White needle dials

[Jeff0308]

Has anyone ever painted / changed the colour of the speedo / tachometer and fuel gauge needles?  Thinking of changing mine to WHITE.  What's your thoughts? 

[Pat Conlon]

Hey Jeff, yep those orange gauge needles fade to white after years of sun exposure, however, don't paint them with a solid color. You won't be happy. You won't see them at night. They will be dark shadows against the backlight dials.
Use a clear metallic color so that the back light shines through the needles.
The brighter the color, the better.

Cheers

Pat

[Jeff0308]

Hi Pat. Thanks for the advice. . Any suggestions of colours? Is only a thought at this stage.

[Flynt]

Thinking of changing mine to WHITE.  What's your thoughts? 

I did the dash LEDs and the white needles with excellent results.  The needles have a reflective paint inside the black part and clear plastic pointers that  channel some photons out toward the orange paint on the back of the needles and light them up...  If you paint the whole pointer they won't be lit anymore.

I removed the needles, carefully removed what remained of the orange paint from the back of the pointers themselves, then repainted that area with a pretty bright white.  I think it looks much more modern and the white won't fade again.

Frank

[Pat Conlon]

That sounds neat Frank, remind me to look at your bike in Willits.

Remember spray painting candy colors on model cars? You use a base silver or gold coat then the desired shade of candy color over the base coat.
That's the paint I used on the needles, candy orange. It looks good on the red background.

I'm now on my 3rd gauge cluster and my current gauge cluster needs rebuilding so I will also do those needles at that time.

[Jeff0308]

Have you got any photos? Sounds good

[Jeff0308]

Hey Jeff, yep those orange gauge needles fade to white after years of sun exposure, however, don't paint them with a solid color. You won't be happy. You won't see them at night. They will be dark shadows against the backlight dials.
Use a clear metallic color so that the back light shines through the needles.
The brighter the color, the better.

Cheers

Pat

Hi Pat. How hard is it to get the needles off? What sort of clear metallic paint is used?  Cheers. Jeff

[Pat Conlon]

I don't remove the needles for painting. They are a pain. Simply slide some aluminum foil behind the needles and mask off the black center cap....spray away: http://www.amainhobbies.com/rc-cars-trucks/spaz-stix-candy-orange-spray-paint-3.5oz-szx15159/p167711?gclid=Cj0KEQiA_MK0BRDQsf_bsZS-_OIBEiQADPf--rwWYIBJNby_rnWORB0R_C33Zgu00baKFgWj-cbOZjAaAjHo8P8HAQ

If you do want to remove the needles you DO NOT pry them off. There is a small 1.5mm Allen set screw holding them on to the shafts.
You have to remove the center black cover to get to the set screw. That's the delicate part. Do so very carefully by simultaneously prying each side of the cover evenly until it pops off *but* don't pry against the gauge face, you will scratch or damage the finish. I cut up a pop sickle stick and used that to pry against.

Again, you don't really have to take the needles off....if you do, be careful.

Cheers laddie

[ribbert]

Again, you don't really have to take the needles off....if you do, be careful.

Cheers laddie

In addition to all the good advice Pat gives above, the most common mistake people make taking instruments apart, after scratching the face that is, is getting finger prints on the black face (just from normal oil in your skin, or worse, picking up grease from the back of it ) and then compounding it by trying to get it off, then creating a shiny spot........ or not seeing it until the unit is re assembled, back on the bike and you wheel it out into the light. Also lint, rag smears and the like. I wear thin cotton gloves.

Be careful!

Noel

[Jeff0308]

Pat. You made reference to the aluminium foil. How do you remove the paint if the needles are still on. The paint on mine is still in good condition. Also. I'm assuming you are spraying the top of the needles? 

[Pat Conlon]

Correct, spray from the top. My needles were already bleached white so no paint removal was necessary.

[Jeff0308]

Correct, spray from the top. My needles were already bleached white so no paint removal was necessary.

What needs to happen with the old paint though? Without removing the needles if would be hard to remove the old paint?

[Flynt]

Again, you don't really have to take the needles off....if you do, be careful.

Careful yes...

I used a paint can opener and pried side to side using the screws on the gauge face as my fulcrum, covered them with a clean shop rag to prevent scratching.  This whole thing didn't take long once the needles were off, but that was the dicey part for sure...  If you don't get fully under the needle, you'll just pop off the black cap.  Probably best if you can practice on an old cluster...

I didn't encounter the set screw Pat speaks of...  popped needles off and back on ~19,500 miles ago and no problems yet.

Frank

[fjman]

here's a pic. Hope it gave you some ideas. I'll take clearer pictures next time. 

[Charlie-brm]

I've been following this thread only since Tuesday, so of all the days, yesterday someone left a plastic knife on the lunch room table at work and it caught my eye. Picking it up and noticing how bright and translucent it is, my noggin gears got spinning. The pics don't do it justice as to how it almost looks fluorescent when the light hits it. I held an LED flashlight against both tips and it does transmit the light pretty nicely along the length of the back bone. Worth some trials for a dial indicator except personally I'm OK with my gauges as they are. I imagine these would be found in a dollar store or a party supply store and likely in various colours.