phousley
01-24-2011, 07:47 PM
If anyone is interested, this is a DIY of tinting a Prosport gauge to match factory gauge colors that I came up with. For starters, I decided to go with the Prosport premium series boost gauge because it is much smaller in depth than their other gauges. I did not want to do the vent or steering column mount, so I figured it would work the best for me. Their larger depth gauges wouldn't fit where I wanted to put the gauge. After I installed the gauge, I was happy with the location, but hated the amber or white color options of the gauge. With the tinted lens they put on the gauge, it caused the already blue tinted led back lighting to be even more blue. The color match did not match the B7 interior at all, so I decided to get creative. I am very pleased with my end result of MUCH trial and error, during night and day the gauge almost perfectly matches the factory dash gauges. I also tried tinting the factory lens with no success. Sorry in advance for not having pictures of all the steps, I kept messing around with the options and didn't even think about getting a bunch of pictures.
The gauge, stock colors and kit contents:
http://prosportgauges.com/amber-white-premium-electric-boost-gauge.aspx
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/onandoffstock.jpg
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/kit.jpg
The first step was to disassemble the gauge. Take a small screw driver and gently pry up around the bezel, area shown by green arrow in picture. It doesn't take much pressure as it is thin aluminum. After that is free remove the two nuts from the back of the gauge as shown by the red arrow in picture. This will allow the "guts" to be removed.
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/gaugeside.jpg
On my gauge there is a button to set the peak recall and warning levels of the gauge. The button is just glued in place. I took a pair of needle nose pliers and held the shaft while I used a second set of pliers with rubber tips to pop off the button. I found putting a small drop of lubricant at the place the shaft and button helped it release. The button is shown by the red arrow. After the button is removed it allows complete removal of the horrible tinted lens.
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/dayarrows.jpg
At this point you should have several free components: the case back, trim bezel, lens, button, white spacer ring that separates the lens and gauge face, and the internals of the gauge. The picture above has a green arrow that points to the location of the white spacer ring that I decided to paint black so there would not be reflection from the light that lit the needle. I also lightly sanded the front edge of the spacer ring to make up for the extra space added with the new lens and the tint ring that I will explain in a moment.
To make the new lens, I went to Home Depot and bought a small piece of clear acrylic sheet that was 0.093 inches thick. I cut the new lens out, using the white spacer ring as a template. Then I drilled a small hole to allow the button shaft to come through. Now that the lens was done, it was time to figure out how to dim and take some of the blue color out of the gauges led's.
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/P1010022.jpg
After trying various window tint: red, spray tint, and normal tint, all failed, then I found only one that worked great. The tint I settled on is Gila Peel and Cling 5% VLT window tint from Advance Auto (pictured below). I cut a circle of thin clear plastic out of a discarded clam package from a flashlight set, again using the white spacer ring as a template. I drilled a hole for the needle shaft, button shaft, and put 4 notches around the edges to accommodate the gauge face location tabs. Make sure you cut a slot through the 2 holes to the outside of the circle so you can slip the tint piece behind the gauge face. Then adhere the static cling tint to the circle and cut the tint away from the holes, slot, and tab notches you cut in the plastic. The tint ring, drawing below, then slides between the back of the gauge face and the circuit board, containing the led's. This adequately dimmed the led's and colored the light to match, almost perfectly, the factory gauges.
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/tint.jpg
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/gaugetintring.jpg
Now you are left with reassembling the gauge. Place the "guts" back into the case back and slide the lens into the trim bezel. Place the white spacer ring onto the gauge face and slide the trim bezel and new lens back onto the case. Using a large bladed flat head screwdriver press back down the edge you pried up and put back the 2 nuts on the back of the gauge. Finally, with a small drop of super glue, pop the small button back on. You are done!
I only have around $90 in the whole setup ($80 for the gauge, $10 for the tint, $2.50 for the acrylic sheet), and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. If anyone wants to do this to their gauge, feel free to PM me with any questions. Remember: take your time, be gentle because the components are fragile, and taking apart the gauge almost certainly voids their 1 year warranty!
Following are a few pictures of the "new" gauge at both day and night. The color of the boost gauge shows up a little different in the farther away night picture, but is almost a dead on match to the naked eye, both in brightness and color. The close up night picture is pretty accurate to the real color.
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/day.jpg
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/night.jpg
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/nightclose.jpg
Good Luck!
The gauge, stock colors and kit contents:
http://prosportgauges.com/amber-white-premium-electric-boost-gauge.aspx
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/onandoffstock.jpg
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/kit.jpg
The first step was to disassemble the gauge. Take a small screw driver and gently pry up around the bezel, area shown by green arrow in picture. It doesn't take much pressure as it is thin aluminum. After that is free remove the two nuts from the back of the gauge as shown by the red arrow in picture. This will allow the "guts" to be removed.
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/gaugeside.jpg
On my gauge there is a button to set the peak recall and warning levels of the gauge. The button is just glued in place. I took a pair of needle nose pliers and held the shaft while I used a second set of pliers with rubber tips to pop off the button. I found putting a small drop of lubricant at the place the shaft and button helped it release. The button is shown by the red arrow. After the button is removed it allows complete removal of the horrible tinted lens.
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/dayarrows.jpg
At this point you should have several free components: the case back, trim bezel, lens, button, white spacer ring that separates the lens and gauge face, and the internals of the gauge. The picture above has a green arrow that points to the location of the white spacer ring that I decided to paint black so there would not be reflection from the light that lit the needle. I also lightly sanded the front edge of the spacer ring to make up for the extra space added with the new lens and the tint ring that I will explain in a moment.
To make the new lens, I went to Home Depot and bought a small piece of clear acrylic sheet that was 0.093 inches thick. I cut the new lens out, using the white spacer ring as a template. Then I drilled a small hole to allow the button shaft to come through. Now that the lens was done, it was time to figure out how to dim and take some of the blue color out of the gauges led's.
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/P1010022.jpg
After trying various window tint: red, spray tint, and normal tint, all failed, then I found only one that worked great. The tint I settled on is Gila Peel and Cling 5% VLT window tint from Advance Auto (pictured below). I cut a circle of thin clear plastic out of a discarded clam package from a flashlight set, again using the white spacer ring as a template. I drilled a hole for the needle shaft, button shaft, and put 4 notches around the edges to accommodate the gauge face location tabs. Make sure you cut a slot through the 2 holes to the outside of the circle so you can slip the tint piece behind the gauge face. Then adhere the static cling tint to the circle and cut the tint away from the holes, slot, and tab notches you cut in the plastic. The tint ring, drawing below, then slides between the back of the gauge face and the circuit board, containing the led's. This adequately dimmed the led's and colored the light to match, almost perfectly, the factory gauges.
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/tint.jpg
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/gaugetintring.jpg
Now you are left with reassembling the gauge. Place the "guts" back into the case back and slide the lens into the trim bezel. Place the white spacer ring onto the gauge face and slide the trim bezel and new lens back onto the case. Using a large bladed flat head screwdriver press back down the edge you pried up and put back the 2 nuts on the back of the gauge. Finally, with a small drop of super glue, pop the small button back on. You are done!
I only have around $90 in the whole setup ($80 for the gauge, $10 for the tint, $2.50 for the acrylic sheet), and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. If anyone wants to do this to their gauge, feel free to PM me with any questions. Remember: take your time, be gentle because the components are fragile, and taking apart the gauge almost certainly voids their 1 year warranty!
Following are a few pictures of the "new" gauge at both day and night. The color of the boost gauge shows up a little different in the farther away night picture, but is almost a dead on match to the naked eye, both in brightness and color. The close up night picture is pretty accurate to the real color.
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/day.jpg
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/night.jpg
http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/phousley/nightclose.jpg
Good Luck!