Gauge Overlay
Here's why:
If you 're using stock bulbs, goodluck seeing the numbers at night (you'll be trying to go through stock overlays AND these stickers). As for the matching up of numbers, it was a real pain in the *** as it is a sticker. (You need to wet your cluster and put the stickers on and slide them around until you think they might look good) Then you plug the cluster in real fast to try to make them light up but try not to let any water get into the cluster...then you remove it again and hope theres still enough water under the sticker to move them around again. Then you keep repeating the process until you think it looks good. They never 100% do...but i got close.
The other thing that really pissed me off was that there was no part that covered the turn signals....and the little gauge symbols got covered up by the bezel. Oh well, I got what I paid for.
Macewen overlays or 6LE/McNord gauges are the best and only 2 options one should consider IMO.
Macewens are expensive, but they are easy to install and look good once everything is put back together. I lined them up as perfect as they're gonna get without even using water.
6LE/McNord gauges look better than Macewens b/c they are a full replacement rather than just an overlay. And what could be better than changing the lame stock text?! Just be aware that needle removal is required...
Either one of these options is a good choice....
Macewens are expensive, but they are easy to install and look good once everything is put back together. I lined them up as perfect as they're gonna get without even using water.
6LE/McNord gauges look better than Macewens b/c they are a full replacement rather than just an overlay. And what could be better than changing the lame stock text?! Just be aware that needle removal is required...
Either one of these options is a good choice....
Macewen overlays or 6LE/McNord gauges are the best and only 2 options one should consider IMO.
Macewens are expensive, but they are easy to install and look good once everything is put back together. I lined them up as perfect as they're gonna get without even using water.
6LE/McNord gauges look better than Macewens b/c they are a full replacement rather than just an overlay. And what could be better than changing the lame stock text?! Just be aware that needle removal is required...
Either one of these options is a good choice....
Macewens are expensive, but they are easy to install and look good once everything is put back together. I lined them up as perfect as they're gonna get without even using water.
6LE/McNord gauges look better than Macewens b/c they are a full replacement rather than just an overlay. And what could be better than changing the lame stock text?! Just be aware that needle removal is required...
Either one of these options is a good choice....
Yeah, I had the whiteface ones....not a big fan.
Here's why:
If you 're using stock bulbs, goodluck seeing the numbers at night (you'll be trying to go through stock overlays AND these stickers). As for the matching up of numbers, it was a real pain in the *** as it is a sticker. (You need to wet your cluster and put the stickers on and slide them around until you think they might look good) Then you plug the cluster in real fast to try to make them light up but try not to let any water get into the cluster...then you remove it again and hope theres still enough water under the sticker to move them around again. Then you keep repeating the process until you think it looks good. They never 100% do...but i got close.
The other thing that really pissed me off was that there was no part that covered the turn signals....and the little gauge symbols got covered up by the bezel. Oh well, I got what I paid for.
Here's why:
If you 're using stock bulbs, goodluck seeing the numbers at night (you'll be trying to go through stock overlays AND these stickers). As for the matching up of numbers, it was a real pain in the *** as it is a sticker. (You need to wet your cluster and put the stickers on and slide them around until you think they might look good) Then you plug the cluster in real fast to try to make them light up but try not to let any water get into the cluster...then you remove it again and hope theres still enough water under the sticker to move them around again. Then you keep repeating the process until you think it looks good. They never 100% do...but i got close.
The other thing that really pissed me off was that there was no part that covered the turn signals....and the little gauge symbols got covered up by the bezel. Oh well, I got what I paid for.
However there is an easier way to install them. When I did mine, I placed a piece of plexiglass I had laying around between to blocks of wood (about 2' off the ground) and then put a spotlight underneath it facing up. With the gauges torn down to just the black face, you can see the light right through and line them up pretty easily. Yes you have to wet them down so they slide, but it only took me about 10 min to do all three overlays. For what I paid I love the result. It's a great alternative for those who can't afford a $100+ overlay.
Thread Starter
Copy & Paste Moderator
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 9,764
Likes: 208
From: Eastern MA
I don't want to remove my needles. I remember when full replacements became popular a while back (before 6LE was a sponsor), a third of the threads that featured them followed up with people complaining about the gauges being slightly off. So I'd rather just avoid the possibility.
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I understand that sometimes it may cost a little more, but going from $30 to $60 is a crazy jump. Silver pigment doesn't cost double white pigment. Actually, often they are the same price or pretty close. Its the shinier or ones with more metal flake that are more expensive.
I understand that sometimes it may cost a little more, but going from $30 to $60 is a crazy jump. Silver pigment doesn't cost double white pigment. Actually, often they are the same price or pretty close. Its the shinier or ones with more metal flake that are more expensive.
I don't want to remove my needles. I remember when full replacements became popular a while back (before 6LE was a sponsor), a third of the threads that featured them followed up with people complaining about the gauges being slightly off. So I'd rather just avoid the possibility.
I don't want to remove my needles. I remember when full replacements became popular a while back (before 6LE was a sponsor), a third of the threads that featured them followed up with people complaining about the gauges being slightly off. So I'd rather just avoid the possibility.
On the needles, I actually was just having a conversation with out calibrator today as Sommer has designed a new product we'll be showing off really soon...
Anyways, the stock gauges have a function of setting themselves to zero whenever there is power loss so as long as you get the needles back in the general area and then pull power to the cluster (like pull the cluster out or pull the fuse out, not just turn the car off) they will "sweep" to zero and reset... New info I'll be passing along after we tested it out...
I don't want to remove my needles. I remember when full replacements became popular a while back (before 6LE was a sponsor), a third of the threads that featured them followed up with people complaining about the gauges being slightly off. So I'd rather just avoid the possibility.
I wouldn't let that sway your decision.
I agree with the guys above. I never wanted to do the needles either, but now that I've done it, and have experimented with them, they're a breeze!!
The needles will reset themselves to zero and the motors actually do all the work, it's not a spring or magnetic thing..... Even spinning the needles over and over won't effect anything. Just take a picture of your stock cluster/needles with your car at operating temp, and after the overlay install, get that baby back up to temp and replace the needles. It's that simple.
After messing with so many overlays and clusters now I realize why guys were having problems with the needles "not moving"... The motors are VERY strong, it seems that if the needles are pressed on "too" hard then there's contact with other plastic and you create friction and that stops the needles. The remedy is to just just not press on the needles as hard as you can or to just back it off after it's pressed on.
Hope that helps some of you a bit.
The needles will reset themselves to zero and the motors actually do all the work, it's not a spring or magnetic thing..... Even spinning the needles over and over won't effect anything. Just take a picture of your stock cluster/needles with your car at operating temp, and after the overlay install, get that baby back up to temp and replace the needles. It's that simple.
After messing with so many overlays and clusters now I realize why guys were having problems with the needles "not moving"... The motors are VERY strong, it seems that if the needles are pressed on "too" hard then there's contact with other plastic and you create friction and that stops the needles. The remedy is to just just not press on the needles as hard as you can or to just back it off after it's pressed on.
Hope that helps some of you a bit.
I was under the impression the "silver" did have metal flake in it (that is why we can't do real silver as ours are printed) but you are right, doubling the price seems pretty crazy...
On the needles, I actually was just having a conversation with out calibrator today as Sommer has designed a new product we'll be showing off really soon...
Anyways, the stock gauges have a function of setting themselves to zero whenever there is power loss so as long as you get the needles back in the general area and then pull power to the cluster (like pull the cluster out or pull the fuse out, not just turn the car off) they will "sweep" to zero and reset... New info I'll be passing along after we tested it out...
On the needles, I actually was just having a conversation with out calibrator today as Sommer has designed a new product we'll be showing off really soon...
Anyways, the stock gauges have a function of setting themselves to zero whenever there is power loss so as long as you get the needles back in the general area and then pull power to the cluster (like pull the cluster out or pull the fuse out, not just turn the car off) they will "sweep" to zero and reset... New info I'll be passing along after we tested it out...
Not sure where everyone is getting their information.
I have the exact ones the OP posted. They light up like stock without LEDs, are easy to install (they install like macewens, no water necessary) and have the bottom area where the turn signals are.
I just wanted to clarify that in case the OP was still considering the gauges posted in the 1st post.
I have the exact ones the OP posted. They light up like stock without LEDs, are easy to install (they install like macewens, no water necessary) and have the bottom area where the turn signals are.
I just wanted to clarify that in case the OP was still considering the gauges posted in the 1st post.
i put overlays on my old 99 bird, and had to take the needles off. I tried marking where they had to go, and they did NOT go back to 0. nearly all my gauges were off and i had regretted replacing the overlay.
<-----Is so frickin' confused now on what to do.....
Still thinking about with Macewens.
The idea of electronics and water just don't seem right,
just a couple of drops could slip down into the cluster and cause bad news.
Still thinking about with Macewens.
The idea of electronics and water just don't seem right,
just a couple of drops could slip down into the cluster and cause bad news.
Thread Starter
Copy & Paste Moderator
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 9,764
Likes: 208
From: Eastern MA
Light Gray is close enough for me (many sites call that silver anyway).
I knew that already. The sweep is a range of motion test not calibration. Calibration involves comparison to a known accurate measurement, a simple sweep is insufficient.
I've seen plenty of threads like this in the past.
Yeah, that poster's description didn't match what I was seeing in the ones I posted, but its good information for anyone that finds the sticker ones.
To my knowledge, the ones I posted are not stickers so you don't need water.
Not sure where everyone is getting their information.
I have the exact ones the OP posted. They light up like stock without LEDs, are easy to install (they install like macewens, no water necessary) and have the bottom area where the turn signals are.
I just wanted to clarify that in case the OP was still considering the gauges posted in the 1st post.
I have the exact ones the OP posted. They light up like stock without LEDs, are easy to install (they install like macewens, no water necessary) and have the bottom area where the turn signals are.
I just wanted to clarify that in case the OP was still considering the gauges posted in the 1st post.
To my knowledge, the ones I posted are not stickers so you don't need water.
Last edited by VIP1; Nov 22, 2009 at 10:44 AM.
I bought a set of whiteguages from Ebay. They lined up pretty good and looked nice but after a few months the speedo and tach overlay loosened up. I contacted them and they sent a new set to me and they changed the adhesive(self stick) so hopefully these stay put. They do light up fine with stock lights.
