For those of us that are soldering iron challenged.... What about a colored insert like theater companies use on their lighting?

Awesome Awesome Awesome

And you are right about the soldering iron! Keep it as cool as possible. It's easy to screw those boards up. Just outta curiosity. I winder what it would cost to replace the gage if you did melt one? Any ideas what ri$k people are taking? .... And I would think that people shold be dane certain their solder joints are solid before reassembling the entire dash ... I'd hate to go back in. .... Can one diode/LED go out and the other stay on, or would a poor solder joint cause you to troubleshoot the entire board?

You can buy a solder-sucker .... a red bulb with a white tip. You squeeze the bulb and hold the tip over the solder. As soon as it melts, you let go of the bulb and the suction removes the liqued-molten solder.

Also, you should be using the tinest bit if solder flux to get a good bond between the LED stem and solder. This might be why you had problems with them going out. The flux removes microscopic oxidation on the surface of the metal allowing the solder to bond. .... FYI.

Wow...great how-to! Excellent pictures and instructions. Thanks for posting this.

>>Beautiful right up. Thanks.
>>
>>Does it matter if it's a US MINI or not? I don't recall seeing those access panels on the side of the dash....but then again, I don't often look there. Guess i will now!

I don't see why it would be different.

To answer some questions...

You cannot put a blue photo gel or something in front of the lights, as it gets too dark. You'll have to solder, my friend, lol.

As for blackouts... most of teh LEDs are wired in pairs, it seems... so if one comes loose then two go out. Its easy to figure out which one is bunk, just wiggle them with your finger, they should light back up. But yes, make sure everything is working exactly how you want before you put the gauge back together... I've had to tear mine apart several times, and the speedo's a bit scratched now.

Yeah, I didn't use flux. My hands are so shakey as is, I didn't want more complications.

You are absolutely NUTZ! And I mean that as a compliment!! Great mod.

I just finished doing my dash changeover too. it is awesome to look at... A few item for anybody interested:

1: It took 21 LEDs to do the look like you have shown, including using 4 for the toggle controls.

2: You can't do the A/C controls because they are illuminated by bulbs and the actual plastic cover is sprayed on the inside with orange paint.

3: I tried the clock and digital controls too, but you would need to put in a blue frosted gel behind the LCD, as the one there is frosted orange, too dark to see.

4: I found LEDs from Mouser electronics (mouser.com) for 1.15 a piece, they are 55 mcd blue LEDs.

5: You don't have to remove the top dash cover, also, you can remove both the tach (tilt down the steering column) and the speedo from the front.

let me know if you need any help too. Thanks for the GREAT mod!!!!!!!!

This is awesome! can you explain the use of flux... I get the cleaning up the metal part so the solder sticks better, but how exactly is it applied, etc...

That is totally sweet. I've been wanting to do this to my MINI since I bought it back in '02. Had a Jetta and missed the blue.

Thanks!!


:edit: FYI, If ya screw up the boards in both units you are looking at at least $700 in parts to replace both the tach & speedo.

Sorry to bring up such an old thread but does anyone have this archived? (PDF Possibly) Im looking to do this and would love to follow this however not so courageous to do so with out the pics.

I second this, anyone?

I had my guages done with the Blue LED, and it is one of my fav mods, there are a few people on here that can do it for you for a resonable price. Unless you are real good with the sodering gun, this maybe something you want to leave to someone who knows what they are doing. I sent mine out on a Monday and had it back that wednesday, could not be happier with it. You can see some pictures in my gallery

Love to hear more information and pictures on this.

@NightFlyR looks really good, out of curiosity did you paint your dash rings/downtubes? If so, what sorta paint did you use? I'm considering doing the same

I did paint my downtubes, and a few other peices the dash, not to difficult to do. I used factory matched paint, But the fusion paint in the store is also excellent if you can find a color you like.

Can you post another picture? All of yours are no longer showing but I am really interested to see how it turned out and in doing this to mine/

I agree with pp I can't see :( also can we do this in two different colors?

Agreed. Pics are gone and I reeeally want to see them.

Sorry guys, I did that howto years ago, and no longer have the photos (or the car for that matter).

It's not overly difficult to do, my best advise is to take everything slowly and carefully.