| Just wanted to offer up some final thoughts on the LED upgrade process. This hasn't been anything that I'd describe as difficult. It's mostly been a trial and error experience. And with that, I hope these words will save someone the heartache of having to repeat my ordeals... I doubt if this can ever be perfected without throwing a lot of money at it. That said, I think I've got it about as good as it gets, even if there are a few quibbles remaining. First things first, online pics usually don't do the finished product justice. Most of the shots I've seen on here I can tell have been used with long exposures. And that does a little bit of a disservice to those of us wanting maximum results... What do I mean by this? Well, short of using high-powered LEDs, in the gauge cluster, brightness won't even come close to balancing the output by the LEDs in the pods. The online pics have been taken with long exposures. And what that means is that the camera's shutter has been allowed to stay open for an extended period (to let in more light). The effect is that both pods and gauge cluster appear to have even lighting. In reality, the gauge cluster is much dimmer. That being said, I've found that using nothing short of 1 watt LEDs, in the cluster, won't be as balanced as one might hope. I ended up sourcing most of my bulbs from superbrightleds. I got all of them, except for the gauge cluster bulbs. The gauge cluster bulbs came from an eBay vendor (at $5/each vs. $10/each from superbright). If you follow DVDBurn's tutorial, you'll get most of what you need. That last damn 3mm bulb, in the A/C pod, still doesn't want to come out from the housing that superbright ships. So I ended up using a little, old fashioned elbow grease to get the superbright housing in. Once in, the pods rock. The cluster bulbs were simple and straightforward (as they should be). One note is that the color temperature of the bulbs doesn't exactly match the pod bulbs' color. They're a little cooler. The pob bulbs I'd put at close to true white, while the cluster bulbs will be a little blue. But it's not unattractive. If I had a $1,000 Minolta color meter or a $20,000 Photo Research PR-650, I could tell you the exact color temps:) The other thing about the cluster bulbs is that they're so bright there's a little spill coming from behind the speedo and tach needles. Nothing to concentrate on. But it does hearken back to those unfortunate days of the aftermarket indiglo-faced gauges that a lot of people seemed to enjoy. The OEM-sized replacement bulbs for the map lights and kick panel ambient lighting suck. Output is minimal. And they don't really fit snug (though they do fit). The festoon bulb for the cabin lighting is quite bright. If you're considering doing this for your Z, go for it! It's well worth it and you won't be replacing bulbs for a long, long time. Plus, they're much brighter than stock... Please read my other post on this as well as the great tutorials. I'll get pics up asap. Admin, feel free to move to tech. Thx. Mike V.
Burbank, CA
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03:43:58 02/16/10
