SoFlaBoss

I installed my new aluminum colored gauge faces from NRauto.com today and here are a few pictures of the finished job. I will post more pictures taken during the install later when I have more time.

..with car parked in garage:

SoFlaBoss

..driving around during daytime:

SoFlaBoss

..in garage during daytime, lights on (purple):

SoFlaBoss

..in garage during daytime, lights on (blue):

SoFlaBoss

..in garage during daytime, lights off with engine running:

Cam07

Those look awesome!

scotts05custom

If you dont mind me asking, what A/C **** do you have...I like.

FLAstangx3

Looks great. Nice Add!! A/C's look like MGW's..right?

Paris MkVI

Didn't installing those mean (shuddering) taking your dash apart?

scramblr

Me likey....Was it a PITA to do?

Well, I found this...It's a start at least.

http://www.bradbarnett.net/mustangs/galaxi...val_cluster.pdf

SoFlaBoss

The A/C ***** are the satin ones from MGW (Dave/FLAstangx3 was correct).

Paris MkVI - Yes, it was necessary to take the dash apart, but only a little. That was the easy part. The piece that includes the leftmost A/C vent, the trim around the gauges and section of aluminum/IUP dash is all one piece and easily pulls off by hand. The gauge cluster itself is easy too. It's held in with only 4 screws, with only one electrical connector to unplug. Removing the needles wasn't hard using the tool that was provided. The most difficult part was putting the needles back on in their correct position. It helped that I took a picture of the cluster with the car at operating temperature, so I knew exactly were they should be positioned. I must have removed and re-installed each needle 6 times before I got it right. Just takes a little patience.

Cam07 and FLAstangx3 - Thanks for the compliments. I am extremly pleased with the results.

scramblr

By the way Steve, they look great. On my list of upcoming mods!!! Thanks for sharing...

SoFlaBoss

Thanks Alex and you're welcome.

Following are a few night time pictures to show that MyColor and idiot lights all work too:

nole_trainer

VERY, VERY nice!!!!!! I hope to get my white ones installed on Christmas Day!!!

Any other install tips??

And you did unplug the cluster, right? With no problems?

SoFlaBoss

Thanks! As far as advise goes:

1. Take a picture of the gauges at operating temp, so you can later verify that the needles are re-installed in thier proper positions. Take a picture with the engine running and also one with the car turned off.

2. No tools are needed to remove the outermost trim from the gauges. Just gently pull with your hands. There's 2 clips on each side (left of A/C vent and to the right of the speedo).

3. After removing the 4 screws that hold the gauge cluster, just unplug the one connector. To unplug the connector, there's sort of a lever on it that you flip over towards the passenger side as you gently pull the connector off. You'll figure this out pretty easy.

4. Removed the gauge cluster from the car and took it inside my house to work on a table, where I could carefully remove the needles, using the tool provided. Pry off each needle by lifting in several spots, starting at 12 O'clock position, just like the instructions recommend.

5. Carefully unclip and remove the clear plastic housing from the gauge cluster, again just using your fingers.

6. Carefully remove the old overlay just using your fingers, while being careful to lift off only the overlay and not any of the loose plastic pieces underneath. I didn't see any need to remove any of the residual adhesive, like Rony did. Following are a few pictures of a) Cluster w/overlay removed, b) Backside of new overlay with paper covering the adhesive, that needs to be removed, c) Backside of new overlay with papers removed and ready to apply and d) New overlay applied to cluster:

SoFlaBoss

advise/tips continued.

7. Now what I did next was take the gauge cluster back to the car, re-attached it the harness and just positioned it back into the dash without screwing it in, so I could re-attach the needles. I first tried turning on the key until the gauges stopped making noise, then turned off the key and waited for the noise to stop again, which is what Jack/mustangjack recommended before putting the needles back on to thier "off position". However, this didn't seem to work for me. What I found that worked, was to start the engine and let it warm up, then with the engine running, I pushed the needles into position, based on the picture I had taken earlier.

8. Once I was satisfied that the needles were in thier proper positions, which I confirmed by starting and turning off the engine several times, I carefully re-attached the clear plastic assembly that covers the gauges. All the clips didn't seem to want to catch, so while still holding it together, I once again unplugged the gauge cluster, which allowed me to remove it from the dash where I could make sure all the clips were properly fastened.

9. Now all that was left to do was put the gauge cluster back into the dash, screw it back in with the 4 screws and snap the outermost trim back in place.

Again, the most time consuming part was positioning the needles. BTW, I only had to use the tool for removing the needles the first time I removed the needles. All the other times, I just pried them off with my fingertips, which btw are now a little sore.

That's all the advise I have. The instructions provided by NRauto.com were too generic, as therefore not very helpful.

SoFlaBoss

Just one more thing worth mentioning. You'll notice that the part of my new overlay that covers the "message center/odometer" is blue and the same is green (like oem) on Rony's white overlay from UPR. The blue looks fine to me, especially since I have the MyColor option. I wonder if your white overlay from NRauto.com will be green or blue?

shatter

Great post. I love the look of your gauges. It is amazing how much better they look when the four gauges in the middle are separated out using the black overlay.

nole_trainer

Steve, thanks for taking the time to post those tips. I'm waiting for my son to get up now (he's only 17 months) so that I can open my present. I will post over on the white gauge topic with my results!! Thanks again, this is why I love this forum!!!! You get major props from me........

PS I hope my overlay is blue, 'cause I do blue mycolor!

PSS. Just opened!!! Overlay is blue!!!!!!!!!

SoFlaBoss

I'm sure it was fun watching your son's reaction to Christmas morning, including all the interesting presents. My two sons are pretty much all grown up. My oldest is now 24 (a graduate from FSU) and the youngest is now 17 and soon going to college. That blue will go nciely with your interior accents! Honestly my install took me maybe 3 hours, mostly spent getting the needles right. Just take your time and have fun doing it, like I did. MERRY CHRISTMAS!