white face guages
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 320
From: Kentucky
Befroe you start get your car at normal operation temp, Idleing with all accersories off. Then mare where your needles are pointing. This is important if your putting on the RK sport style overlay for sure.
Geting the cluster out isnt that bad. Raise up the upper dash pad, Take out the 3-4 srews that hold the top of the bezel, Drop thepiese right below the bezel(that covers the steering colum)2 screws ther and 1 more one the side. I think the radio bezel has to come off as well and there may be a couple of scres there as well. When you get the bezel off there are4-6 srews that hold the cluster in, Remove them and the cluster should be out. This is also a good time to replace insterment cluster bulbs while you have it out. Remove 4-6 screw holding the cluster lense on. If it did not come with a tool youll need a small door panel rmover , The guage needles pull off and press back on, but are not splined or pined, this is why you need to mark the location. The black overlay pulls right off,it is held on with adhesive. Replace with new overlay. Hook dash back up, Start engine(allow enough time to get to normal operationg temp. and reinstall needles on correct location. replace lense, Bezel and rest of dash.
Geting the cluster out isnt that bad. Raise up the upper dash pad, Take out the 3-4 srews that hold the top of the bezel, Drop thepiese right below the bezel(that covers the steering colum)2 screws ther and 1 more one the side. I think the radio bezel has to come off as well and there may be a couple of scres there as well. When you get the bezel off there are4-6 srews that hold the cluster in, Remove them and the cluster should be out. This is also a good time to replace insterment cluster bulbs while you have it out. Remove 4-6 screw holding the cluster lense on. If it did not come with a tool youll need a small door panel rmover , The guage needles pull off and press back on, but are not splined or pined, this is why you need to mark the location. The black overlay pulls right off,it is held on with adhesive. Replace with new overlay. Hook dash back up, Start engine(allow enough time to get to normal operationg temp. and reinstall needles on correct location. replace lense, Bezel and rest of dash.
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 785
From: Greenville, PA
Befroe you start get your car at normal operation temp, Idleing with all accersories off. Then mare where your needles are pointing. This is important if your putting on the RK sport style overlay for sure.
Start engine(allow enough time to get to normal operationg temp. and reinstall needles on correct location. replace lense, Bezel and rest of dash.
Start engine(allow enough time to get to normal operationg temp. and reinstall needles on correct location. replace lense, Bezel and rest of dash.
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 649
From: Champaign, IL
Here is how I did it, I had no guide. I also bought mine off ebay and have had no problems almost a year later with them.
Remove the trim that covers the dash. This goes from the drivers side all the way to the center where the radio and HVAC is. If you need help doing this, search for a radio install. Lots of tutorials on this.
The next thing I did was remove the plastic cover on the gauges. This is not easy, and required the help of 2 other people to help pry back the plastic. I DID NOT remove the A pillar covers, but probably should have. I know it seems like its impossible, but you do not have to remove the giant *** cover on the top dash. The reason you do not want to remove this is because 99% of the people who do end up breaking it. Just take your time and eventually you can get it out. Dont worry if you break a couple of the plastic tabs, its old and brittle, the screws will hold it firmly in place once everything is reattached.
Next, I simply placed the overlay on the gauges and fed the needles through the holes. Again, this is a tight fit and takes some persuasion to make work, but it can be done without removing the needles or removing the cluster itself.
Next, wire them up. Make sure you do not bend the connector going to the gauges, keep it straight because if you do bend it it will break eventually. I wired mine to the headlight switch, and never touch the dimmer switch. In my old truck, I did wired it to the headlight switch and used the dimmer switch to adjust the brightness of the gauges when they were too bright. This sends a lower voltage to the transformer for the gauges (or whatever it is) and causes them to fail prematurely. Instead of using the dimmer switch on your car, mount the dimmer switch included with the gauges in a discreet but easily accessible location (I mouned mine behind the CD holder on the front of the center console, with the dimmer dial facing towards the drivers side).
Reassemble the dash and your done. This is not a particularly easy job, and took me almost 3 hours IIRC. Just take your time and pay attention to what you are doing. If you have to, have several bags out and put the screws you removed from certain locations in separate bags labeled with their location.
Remove the trim that covers the dash. This goes from the drivers side all the way to the center where the radio and HVAC is. If you need help doing this, search for a radio install. Lots of tutorials on this.
The next thing I did was remove the plastic cover on the gauges. This is not easy, and required the help of 2 other people to help pry back the plastic. I DID NOT remove the A pillar covers, but probably should have. I know it seems like its impossible, but you do not have to remove the giant *** cover on the top dash. The reason you do not want to remove this is because 99% of the people who do end up breaking it. Just take your time and eventually you can get it out. Dont worry if you break a couple of the plastic tabs, its old and brittle, the screws will hold it firmly in place once everything is reattached.
Next, I simply placed the overlay on the gauges and fed the needles through the holes. Again, this is a tight fit and takes some persuasion to make work, but it can be done without removing the needles or removing the cluster itself.
Next, wire them up. Make sure you do not bend the connector going to the gauges, keep it straight because if you do bend it it will break eventually. I wired mine to the headlight switch, and never touch the dimmer switch. In my old truck, I did wired it to the headlight switch and used the dimmer switch to adjust the brightness of the gauges when they were too bright. This sends a lower voltage to the transformer for the gauges (or whatever it is) and causes them to fail prematurely. Instead of using the dimmer switch on your car, mount the dimmer switch included with the gauges in a discreet but easily accessible location (I mouned mine behind the CD holder on the front of the center console, with the dimmer dial facing towards the drivers side).
Reassemble the dash and your done. This is not a particularly easy job, and took me almost 3 hours IIRC. Just take your time and pay attention to what you are doing. If you have to, have several bags out and put the screws you removed from certain locations in separate bags labeled with their location.
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 382
From: East Detroit/Macomb, MI
Here is how I did it, I had no guide. I also bought mine off ebay and have had no problems almost a year later with them.
Remove the trim that covers the dash. This goes from the drivers side all the way to the center where the radio and HVAC is. If you need help doing this, search for a radio install. Lots of tutorials on this.
The next thing I did was remove the plastic cover on the gauges. This is not easy, and required the help of 2 other people to help pry back the plastic. I DID NOT remove the A pillar covers, but probably should have. I know it seems like its impossible, but you do not have to remove the giant *** cover on the top dash. The reason you do not want to remove this is because 99% of the people who do end up breaking it. Just take your time and eventually you can get it out. Dont worry if you break a couple of the plastic tabs, its old and brittle, the screws will hold it firmly in place once everything is reattached.
Next, I simply placed the overlay on the gauges and fed the needles through the holes. Again, this is a tight fit and takes some persuasion to make work, but it can be done without removing the needles or removing the cluster itself.
Next, wire them up. Make sure you do not bend the connector going to the gauges, keep it straight because if you do bend it it will break eventually. I wired mine to the headlight switch, and never touch the dimmer switch. In my old truck, I did wired it to the headlight switch and used the dimmer switch to adjust the brightness of the gauges when they were too bright. This sends a lower voltage to the transformer for the gauges (or whatever it is) and causes them to fail prematurely. Instead of using the dimmer switch on your car, mount the dimmer switch included with the gauges in a discreet but easily accessible location (I mouned mine behind the CD holder on the front of the center console, with the dimmer dial facing towards the drivers side).
Reassemble the dash and your done. This is not a particularly easy job, and took me almost 3 hours IIRC. Just take your time and pay attention to what you are doing. If you have to, have several bags out and put the screws you removed from certain locations in separate bags labeled with their location.
Remove the trim that covers the dash. This goes from the drivers side all the way to the center where the radio and HVAC is. If you need help doing this, search for a radio install. Lots of tutorials on this.
The next thing I did was remove the plastic cover on the gauges. This is not easy, and required the help of 2 other people to help pry back the plastic. I DID NOT remove the A pillar covers, but probably should have. I know it seems like its impossible, but you do not have to remove the giant *** cover on the top dash. The reason you do not want to remove this is because 99% of the people who do end up breaking it. Just take your time and eventually you can get it out. Dont worry if you break a couple of the plastic tabs, its old and brittle, the screws will hold it firmly in place once everything is reattached.
Next, I simply placed the overlay on the gauges and fed the needles through the holes. Again, this is a tight fit and takes some persuasion to make work, but it can be done without removing the needles or removing the cluster itself.
Next, wire them up. Make sure you do not bend the connector going to the gauges, keep it straight because if you do bend it it will break eventually. I wired mine to the headlight switch, and never touch the dimmer switch. In my old truck, I did wired it to the headlight switch and used the dimmer switch to adjust the brightness of the gauges when they were too bright. This sends a lower voltage to the transformer for the gauges (or whatever it is) and causes them to fail prematurely. Instead of using the dimmer switch on your car, mount the dimmer switch included with the gauges in a discreet but easily accessible location (I mouned mine behind the CD holder on the front of the center console, with the dimmer dial facing towards the drivers side).
Reassemble the dash and your done. This is not a particularly easy job, and took me almost 3 hours IIRC. Just take your time and pay attention to what you are doing. If you have to, have several bags out and put the screws you removed from certain locations in separate bags labeled with their location.
so you got the ebay gauges? did they come with that soft ruber switch like mine did? i got the bem ones for like 30 bucks..and btw are you saying not to use the included switch and to use only headlight switch or no? because my gauges can change color.. so what the best hookup
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