BsBB1

[JEBB4]

Really!! They still look fresh on her
ahh yeah I think ive used that before, completely forgot about it..

[bennyboy]

Well, finally, I installed the EL dials
My normal speedo sticks, only in the summer when its been sitting in the heat, but its been bloody annoying for a few years
I thought if Im going to the hassle of swapping the dials, I may as well do the EL conversion, so...
after much faffing about, I sourced a loom, the dials and crucially, a dimmer unit.

My car is a UK, so the good thing is that we only got one 'flavour' , I figured if I got all facelift UK bits, it would be as plug and play as poss, i.e. no buggering about to do with the loom.
Well, I can confirm. It only bloody worked!
After taking all the dash gubbins out, I was left with this:



It looks like chaos, but its really not. The dash loom runs across the dash of course, but down into each footwell too.

Old dials out:



I wont bore you as there are write ups on here, but basically I removed the old loom, and plugged everything in to test before I clipped the new loom in.
Everything worked EXCEPT

When I used the indicators, they worked fine but both lights on the dash blinked.
The speedo itself didnt light up, though the revs and the speedo needle did.

The only thing I hadnt connected was the extra earth on the passenger side and worst case scenario the results as is were drivable so I was happy to whack it all in.
I then connected the extra earth - indicators solved and speedo lit anyway
Im not sure if the earth actually solved the speedo issue or if it was coincidence as I uncliped the silver inverter box to fit it all in properly, but either way it works.



@wurlycorner just FYI, my dimmer works the same across the board - everything dims and clicks over to full brightness.

I thought I got a pic of the dimmer unit but it seems not
I think this is the key to the issues many have with the dimmer afterwards.
The normal guages have a black box dimmer unit behind the dash to the left of the fuel and temp.
The EL dials one is a slightly bigger, almost L shaped unit.
Anyway, it seems to be the keystone, so Im well chuffed.

Thanks to @ammo for the dials, @ziyaan for the loom and @newkid for the dimmer unit.
BIG thanks to @indigolemon for listening to me bleat on and asking questions about doing this for MONTHS without saying 'just drokking fit them already!'

[newkid]

No need to thank me bud, was just glad to be able to help out. Wonder how many parts you have off my old cars on yours now

Dimmer unit your on about

[bennyboy]

Yeah, a few!

That's the fella, seems to make the difference with the dimming options. Makes sense I suppose, the EL dials are going to have different electrical requirements to original ones.

[newkid]

What you got planned next?

Also cant see it in your spec list but which brakes you running?

[bennyboy]

Odd job really. Have a few small bits to sandblast and respray, the biggest thing on the list is swap my front bumper over for a mint one...that's in the wrong colour. It's black at eh mo, just need to prep it and get it sprayed, but I'm trying to do it all at once - take the old one off, take out the grill I have behind it and respray that, fit to new bumper and possibly fit the yellow fogs I have....which also need to be restored Oh and fit the shiny new style plate too, minus the brick of course.

Brakes are 'standard', except hawk pads up front, red stuff at back and goodridge braided lines.
TBH, I'm not heavy on the brakes at all, they last me ages, I tend to rev match downshift / heel-toe a lot in everyday driving.

[nitin_s1]

Looks great. I do like the EL dials, they are the best thing after my Type-S cluster..

[wurlycorner]

I do like the EL dials, they are way better than my Type-S cluster..

[prelude_h22]

Love the attention to detail
Those EL dials are fab
Great work there bud

[si import]

great work mate