I just received my gauge overlays from Vinylstyles and I am preparing to install them. Has anyone successfully pulled the needles off and re-installed them without any difficulty or trouble with the needles zeroing and tracking correctly? Thank for any help.

 

I've removed and re-installed them on my Cabrio. I'm not sure if it will apply on the 07, but this is how I did it on my 05.

For the speedo and tach, I had the gauge plugged in, turn the key to the first position and wait a few seconds. On my car, you could here a sound for a second or two after turning the key. When the sound stops, re-install the needle with it lined up on zero.

For the temp & fuel needles, turn key on before removing them. On an edge that will not be visible when everything is re-installed, make a mark on the back edge of the needle and the edge of the gauge. When you re-install the needles, turn key on and line up the marks you made earlier and everything should be back to correct position.

Here is a thread about how it is done on the R50/R52/R53. It explains what I tried to describe in better detail, and may help you.

Hope this helps, and hopefully someone who has done this on a second generation car will give you more detailed info.

 

Personally, I think I would go ahead and just cut a small slit to open the cut out and sslide it over. I thin that would be much less dramaic than yanking the needle off. Someone on another thread did this and it i ever went with the guage overlays, i would do the same.

 

I went ahead a cut a small slit as suggested above (also another poster had done the same). I attemped to pull the needels off first, but they seem very well attached and I feared the worst if I really pulled on them. I put a very small piece of two sided tape behind the slit and it lays down and you cannot see it untless you know to look and then look very closely (like looking for the scar on your face from that cut you got as a kid). The overlays look pretty good and now all my gauges are black faced (I have the alta/prosport boost, water temp gauges). I wll post a picture later.

 

Here is a picture of the result with satin black:

 

That looks absolutely AWESOME! They should have came like that from the factory!

 

Looks great. Do the numbers and hash marks still show up when driving during the day?

 

Has anyone done overlays with Nav?

 

What gauges and gauge pods are those? That looks great with them.

 

So what were the steps to installing the guage faces. I have heard it is possible to install without removing the speedo by snapping off the cover while it is in place. Any pics of the install process?

 

Answers:

The numbers fade out during the day (no backlighting) which is ok, but I might recommend outlining the numbers in grey/off-white to allow them to be seen (the numbers past redline on the tach are still red).

The gauges are the alta set manufactured by prosport. The install is detailed elsewhere, but is not too difficult.

Yes, I installed the speedo overlay without removing the actual speedo/headunit. The black trim comes off (as detailed elsewhere) and then the chromline and other bezel comes off fairly easily. It was not too difficult working on the vertical surface. Oh, and I did the tach with the tach still attached by its wiring as it looked a bit too much to pull the plug on the tach. Again, not too difficult.

I recommend the overlays if you want to change the look. The install is really not bad at all.

 

Here's a suggestion on how to make the numbers stand out when doing guage overlays. Back the desired numbers and hash marks with a colored gel. For those of you that do not know what a gel is, it is a thin plastic filter that goes over theatrical lights to change/add color. You can buy them at any local theatatrical supply house or find them on the web for about 7 bucks for a sheet and they come in just about any color you want.

I am going to go ahead and order the satin black overlays and back them with a white gel. At night when the guages are lit, the original orange will shine throgh the white gel.

 

Post pictures when you are done. Sound like it may be the way to go

 

Did you ever do this? If so, do you have any pics?
Thanks.

 

very interested in how that will look, try blue! =] but then it might look purple-ish when the oem lights come on. nevermind, unless someone wants purple

 

Actiully, the gauge is on order and will be coming sometime his week and I will be installing it next Tuesday. They only issue with going with a gel color other than white, it will change the lighting at night. As soon as i get it finished, I'll post pictures.

Thanks for asking

 

that sounds pretty cool. im ordering a set of gauges from lyle, and hope to find the easiest method of install.....spfdhed - where did you get the install instructions from? id love to find out how to get that peice off without having to take everything apart with the speedo. heard its not too fun =X

 

There are instructions all over NAM. Somewhere there is a youtube video showing how to take the dash apart. After i install mine, I'll post some instructions and perhaps some pictures if I can get my camera back from my daughter

 

any luck with this film?

 

Here's the update. I used a Roscoe 116 white photographic diffuser. While it stands out better than nothing, I still was not getting the white back ground as I had hoped. I went to a local Hobby and crafts store to look for someting and what I found was in the greeting card isle. What it is is the thin paper like in pages you see inside greeting cards. It transmits light very well and givs a white background. I made a double thickness and redid my tach. I left the speedo for comparison purposes and I will redo the speedo as time permits.

The nice thing about this card stock is that even if you choose another color, the amber light still comes through as amber. I purchased a sheet of yellow as well as white and was toying with going to yellow on black but since the theme of Nigel is black and red, the yellow looked a little out of place. My camera is dead so I do not have any pictures right now but as soon as I get that staightened out i will post some.

Now if anyone out there wants to try it with the background as I described and you are not sure what matererial I am talking about, or you can not find it, PM me and I will pick some up for you and mail it out to you. The pages cost 29 cents a piece and it would cost two stamps to mail. This card stock is much cheaper than the photograhpic diffuser or gels so, in my opion it is the way to go.

As to how it makes the interior look, for me it ties everything together. My interior is all black [Piano black dash, anthracite headliner, and red color line, black cloth seats] so now instead of this overwhelming splash of gray form the speedo, it is now unified. For an idea of how it would look, think of the interior with the NAV unit. I must of done somthign right because the wife did not like it. Picture to follow soon....

Oh one more thing, I cant get the speedo bezel seated right. big gap at the top. any advice?

 

cant wait to see some pictures. i received my gauge overlays from lyle last night and they look amazing. ill get to doing them over the weekend. i saw a bunch of instructions on how to remove the spedo surround, but then there is the clear plastic that still covers the face of the gauge...does that come off as easily as i hope and as it looks....it looks like it snaps right off. hope im right but dont want to try incase i break something

 

After you get the dash part off, you then take off the clear cover. I accidently snapped a few of the holders on the speedo. You also need to take off the black ring under the lens around the speedo. The one on the tach is much easier to do. There are clips at the top and a screw on the bottom left. I did not take it all the way off but loosened it enough to tuck it in.

Also, instead of taking the needle off the gauges, I cut a slit to slide it over. The slit can not be seen [on mine at least]

Let me know if you get your speedo bezel back on all the way and how you did it. I can't get mine to sit right and I have a gap at the top. Not noticeable unles you are OCD like me.

 

Looks great, it is on my list of mods for when I receive my MINI. More pictures would be awesome, especially for those who have done the gels, etc.

 

Looking forward to the pics.
I found this the other day.
http://www.texascraft.com/hps/produc...cat=253&page=1
I'm thinking about printing my own and overlaying it on the gauge face. I don't have a plotter so I can not cut out all the tick marks and numbers. This way what needs to be cut out stays clear eliminating the need to cut. They also have a white film, but I don't know about the light transmission.

 

ok so im in the process of doing it now but im taking a break (out of frustration) - this may sound silly and make me look stupid but how do you get the hazard button out of the black platic peice from the speedo?! i want to get that entirely off and out of the car. im sending it to Lyle for some cool stuff (pics when its all finished obviously). and i cant figure out how to get the black ring off, i got the clear plastic off over the speedo which was easy as can be...but that black peice looks tricky. i dont see any write ups anywhere for removing the tach either...any instructions?

thanks in advance.