in this!, this is an awesome mod and very creative on your part!, where did you get the clear carbon fiber!,
that stuff is awesome, i never thought of doing that, althought i would die cut the numbers and lines out of the CF, then again i have a vinyl plotter....................



YOU know guys and gals i still have my replacement gauges that are the same thing Zues Marine did , except he should be working at nasa.

lol thanks man, i got the ccf from some metrodecals on ebay, the only thing i messed up i think is my fuel gauge needle, unless im getting 100 mpg, its not moving (stuck above a quarter tank), and my temp gauge just stays on the peg, if anyone knows how to fix that feel free to share.

i probably would've bought your sweet gauges but i dont have any spare money, lol

[Grafton]

that means its off adjusted first time i put my gas needle back in i had that same problem lol the idiot light came on @ 1/4 tank

that means its off adjusted first time i put my gas needle back in i had that same problem lol the idiot light came on @ 1/4 tank

ill just wait til my car dies from no gas an reset it to E, lol

what about the temp gauge? i messed with that for an hour and it never stayed still... always wither skyrocketed to above H or dropped to the peg, i even caught the lil bugger pointing at my passenger side once.. im deboggled :smt017

[Grafton]

pull the needle out and try to reset it like in my pic putting it back in where it "should" hang

has anyone else tried this yet?

[Plays_with_Toys]

this turned out really trick! Another option for the bezel is to spray paint it aluminum, then spray a heavy coat of black and after just a few minutes you scuff the black paint in a single direction. It end's up leaving streaks of black like a heavy duty pewter looking metal. Not sure if this is the exact step. I saw it in some random wiki how Cosplay article on making weapons...

i have a BUNCH of this carbon fiber stuff left.. anyone want me to do it for them?

[jewbaru]

so did you ever find out what really caused the guages to be screwy? i was thinking where you poked the holes through for the pins that the needles sit on, there might be some of the sticker overlaying into the hole or rubbing on the pins causing some friction, stopping the them from rotating freely, idk how sensative they are. i just stumbled upon this and i think im going to do it this weekend. and i know im going to run into some kind of trouble haha

[ubar legacy]

What I ended up doing is pushing the needles all the way down and then SLIGHTLY lifting them up just a touch or until you feel/hear the small click. The RPM gauge was by far the most difficult. Even when you get it moving freely it might not be where it needs to be. For this, I pointed the needle straight down and pushed it all the way in and pulled up slightly to have it moving freely. Afterward, I spun the need counter-clockwise (away from the resting point or backwards) and let it hit the resting point. Then, started to car to make sure it worked properly. Of course, other times, I was never able to get the gauge(s) to work properly and would have to end up replacing them and swapping the faces. It'll take a lot of trial and error but you should be able to do it. Good luck!

this was the advice I got from eekay when i asked how to fix the guages if the needles arent moving properly, or at all. hope this helps anyone that runs into this same problem! it helped me! :smt023