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Thanks!!! I forgot that the Comcast deadline passed... They decided to stop hosting personal web pages so I'm afraid most (all?) of my pictures and everything else are going to be down for a while. I downloaded everything before they shut it down, but need time and web space to get everything back up and fix all the broken links.
 
Anyone know where I can get another set of LEDs? My speedo one gets dim as it rotates as one of the diodes went bad. I know bob is ultra busy as I've already tried to get a hold of him via email so if anyone has an extra set they'd sell.... :)
 
Hey there! Catching up on emails, PM's and notifications.. What color did you have? If you can PM me your address / color I'll get one out to you ASAP! Most nights after work I'm too drained to do anything any more, and weekends = house stuff.... Anyone ever see what's at the bottom of roof gutters after a year or two??? I love owning a house.. I love owning a house... I love.... If I keep repeating it....... :) I need to find a way to get drones to do this gross / annoying stuff. I hate ladders so I rigged an extension pole with an air nozzle, and proceeded blow gunk all over myself and the house / driveway / everywhere instead, but at least now the gutters work.
 
Since I just finished this mod and finally got everything working correctly. Figured I'd update with some of my findings/tips in case anyone does this at a later time and runs into issues...


  1. First thing! Make sure to cut your replacement needles (harley, etc.) down to match or a hair smaller than stock. Too long and it won't fit under the plexiglass when you go to button everything back up.
  2. If you do put the replacement needles on and then need to remove them for what ever reason, be delicate about it. You can (and probably will) pull out the needle completely out of the servo motor on accident.
  3. If you do pull out the pin, best course of action is just replace the entire speedo gear. These worked well for me (Amazon: ECCPP 6 Qty. GM Stepper Motors Speedometer Gauge) and are a replacement for XC.168, X15.168 and X25.168. I just needed to cut off the two plastic pins on the back side (just used a pair of wire cutters, very simple)
  4. When you button everything back up be absolutely sure the top hat of the needle is not contacting the plexiglass. If it is, it will get stuck and stop functioning (happened to me, tach worked but speedo needle got stuck). What I did was ran a small bead of hot glue down before putting down the plexiglass to give it a small riser. Then put down the plexiglass and then aluminum on top and verified there was a gap between the needle top hat and the plexiglass. I then ran a hefty bead of hot glue around everything to seal it. (Don't worry that it sticks out a bit over stock) Once the bezel goes over it, you won't notice a thing.

HTH some people out in the future.
 
Stock Needles

My stock tachometer and speedometer needles have faded and warped a bit. I would prefer to replace them with stock needles in good condition. Does anyone know where I could get them? (Lotus doesn't sell them, and I couldn't find any other sources online.)
 
Ran into an interesting problem:
I fiiiinally installed the new EL panel and sprayed the needles red to match the rest of the car.
After reseating the needles and driving it around, a few days later the ABS light comes on, and it says I'm going 20mph faster than I am.
The next day, I'm going 15mph slower.
Then the day after its accurate for most of the day.
ABS light is still on, mph gauge is all over the place (but consistent for the drive)
I would check and reseat sensors, but is there a possibility that this had to do with removing and replacing the gauge panel? @Riceburner98 ideas?
 
I can't say I've heard that before... There should be no relation between ABS and the instrument cluster (besides the warning light), as the speed is transmitted over the CAN bus rather than directly wired to the cluster. Is it possible the random speed discrepancy could be from the needle sticking randomly?

Do you have the plexiglass cover installed on the cluster? On one that I did for someone when the car would get hot the plexiglass was expanding and flexing inwards, just enough to intermittently touch the needles. I couldn't get it to happen here when he sent me the panel until it was an unusually hot day (for the East cost) and the car sat in the sun all day.

It could be a speed sensor issue, but would be a very odd timed coincidence to happen just after doing the instrument cluster, right? I'm not sure what else the ABS light could be though...

(And Chris - just saw your question.. Unfortunately I never came across a source for the factory needles.. All of them that I've had have been pretty sun-faded unfortunately, or I'd send you some. :) )
 
I can't say I've heard that before... There should be no relation between ABS and the instrument cluster (besides the warning light), as the speed is transmitted over the CAN bus rather than directly wired to the cluster. Is it possible the random speed discrepancy could be from the needle sticking randomly?



Do you have the plexiglass cover installed on the cluster? On one that I did for someone when the car would get hot the plexiglass was expanding and flexing inwards, just enough to intermittently touch the needles. I couldn't get it to happen here when he sent me the panel until it was an unusually hot day (for the East cost) and the car sat in the sun all day.



It could be a speed sensor issue, but would be a very odd timed coincidence to happen just after doing the instrument cluster, right? I'm not sure what else the ABS light could be though...



(And Chris - just saw your question.. Unfortunately I never came across a source for the factory needles.. All of them that I've had have been pretty sun-faded unfortunately, or I'd send you some. :) )

I'll see if I can check the abs connections, as well and check the plexi clearance. Thank you.
 
Pulled the plexi and stripped the needles since they didn't light up enough. Painted them black part way up the needle a la Ferrari needles.

Put everything back together and gauge was working perfect. Put the plexi on and it was still good. Put the shroud on and when I started it up again... Speedo is dead. Doesn't even move. Teach is perfect.
Sigh. I should have left it alone.
 
My stock tachometer and speedometer needles have faded and warped a bit. I would prefer to replace them with stock needles in good condition. Does anyone know where I could get them? (Lotus doesn't sell them, and I couldn't find any other sources online.)
I couldn't find stock replacement needles, so I disassembled my cluster, removed the needles, gently bent them back until they stayed straight, and painted them with flourescent orange needle paint I purchased off eBay (for about $8). It took some patience and lots of coats of paint, and the paint goes on thin and a little uneven at first. I changed the orientation of the needles a few times as I applied paint (and let them dry) in order to even it out. I used a hair dryer to help the paint dry faster. They look great now.

I was also having the intermittent dead cluster problem, so I reflowed the solder on the CAN bus connectors (adding some solder in the process), and haven't had another failure since I fixed it about 3 months ago.
 
Hi everybody !



Does anyone try to remove needles on dash after 2008 ?



It's impossible !!! I tried with a fork but nothing to do, there is too much glue...



Do you have any idea?


I purchased a tesla cluster to remove the inner trim and needles. The shaft on the needle was metal. I destroyed the motor on the back side to get them out. Once out, I tried vise grips to remove them with not such luck. They were pressed on.
 
[Instrument Cluster Modification] A brief guide to upgrading your needles and...

I would drill a hole on the top of the needle, put pressure against the motor shaft, and use pressure to pull the needle off (like the aforementioned fork). It would prevent the shaft from breaking off the motor.
Just look up "pulley puller" for an idea of what I mean.
 
You can do it by hand since you don't need much force. Maybe bend some metal and put a small rid in it?
Even just pushing down on the shaft with something while pulling up on the needle would work.
 
Paging @Riceburner98

Swapped my lcd to a red one, and stripped the orange off the EL panel, but I'm still unable to reproduce an led ring. If anyone knows where I can get a red or even white led ring, and a white EL panel, I would really appreciate the help. The led ring Riceburner98 did is half the size of normal led rings, and it's proving to be a real pain to replicate. Thanks!
 
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