Just a good looking swap I just did :)

[engifineer]

Nothing new on this one really. Nothing that no one has ever done, but it just came out nice with the color scheme I thought... so I posted it since I havent posted pics of my swaps in a while. Links to videos of the color change as well. The neat part is the needles not dimming so they are just there when the gauges are dimmed :D

http://scionpix.com/gallery/download/3172-1/Color+Changing+Needles_002.png

http://scionpix.com/gallery/download/3174-1/Color+Changing+Needles_004.png

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/engifineer/Dkillaz/th_Dkillaz_005.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/engifineer/Dkillaz/?action=view&current=Dkillaz_005.flv)

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/engifineer/Dkillaz/th_Dkillaz_003.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/engifineer/Dkillaz/?action=view&current=Dkillaz_003.flv)

[Stealth_Fighter_tC]

Looks awesome mate!! How hard was it to do?

[Jiggaman]

thats dope! i need to get mine done...dont know what color tho....

[engifineer]

Thanks for the comments! As for difficulty, it is hard to judge. I have done about 100 swaps since 05 on the tC, so they may seem easier to me than to someone that has never done them, or never done this type of work. The basic swap isnt too bad if you are comfortable doing pcb level work with small surface mount components. The color change can be a bit of a pain, but that lies mainly in the "construction" element of getting the needle lighting situated the way you want. I dont use "stilts" or moved leds for mine, I add separate lighting boards behind the needles to do the needle backlighting if it isnt the same as the rest of the gauge. So it comes out nice and clean, but takes a little while to get everything in place and secured.

You can see pics of my dash with blue gauges, red needles, blue hvac, blue lcd on head unit with red buttons at scionpix.com on my gallery.

[Mandos]

Thanks for the comments! As for difficulty, it is hard to judge. I have done about 100 swaps since 05 on the tC, so they may seem easier to me than to someone that has never done them, or never done this type of work. The basic swap isnt too bad if you are comfortable doing pcb level work with small surface mount components. The color change can be a bit of a pain, but that lies mainly in the "construction" element of getting the needle lighting situated the way you want. I dont use "stilts" or moved leds for mine, I add separate lighting boards behind the needles to do the needle backlighting if it isnt the same as the rest of the gauge. So it comes out nice and clean, but takes a little while to get everything in place and secured.

You can see pics of my dash with blue gauges, red needles, blue hvac, blue lcd on head unit with red buttons at scionpix.com on my gallery.

I wanna see boards :)

Mine are just on wires floating inside a painted off section below the needle = ghetto.

[engifineer]

Whats up mandos! Havent seen you in a while on the other boards. I spend more time on yoursciontc.com than scionlife these days.

I will try to get you some pics soon if you want. I thought of coming up with and easier to install kit for doing them if I can find the right materials.

[Stu_Gotti]

Damn, two of my SL peepz in one thread, I haven't been able to talk with either of you since last year maybe...

Whats up? Yo Eng, you still selling the kits for the tC's swaps?

[engifineer]

Hey Stu!

Yep, still selling them. You probably already knew about the latest mod for the HVAC. I made one a long while back that requires no cutting of traces or addition of jumpers, just swapping out parts. Still doing the swaps too, although I do a lot less of them these days due to time constraints with my job and family. But still take a couple a month or so.

[Stu_Gotti]

Thats awesome! I'll stay in touch with you, hopefully when the time nears I'll give you a shout!

Hows life been treating ya?

[engifineer]

Been doing well.. just busy! Travelling a good amount lately for work, autocrossing, starting to house shop, planning a wedding... trying to rest every now and then :p Project management at work keeps me pretty busy most of the time.

Getting ready to take a couple of weeks off though, so that will be nice. No solid plans other than we will spend a chunk of it in a tent and some of it visiting family.

How are things for you? Engine still holding strong? If you want more info on the new hvac mod, check out scionwiki.com, we (a lot of us at yoursciontc.com) have been trying to update it with the walkthroughs. I just added the 2005 - 2006 HVAC mod, 2007 HVAC mod and needle re-painting this weekend to the site. I will be adding more soon hopefully, like a new writeup for the gauge cluster led swap.

[Stu_Gotti]

Thats good bro! Man my car has been through so much shit, it never fails! It's in the shop right now with tranny issues again, hopefully nothing too serious... but hey, I guess its expected when you drive the dog shit out of it for almost 95K+...

[ACass05tC]

nice pics! i want to do my gauges as well. i just haven't decided on a color yet.

[engifineer]

Me niether :P I had mine all blue with stock needles and all blue on the head unit. Next I painted the needles red. I liked the red/blue color scheme, so next I added the separate backlighting to the needles to really make them red and added red buttons to he head unit to tie in the red on the center part of the dash. Next may be blue to red fading needles, custom gauge faces and some color changing items I have in the works if I ever get around to finishing the code and circuit layout I started a year ago :P When you work on a lot of them ,you constantly think of new things for your own I guess. It helps to always have a stock of leds and resistors around :D Let me know if you need any help with finding parts or having work done. You will probably find that you will get the parts and stuff cheaper through me than just about anyone else that sells them as a kit. As for mine:

http://scionpix.com/gallery/download/990-4/Blue_Red_Daves_0203.JPG (http://scionpix.com/gallery/download/988-1/Blue_Red_Daves_0203.JPG)

http://scionpix.com/gallery/download/993-4/Blue_Red_Daves_0204.JPG (http://scionpix.com/gallery/download/991-1/Blue_Red_Daves_0204.JPG)

[Stryker Trailwood]

i so wanna change my gauges/HVAC/radio... but with y tC being my daily driver :(. if only i could use my truck...

i want white grades with blue needles. and white HVAC and HU but keep the color changing display on the HU

[engifineer]

If you didnt want to have separate backlighting for the needles it would save you some money, since with white gauges and blue needles you dont really need it. They will stand out more with separate backlighting, but will also look good with white leds and the needles painted blue.

A setup with White head unit, white gauges and HVAC with blue needles like I just mentioned would be somewhere around $155 bucks or so. And as I posted long ago on here, scikotics get a deal with me on any kind of work I do :D So you could knock about 15 off of that.

I am leaving for vacation today and will be back on the 9th of July, so if you want more info feel free to pm me and we can discuss that way. I will get back to you as soon as I get back in town. There are a lot of options for how you can do them, including DIY kits if you are comfortable doing it that way.

[Stryker Trailwood]

no im not near confident about doing it myself cause im an idiot like that :lol:

but i really cant be without this stuff unless i have another car to use. im actually in talks with a local auto designs shop that may very well be up for starting to do this locally cause theres nobody here that does this and several dont like the idea of sending their stuff out and being without it for a period of time, but would like it done.

[riboflavin]

man, i wanna swap mine asap!!!
looks dope!

[1*BA*RStC07]

I want to do it in pink... where can I find the bulbs? like a normal auto parts store??

[engifineer]

They are actually leds. You will need plcc-2 packaged devices with approx 300 - 500 mcd of output. Pink leds are known to fade in color much faster than other colors, so I currently dont carry them. I have some I am needing to test right after vacation ends and I get back home to see what kind of longevity they have. If they seem ok, I may start stocking them. To do the swap, you need to take it all apart, desolder the old leds on the board and install new ones. If you do the hvac you will need to do the circuit mod I created or they will be super dim. Look on scionwiki.com under guides to find the writeups I placed there.

[kayrusty]

So im definitely a newbie to the site but I do own a 2004 xa. I'm interested in replacing my factory stereo because it is less than desirable in layout and some what in convenient when driving. I also want to be able to plug in my i pod to my stereo. Do you know of any good stereos that would fill the large gap that would open up or would go with the color schemes in the interior? thanks so much!!!

[engifineer]

Another one that I did night before last. Same color change scheme, but different colors. So of course I may as well post pics :P



http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/engifineer/th_BlueRedColorChange_0490.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/engifineer/?action=view&current=BlueRedColorChange_0490.flv)

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/engifineer/BlueRedColorChange_0491.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/engifineer/BlueRedColorChange_0488.jpg

[tCMetaLFReaK]

You did that with a circuitboard, right? the color changing needles...

[engifineer]

4 actually. Each one made to fit inside the white surrounds behind the needles and glued into place. The leds sit on those and are wired to the stock board.

[tCMetaLFReaK]

Have a pic of the "raw" board or anything? I have red gauges, but I'd love to do blue to red for the needle... would be really cool if you could somehow modulize the numbers to light up as you get to them with blue to red as well... *drool*

[engifineer]

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/engifineer/ClusterSwap_CC.jpg

Not the best pic, but it shows the basic idea. I use a super glue product with an adhesion promoter to attach them so they will never come apart. Takes a little tweaking to get the color change the way you want it, but it comes out nice.

[Jiggaman]

so i am a bit confused into how these DIY kits work.

i choose the colors i want, and you just send me the lights and i solder them myself?

or is it like a core exchange program where you just send me the stuff and i send you the stock stuff back?

ps you can pm me on here or SL, i have the same username for both boards

Jiggaman

[engifineer]

I will post this info here to help answer questions people may have.

For a kit, you get the leds and the resistor/power supply kit you need to do the HVAC portion. I dont have diy kits for the color changing option yet though. A core exchange would not work for the gauges, since the mileage is stored in them. To replace a cluster, the mileage and vin info is sent to Toyota, who programs the data into the cluster before sending it. So the core would not be usable again unless someone didnt care about the odo being correct, and the resale being shot due to that.

For someone wanting the labor done as well, the gauges, hvac, steering wheel stereo controls, head unit, door controls, etc have to be shipped to me. I mod them and ship them back out the next day.

The best way to contact me on them is at the email address listed on the led swap area of doctorisotope.com .