It was:

It became:

In my reliable but old Mazda car the dashboard began to clearly indicate his age. Her night illumination is now too dim, and her appearance is clearly out of fashion. So I decided to do something and give her a "facelift" :-)

What you will need:

• Factory user manual for the car.
• Screwdrivers.
• Isopropyl alcohol.
• Matte adhesive paper.
• Scissors or knife.
• Diffusion plate (found on older LCD monitors).
• Instead of a diffusing plate, you can still use 2-3 layers of tracing paper.

Removing dashboard gauges

Since in different cars this is done in different ways, I would recommend downloading the factory manual directly to your model. In some cases, everything is quite simple, but sometimes you have to make an effort.

This tutorial is about how to transform appearance dials dashboard, so I will not go into details about how I managed to remove the dashboard.

Removing pointers

Removing the gauges is pretty easy. However, you need to be aware of the arrows, as they break easily. For convenience, you can use tweezers. The main thing is patience and consistency in actions. Alternatively, the arrow can be tucked with a fork.

If it is stuck, then warm it up with a building or regular hair dryer. This will expand the plastic and remove it more easily.

Removing the dial

Usually the dial is held on screws or small bolts. Find them and carefully remove the plate. Additionally, it can be held on small plastic fasteners that fix it. Figure out how the fastening mechanism works, and remove the dial.

Draw the appearance of the future dial

After removing the dial, the first thing I did was scan it. I then imported the image into a vector graphics editor and traced the outline of the plate. This way I don't have to measure the exact dimensions of the dial. Next, I finished designing the look of the new pointer and printed it on adhesive paper. I used paper with a matte surface, and the image was applied with a color laser printer. You can use an inkjet printer with photo paper, but the laser image will be of higher quality.

It's time to clean up the old dial

You need to remove the paint from the dial. In order not to spoil the plastic of which the dial is made, I used 70% isopropyl alcohol. The use of solvents for this work is undesirable. Soaking the dial in alcohol softened the paint, and after a few minutes it was easily removed, and two clean plates lay in front of me.

Making stickers

Time to cut out the stickers. Take scissors and carefully cut out the desired shape. Now we glue.

To prevent bubbles from forming when sticking, you need to thoroughly clean the surface of the dial. Peel off a small portion of the sticker from the paper and align it with your watch face. Gradually stick adhesive paper. To do this, you can swipe it with your index finger or a plastic card.

After the paper is completely pasted, it is necessary to cut the appropriate holes in it.

Attach a diffuser plate to the dial

The light from the bulbs on the dashboard may be uneven, making some parts of the dial appear brighter. In order for the light to fall uniformly, you need to attach a diffusing plate to the dial. In my case, I used a plate taken from a cracked LCD monitor. After cutting out the desired shapes, I glued them to the back of the dials.

Note: You can also add a few additional LED lamps, but this is the topic of another master class.

New dashboard lighting in classical people's carVAZ gives the interior sophistication and a sense of comfort. Installing neon or even LED illumination on a car requires a lot of money for such an expensive pleasure. The best way to solve the problem is to replace the dashboard backlight on their own. The process of replacing the backlight in your garage, firstly, is not complicated, and secondly, it requires less cash. One of the options for tuning your car is a special overlay on the dashboard, but this will cost a lot. It would be better if you do the tuning of the instrument panel on your own.

To bring the matter to the end, you need to be patient, as well as the tools and necessary materials. The first step in creating perfection is disassembling the dashboard. To do this, you need to remove the protective glass of the devices. The next step is to remove the arrows from the instruments. In order not to damage the arrows made of fragile material, before removing the arrow with a screwdriver, put several layers of cardboard under the opposite end of the plastic. Using a little force, gently remove the arrow from the axis. Similar actions must be done with the remaining arrows.

The dashboard underlay is also very easy to remove. To remove it, you need any clerical knife. The tip of the knife is inserted between the panel and the substrate, and then we cut through the layer of sealant along the perimeter of the substrate. After removing the protective glass of the substrate, we proceed to further work on tuning the panel.

On the surface of the dashboard, under the substrate, there is a light filter, which evenly distributes the illumination over the entire area of ​​the panel. This light filter must be removed using a clerical knife, carefully scraping off the light-conducting layer.

A light filter is a special paint that is applied to the back side of the dashboard substrate and provides color illumination to numbers and other information signaling devices. After rough processing of the substrate, the places where the light filter was applied must be treated with acetone or alcohol. The reagent will remove the remaining paint, as well as degrease the surface and prepare it for the next processing process.

At the next stage of work, you will need to change the backlight of the dashboard. First you need to say so - “fill your hand” and change the backlight of the odometer. An odometer is a measure of the distance traveled by a car, measured in kilometers or miles. In order to install a new odometer backlight, you must first remove the odometer screen, remove the blue protective film, remove the old backlight bulb and replace it with a new LED. For the new dashboard lighting, you can use a multi-color LED, which has the ability to change colors at the request of the user. The LED is connected to the standard bulb holder, then we put the odometer screen in its place.

The next step will be complete replacement dashboard lighting. We attach new LEDs to the instrument panel frame. The multi-color LEDs that we install in this case are sold complete with a color switch. If your budget is limited, you can ditch the use of multi-color LEDs in favor of conventional ones. Install LEDs on seats and connect them with the standard contact of the previous dashboard backlight.

The arrows of the speedometer and tachometer must be able to change the backlight. Carrying out such an operation will require the removal of old paint from the arrow. In order for the paint to be easily removed, you must first remove it from the surface with a clerical knife, and then walk the surface with acetone or technical alcohol. When the arrow is clean of paint, it can be painted with white nail polish, or something else. The main thing in this process is that the arrow is exactly white, since only white color can transmit the entire gamut of LEDs.

If you have installed a multi-color LED backlight on the VAZ car panel, you need to install a color switch in order to be able to select the color of the dashboard backlight. The switch is recommended to be installed in the lower right corner of the dashboard. When all the work has already been done, you can proceed to the final assembly of the finished panel.

The first step is to start by installing the substrate. We apply a layer of sealant to the back side of the substrate so that it holds firmly to the base. Next, we install the arrows of the devices in their places and close the structure with a protective glass.

Many motorists are not happy with the illumination of their dashboard in the evening and at night. But poor-quality lighting or its complete absence negatively affects safety. traffic. Therefore, many craftsmen are engaged in auto-tuning with their own hands, making additional lighting for their car. And first of all, the dashboard lighting is done.

Very often, LEDs are used for these purposes, which have a lot of advantages and allow you to create high-quality lighting inside the car interior with your own hands. This article will tell you how you can install this type of backlight in the dashboard and the nuances that should be observed in this situation.

Why do you need additional lighting?

Today, car tuning is carried out not only outside, but also inside its interior and best place than the dashboard is not found. Diodes built into the panel will achieve the following positive points:

• give the dashboard a new unusual look;
• Highlight important elements dashboard;
• make additional illumination of the vehicle interior;
• make driving more comfortable;
• improve road safety. When the instrument panel is well lit, all indicators are clearly visible on it, which allow you to correctly assess the position of the car on the road and not violate the rules of the road by driving.

by the most in a simple way lighting such an element of the machine as the dashboard is the installation of diodes in it. Here you can use the following types of LED products:

• individual diodes. Using them as a backlight, you can create a full-fledged or decorative dashboard lighting. It is worth noting that LEDs can glow in different colors. Therefore, such LED lights can complement nicely external tuning, glowing with it in the same color scheme;

Note! Additional lighting of the dashboard, created with the help of such diodes, allows you to embed them in almost any part of the board. As a result, the backlight will fully meet the requirements of the car owner and provide lighting where there is really a need for it.

• LED Strip Light. Such a tape is very often used as a decorative lighting not only for a car, but also for home premises or street elements. It can be easily replaced with another one, which will allow you to change the boring color scheme to a new one. The LED strip has a self-adhesive base, with the help of which its installation by one's own hands is carried out quite easily and quite quickly.

LED Strip Light

Despite the simplicity of working with LED strip, diodes are most often used to illuminate the dashboard of a car. This choice is associated with certain advantages of using this type of illumination.

Why is LED lighting preferred?

At the moment, there are a variety of products on the lighting market that can be used to illuminate any brand of car.

Note! Not every brand of car actually needs this kind of lighting. Some manufacturers already at the production stage include high-quality LED backlighting in the dashboard. Usually this situation is typical for expensive foreign cars.

Industrial dashboard lighting

But in most vehicles, such additional lighting is absent or defective. This situation is especially relevant for older models that were made at a time when LED backlighting was not yet heard.
When choosing an LED type of lighting, car owners are guided by the following positive aspects of such lighting:

• diodes of this kind have small dimensions, which allows them to be installed anywhere on the dashboard. At the same time, they are easily massaged;
• simple soldering of LEDs for their various connection to each other. Moreover, if the LED strip is soldered, then this procedure is carried out according to certain rules, which are also typical for working with individual diodes;
• even a small number of diodes installed on a panel can create a full-fledged type of lighting, sufficient for comfortable driving car;

Pay attention! With the help of such elements, even alarms can be backlit.

• the ability to make not only white, but also colored backlighting. Diodes can give a beautiful and frequent glow of green, yellow, red, purple, green or blue. At the same time, a replacement for a new color is possible in the future and will not require excessive efforts from the car owner;

Glow of LEDs

• this type of lighting consumes a minimum amount of electricity, which is very important for a car and its battery-powered alarm.

At the same time, the installation of diodes is not very difficult. Here you only need to correctly connect the elements of the lighting system to each other. Almost any person can handle such work with their own hands.

Features of the organization of LED backlighting

Car led light bulb

Using LED lighting for a car, you can use diode bulbs with a standard base. In this way, the instrument buttons on the panel can be illuminated. In a situation where several devices should be illuminated at once, for high-quality lighting, you should use an LED bulb placed in a special cartridge. This requires a special soldering. But you can just buy it in a store or on the market.

In addition, to illuminate the dashboard of a car and its signaling, you can use light bulbs that give a narrow luminous flux. It can be obtained from an ordinary light bulb by using a special diffuser (lens) for lighting. Thus, in the first situation, the illumination will be point, and in the second, the luminous flux will fall at a certain angle.
When organizing the backlighting of buttons, you can use light sources with a directional light flux. But to illuminate the speedometer panel and signaling, preference should be given to bulbs that give a large dispersion angle. Although this can already be left to the individual choice of the car owner.

How the backlighting of the arrows is organized

Very often, in a car, it is precisely the illumination of the arrows on the dashboard that is needed.

Instrument pointer illumination

In a situation where it is necessary to install diode lighting for the arrows on the dashboard, the following manipulations must be done:

• we clean the paint arrows from three sides. Stripping paint is carried out from the bottom of the arrow and on its sides;
• after that, the cleaned surfaces should be painted over with a clerical white stroke or white nail polish. You can also use plain white paint, but it will be a little more fiddly;

Note! Painting the arrow white will help increase the lighting effect.

Painted speedometer needles

• after that we take three LEDs. They need to be soldered together in series;
• soldered LEDs should be placed in the dashboard. In it, you first need to drill holes for installing diodes and masking wires.

After that, they are connected to a power source and your arrow will glow in the shade of what color the LEDs were chosen.
Some craftsmen make the illumination of the arrow in such a way that it can change color depending on the change in the speedometer readings. to organize such a backlight, you need to use diodes of three different colors:

• green;
• Red;
• blue.

These colors are standard. Remember that for each arrow you need to use three diodes in the sequence in which you want to get a glow. Thus, the luminous flux will be sufficient for high-quality illumination of the metric part of the device.

Finished arrow illumination

Usually, green is used for minimum indicators, and red for maximum indicators. Diodes should be placed under each arrow in a circle of its movement.

Organization of the backlight of the stove control buttons

The second most popular situation in organizing dashboard lighting in a car is the backlighting of the stove control buttons.

Foil reflector

The organization of the illumination of the console buttons intended for controlling the stove is carried out as follows:

• first remove the handles, as well as the glass from the control unit;
• make a reflector out of foil. It will need to be fixed under the removed glass;
• then carefully unscrew the lower part from the console. Under it, there will be a cartridge with an old light source, which must be replaced;
• replace the old light bulb with an LED;

Note! Under the bottom of the console can be installed led strip. She, thanks to its self-adhesive base, will easily take the necessary position. In this situation, it will be connected with its wires through the cartridge. The main thing here is to observe the polarity of the wires, otherwise the LED strip will not glow.

• after installing the LED, we return all parts of the console to their original place in reverse order.

Finished console lighting

The easiest way to create a backlight involves the following manipulations:

• we get the button from the console;
• we disassemble it into its constituent elements;
• inside such a button there should be a light bulb that changes to an LED;
• if necessary, you can remove the light filter from the button or combine it with a new glow of the diode. As a result, you can get a new beautiful and unique shade.

As you can see, the backlight of the console, designed to control the stove in the car, is quite easy.

Combined instrument lighting

To implement this type of lighting, you need to stock up on the following materials:

• double sided tape;
• LED in the cartridge (three pieces);
• foil.

In order to remove the dashboard, it is necessary to clarify the removal steps with the instructions that are attached to vehicle. The algorithm of actions here is as follows:

• removal of the instrument cluster;
• carefully unscrew the speedometer cable and disconnect all available plugs;
• at the top of the dashboard should be placed light sources - three light bulbs. There will also be a green light filter. It can be removed or left;
• the light bulb is replaced with LEDs and a foil diffuser is installed. We fix it with double-sided tape.

Finished dashboard lighting

After that, it remains only to collect all the details of the panel and install them in their original places.

Note! In any case, organizing the backlight, you can safely experiment with the colors of the LEDs to get the most beautiful type of glow.

Conclusion

In order to qualitatively replace the lighting of the dashboard, you can use both individual LEDs and a whole LED strip. In this case, the illumination can be carried out as a separate part of the console, and its entire area. The main thing is to correctly connect the diodes and the tape, without confusing the polarity of the wires.

What motorists do not do in order to make them unusual. Some car owners spend a lot of money on professional dashboard tuning. And some masters prefer to do it yourself. Such tuning is quite simple to perform. In order to replace conventional light bulbs with light emitting diodes (LEDs), you do not need to have special knowledge and skills. do-it-yourself dashboards in a car - we will tell you now.

A well-lit dashboard is not only more informative at night, but also has a better view.

Parsing the console

Initially, it is necessary to disassemble the dashboard: we remove the protective glass, then the arrows, but keep in mind that they are very fragile, and in order not to damage them, it is better to slip thick paper under the screwdriver, it does not take much effort.

Dashboard underlay you will need a knife, with it you need to cut through the sealant layer around the entire perimeter.

After removing the "cover" with a knife, carefully scratch the filter, it is a special paint. Then degrease this place with acetone or alcohol.

Change the backlight

The first thing to change is the backlight of the odometer (shows the distance traveled). and remove the film protecting it, remove the light bulb, and put the LED in its place. You can experiment and put a multi-color LED, in the future you can choose the color according to your mood. After replacing the odometer screen, put it in place.

Change the console light completely

We replace all the remaining bulbs on the dashboard with new LEDs. You can, just as in the case of the odometer, choose multi-color.

If you chose multi-color LEDs for instrument panel illumination, then you will additionally need to install a color switch. It is more convenient to place it with right side from the steering wheel, but you can implement your own version.

How to make dashboard arrows illuminate

The color of the arrows of the speedometer and tachometer is important. If they are white, then you can leave them as they are. And if not, then it is necessary to remove the old paint with a knife and treat them with alcohol, then paint them with white varnish or ordinary paint.

The color of the arrow should be white, because only it transmits the entire gamut of LEDs.

You can try and shooter separately. This requires LEDs with a diameter of 3 mm at 12 V.

Important! In the auto network, the voltage is 12 V, if the LEDs are designed for a lower value, then they cannot be connected directly. You should connect them through the stabilizer.

If the diameter of the LEDs is larger, then you will have to make additional holes for them.

Schemes for smooth turning on the backlight

To make the backlight of the scale and arrows turn on smoothly, you need to expend a little effort, and more specifically, then re-solder the circuit.

Below are two diagrams, in the first case - the dashboard, and then the arrows. The circuits can be implemented on small pieces of a circuit board, which is sold in radio parts stores.

Consider one important factor, if the LEDs differ in power, they will not light up at the same time, some ahead, others late, but in general, the backlight will turn on smoothly. This also applies to the LEDs on the scale.

Collecting

When everything is ready, we begin to slowly assemble the console. First of all, install the underlayment. We apply sealant to the back side and glue it to the panel.

Then we put the arrows and the protective glass in their places. After the upgrade, the instrument panel looks bright and unusual.

LED lighting not only looks unusual and bright, but is also a good addition to the car in terms of economy, which helps save battery power, as LEDs consume 80% less energy than a conventional light bulb.

The dashboard of a car is a very important part of it. It is with the help of the dashboard that the motorist can quickly orient himself on the road and make the right decision, understand whether he should increase speed or whether it is time to switch to another gear stage. In any case, not only the safety of the motorist on the road, but also his comfort behind the wheel will depend on how well the dashboard will work.

It is also worth mentioning the appearance of the dashboard, because it is the dashboard that the driver constantly sees in front of him. And it is this element of the car that should be monitored and, if necessary, put in order, regardless of whether you have an old car or a new one.
Even with the help of the simplest actions that can be performed by almost any motorist who is able to disassemble the dashboard of his car, you can transform it and make it truly unique.

What is dashboard tuning

Tuning this element of the car can be conditionally attributed either to functional improvements or to aesthetic ones. Often, motorists who think about improving the dashboard of a car pursue both goals and want to make the panel both more beautiful and more functional.

A rather complicated, but interesting process of tuning the dashboard in detail:

Functional tuning is primarily aimed at either replacing the controls or instruments of the car with more advanced analogues, or simply involves adding additional devices or controls. The main purpose of such tuning is to improve the quality of obtaining information about the condition of the car or about the weather or other conditions overboard.
Aesthetic tuning, in turn, is aimed solely at improving the appearance of the dashboard. Naturally, such improvements can be made even at the expense of functionality, which is not always good for the car, but if a person wants to do something with his car, it is difficult to stop him.

Difficulties of functional tuning

Often, functional tuning is limited to replacing older or failed car devices with newer and more modern ones. However, do not forget that functional tuning should also include the installation of additional car control elements such as an immobilizer, on-board computer or built-in accessories. The main problem with such refinement is not so much the choice of components as their competent installation. Most often, novice tuning enthusiasts who want to carry out such an installation at home will have to face such a problem as difficulties in calibrating devices. Imagine that the speedometer will show inadequate vehicle speed or the fuel gauge will deceive you at the most inopportune moment.

Separately, it must be said about such a moment as the legality of improvements. That is, if the design of the car provides for a speedometer or tachometer of exactly the model that is installed at the factory, it will be quite difficult to explain its replacement during maintenance. Therefore, it is better to carry out aesthetic tuning of devices that have already been installed on the car, and place additional ones either on top of the dashboard or in those places that are still free.
aesthetic question

When it comes to aesthetic tuning, you need to carefully plan everything, because you will need no less skills than when performing a functional improvement of the dashboard, and besides it, you will also need an excellent sense of taste. If you yourself know what you want, it remains only to prepare the necessary materials and elements, and we will talk about this a little later, but if you don’t have a clear plan, then you should develop it in advance.


First of all, look for inspiration on car forums or ask friends of motorists who have tuned their cars for advice. Naturally, each person has his own taste, but someone's finished improvements may well lead you to an interesting solution that you can later implement.
In addition, knowing what you want to achieve with your car, you can easily choose the right materials and apply certain solutions related to the manufacture of the elements necessary for tuning.

Where to start tuning

No matter how you plan to improve the car dashboard, first prepare necessary tools:

Dashboard Disassembly Tools
Industrial dryer
Utility knife or sharp blade
Necessary Wiring and Controls
Soldering iron and solder

The rest of the necessary tools and materials will differ from each other depending on what you are going to do with the dashboard. You may also need specific tools if you need to use non-standard techniques and non-standard tools to disassemble the panel. Find out in advance what tools are needed to remove the car trim and unscrew those elements that need to be replaced or modified.

Disassembling the dashboard

Experts recommend that any work be carried out in a dry, dust-free room. This is a rather important point on which the overall success of our undertaking depends. Firstly, dust can prevent us from evenly sticking various colored films to change the color of the instrument backlight on the panel, and high humidity will simply ruin the wiring.
Carefully remove the trim on your car's dashboard in order to gain access to those controls or vehicle controls that you want to work on. In the event that you are going to change the scale on the instruments, we advise you to carefully remove the arrows. For this, a simple marker is ideal, which marks the junction of the arrow with a dash or dots. In the event that the arrow is soldered, you can use a soldering iron and heat up the tin that holds the arrow on the coil. However, do not forget that the arrow will still need to be set back, and in order to do this correctly, you need to mark the connection points, because otherwise the calibration can only be done in a car service.

How to improve the dashboard

Once you've stripped down the dashboard to the point where you can work with it, it's worth stopping and rethinking what you're planning to do. You also need to check if your modifications will damage the car and if everything is in order, then you can continue.
After that, with your dashboard, you can do almost anything you want, but from the abundance of various possibilities, you often start to get lost, so let's look at several tuning options.

Change the instrument scale

First of all, you can replace the scale on the instruments. To do this, you can either paint over the old scale and apply a drawing to it by hand or using a stencil, or stick a special film with an already printed drawing on top of the scale. Most often, this option gives the most beautiful and high-quality result.

In order to make such a film, it is enough even in the simplest graphic editor to draw a layout of what kind of markup you want to see on a particular device and print it on a special film, for which you can contact the printing house. In the same case, if you want to change the color of the arrow or individual elements on the scale of the device, you can even carefully paint over the desired areas with paint. Some motorists who want to achieve interesting glow effects use fluorescent paint for this, which glows perfectly when even a small LED is connected to the backlight.

Replacing instrument lighting

Since we are talking about adding LEDs to the lighting of certain devices, it is worth mentioning that LED instrument lighting is a very popular tuning.
However, despite its popularity, with the addition or complete replacement of the backlight with LED, you should be very careful. Firstly, you will have to deal with the rather complicated process of removing factory wiring and factory backlights, and secondly, you can overdo it with the number of LEDs. To prevent this from happening, we advise you to limit yourself to 1-2 LEDs per device, which will be quite enough for a bright backlight that will be clearly visible at dusk, but it will not hit your eyes at night.


In the event that the device has a glow from the inside, and the scale of the device itself is transparent, you can add a little more LEDs, but they should be placed in such a way that their direct light does not fall into the eyes of the driver or passengers.

An interesting way to replace the backlight with a Skoda Octavia:

To install such a backlight, you should use the car's native wiring, since it is initially connected to the controls and you do not have to puzzle over how to power the backlight or where to place the button to turn it on.

Adjusting the backlight brightness

Most often, to adjust the brightness of the backlight located behind the device, you need to assemble it, but if something does not suit the brightness, the device will need to be disassembled and adjusted again. In order not to have to waste time on such actions, we advise you to connect the backlight through a variable rheostat, with which you can control the intensity of the glow by simply twisting it. Naturally, the setting is best done 3 times - during the day, at dusk and at night, in order to understand whether it is convenient to look at the devices.

Complex tuning

Quite often, motorists who improve their dashboard with their own hands modify several instruments at once or the general illumination of the dashboard to make it look more stylish. In this case, it is better to prepare in advance the same templates for instrument scales and the same color backlight LEDs. In the same case, if you do not have access to the LEDs of the desired color, you can get by with ordinary white LEDs and simply stick a translucent film of the desired color on the right places. Such a film will be an ordinary light filter, and you will achieve the same effect as when using LEDs of different colors.

tuning tricks

To successfully complete any modification to a car or its dashboard, you need to know a few simple tricks that will allow you to perform the desired actions. We have already talked about how to properly stick a tint film, namely, such techniques are also used when sticking translucent films on the back of the instrument panel with slots so that the divisions and numbers shine with the right light. Another no less interesting technique is the use of fluorescent paints to paint over the arrow or divisions of the instrument scale. To evenly apply such paint, it is enough to use either a simple template on top of which you can safely paint, or just gently apply it with a thin brush.
Also, do not forget about the need to properly calibrate the arrow after removing it, because an incorrectly calibrated device is a very serious problem that can only be solved in a service center.

Installation of instruments and assembly of the dashboard

When you are sure that you did everything you wanted and are completely satisfied with the result, it's time to put the removed devices in place, connect them and assemble the dashboard. Do not forget to check if the devices are powered and if everything is in order with the skin fasteners. If you do everything calmly and do not rush, then such tuning of the dashboard will not only be no worse than the one for which you would have to pay a fairly large amount in the studio, but even better, because you will do such tuning with your own hands and in at any time you can change or redo something.