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Old 11-05-2020, 05:31 PM   #26
kos
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Did you scrape the gels off the back of the cluster too? Or did you just swap the bulbs?

A lot of the photos in the old LED cluster swap thread are dead and gone, how difficult was it to flip the LCDs?
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Old 11-05-2020, 08:08 PM   #27
thatgarrett
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Quote:
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Did you scrape the gels off the back of the cluster too? Or did you just swap the bulbs?

A lot of the photos in the old LED cluster swap thread are dead and gone, how difficult was it to flip the LCDs?
No scraping at all, just bulbs, I think 7 total for the cluster of the #74 from superbrightLEDS, not quite as bright as my old legacy with the bigger 194 bulbs but no hot spots or anything.

Flipping wasn’t bad, I dug through a ton of old threads over the past week to figure it out. Basically you take the cluster out, disassemble all of the plastic covers and pieces until you are left with just the circuit board (everything is clips I took off with my bare hands). Don’t mess with the needles at all, the back of the board, once exposed, has two little tabs bent over (per needle) you can bend up and poke the entire needle and gauge assembly free (so it would be really easy to get the green backing off too, but from my reading it helps with even light dispersion). The one part I wasn’t 100% sure of was the film that polarizes it. It’s a lot thinner than you think, think scotch tape, but it’s fairly tough. Going from the from corner, I worked my Swiss Army knife at the very edge into the surface and slid it over (almost parallel with surface) and applied pressure and a rocking motion until it all came off. 95% alcohol and a microfiber towel and 5 minutes of rubbing cleared the old adhesive off, I repositioned the film where the display was now black and put a dab of super glue kn each corner to hold it down. Reassembly was easy, I have a few fingerprints on the gauge face I need to wipe off later, but I want to change to WRX silver ringed around the gauges eventually so I’ll just do that then. Not bad at all honestly, make sure you spend a few extra dollars on good bright 360 degree LEDS and you’ll be golden. Tech had came a long way since a lot of those threads were first written, making it a lot easier on us to do the stuff they struggled to do for years!
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Old 11-05-2020, 10:20 PM   #28
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I also did the red led swap for the cluster but still have to do the hvac since on the 07 its soldered together. Thanks for this! I have an 07 wagon and the previous owners dog mauled like everything in it so this will be helpful as I fix things : D
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Old 11-06-2020, 05:23 AM   #29
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Originally Posted by knesek View Post
I also did the red led swap for the cluster but still have to do the hvac since on the 07 its soldered together. Thanks for this! I have an 07 wagon and the previous owners dog mauled like everything in it so this will be helpful as I fix things : D
Yup I need to do the auto HVAC as well on mind, I’m currently working on the clock and some ambient lighting near the map lights first though. I can’t tell if there’s any vendors left that will do the climate control
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Old 11-06-2020, 10:19 AM   #30
Wayne Suhrbier
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the clocks are pretty easy. If you disassemble the clock you will see a rectangular piece of green plastic. Break this off from the (six I think) posts it is on. Copy the shape onto a piece of thin plexy and cut out. Tape a piece of lighting gel of whatever color you want to the new piece and glue it onto the posts.
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Old 11-06-2020, 10:19 AM   #31
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Yup I need to do the auto HVAC as well on mind, I’m currently working on the clock and some ambient lighting near the map lights first though. I can’t tell if there’s any vendors left that will do the climate control
I found a good video on how to wire everything up and got the parts for it. I can make a post on it if you want
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Old 11-06-2020, 10:52 PM   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayne Suhrbier View Post
the clocks are pretty easy. If you disassemble the clock you will see a rectangular piece of green plastic. Break this off from the (six I think) posts it is on. Copy the shape onto a piece of thin plexy and cut out. Tape a piece of lighting gel of whatever color you want to the new piece and glue it onto the posts.
Yup already took the green plastic tint out, I’m waiting on a red stage gel to come in to complete it, any pictures of yours? Most of the old ones are broken links now
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Old 11-06-2020, 10:52 PM   #33
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I found a good video on how to wire everything up and got the parts for it. I can make a post on it if you want
That would be great!
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Old 11-09-2020, 11:52 AM   #34
Wayne Suhrbier
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I went with pink.


and the walkthrough on the climate control would be great. I'm working on switching the window controls. I strongly dislike (down from hate at least) soldering.
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Old 11-09-2020, 11:14 PM   #35
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I posted a long response with a link to the HVAC led install but since I'm new my post said it was under review so far it hasn't shown up in the thread.
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Old 11-10-2020, 12:32 PM   #36
thatgarrett
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayne Suhrbier View Post
I went with pink.


and the walkthrough on the climate control would be great. I'm working on switching the window controls. I strongly dislike (down from hate at least) soldering.
That looks very nice, hopefully mine will turn out the same
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Old 11-10-2020, 12:32 PM   #37
thatgarrett
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sleeping 9-2X View Post
I posted a long response with a link to the HVAC led install but since I'm new my post said it was under review so far it hasn't shown up in the thread.
That’s weird, can you copy and paste it and try to post it again? Really want to see it!
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Old 11-10-2020, 02:11 PM   #38
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Old 12-18-2020, 11:13 AM   #39
thatgarrett
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Pictures coming soon, but recent mods:

-Forgot to post, but back in July swapped in OEM Matsu Ballasts, Philips D2S bulbs (with H7 metal ring adapters) into headlights. Ballasts mounted right up in OEM location under lights, cutoff and hotspots are right on where the H7 bulbs were. Not 100% same as HID projectors, but after a lot of research decided to pull the trigger and do it. Never once been flashed, visibility is much better, and cutoff just as sharp with pretty even lighting. Only mod was disconnecting the DRL under the hood. This is not a plug and play cheap kit or a janky rebased bulb, but all OEM components, looking to HIDplanet and a number of Audi forums, H7 projectors seem to be the only kind of halogen projector that can take this kind of a retrofit well, and is a definite improvement over stock halogen lighting. I'll post up some pictures of cutoff and output when I get around to the other pics as well.

-Using rubbing alcohol to take off green layer on back of gauge cluster, now a clean/intense red light instead of the dim color. Under direct sunlight you can see some hot spotting but at night it looks uniform. Also used some Scratch-X 2.0 to completely restore the scratched clear plastic cover over the instrument cluster. A little tedious to take the film off but I think it gives me more of the look I was wanting, but it was also fine before.

-Wiring in overhead ambient lights in map light assembly- I got a overhead console from a recent Audi and took out the small red LED's that put a soft red glow on the center console, drilled 2 small holes in the stock map light assembly, and wired them to the interior illumination circuit. Need to fiddle with the aim a bit more but looks stock and has good dispersion and illumination. Complements the other red LED lights in interior

-Red Clock- used red stage gel glued to face of clock (behind plastic cover on the glass face of the VFL assembly) and snapped off the green plastic filter on the plastic cover to give a nice true red color, matches perfectly

-LED tail lights/running lights, 7443 CK bulb from SuperbrightLEDs that work great, now I really want to get an electronic flasher and swap out the turn signals to LED as well.


Next up (likely spread out over a few months):
-Red LEDs for auto HVAC unit (I have a few ideas I am experimenting with, might get this done for less than $10 hopefully)
-LED turn signals and flasher module
-Wiring map lights to come on with dome light
-Redline padded leather armrest cover
-Painting mirror covers accent color (CGM)
-HIR for high beams
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Old 12-18-2020, 11:09 PM   #40
knesek
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the clock looks great! I actually totally forgot to finish my hvac, I have it set up just have to solder it. Hopefully will get it done during the holidays . I'm doing set of 3 leds each in circle thing, which along with resistors were really cheap.
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Old 08-21-2021, 10:04 PM   #41
thatgarrett
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Long time, no post!

1). Ended up baking my headlights and tossing in some STI HID projectors, definitely cleans up the hot spots and a much cleaner cutoff, big difference in distance of throw as well

2). Kartboy short shifter and rear and front bushing kit, a much cleaner and crisp shift, haven’t missed 3rd since installing it, nice and notchy, helps get the most of of the group N transmission mount too

3). Scrapped the green off the cluster so now the red LED’s are much cleaner and brighter, in the style of the 2008+ clusters.

4). Swapped in Polk DB5251 components for the front door speaker and tweeter, along with iAPerformance speaker spacers, seated with rope caulk. Very happy with this upgrade, as I snagged the speakers new for $40 off Amazon warehouse.

That’s pretty much it for right now, if I ever get brave enough I’ll wire in some red LED’s into the HVAC, maybe upgrade the under seat sub eventually, sealed and put some polyfill in it and seems to have tightened it up. Next up, might try some component speakers in rear, maybe running the tweeter to C or D pillar like in the McIntosh outback’s of the early 2000’s just for kicks
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Old 09-14-2021, 10:12 PM   #42
thatgarrett
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Saw a wild deal on a sound ordinance b-8ptd for under $100 from Crutchfield, so I jumped on on that and installed it the other day, definitely a huge upgrade from the OEM under seat subwoofer! Ran the power cable to battery using the grommet for the AC drain hose, super easy and routed just where I wanted it. Very happy, have it mounted under my passenger seat and can finally set high pass and low pass filters for the speakers and sub separately, letting me get the most out of my setup! I noticed that I had a gap in the mid bass frequency, so I ended up keeping the OEM sub plugged up with a low gain and higher low pass on the OEM sub, which, since it’s off the speaker signal, effectively had a band-pass setup on it to only produce midbass (100-150hz), which it is quite good at. So, between my components, powered midwoofer, and powered sub, I am extremely happy with my audio setup, I can run up to 93db cleanly on my system, which is more than enough for windows down on the highway, and the division of midbass and lower bass has everything nice and balanced, with no abrupt transitions or annoying peaks
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Old 09-07-2022, 12:53 PM   #43
lambtor
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thatgarrett View Post
Pictures coming soon, but recent mods:

-Forgot to post, but back in July swapped in OEM Matsu Ballasts, Philips D2S bulbs (with H7 metal ring adapters) into headlights. Ballasts mounted right up in OEM location under lights, cutoff and hotspots are right on where the H7 bulbs were. Not 100% same as HID projectors, but after a lot of research decided to pull the trigger and do it. Never once been flashed, visibility is much better, and cutoff just as sharp with pretty even lighting. Only mod was disconnecting the DRL under the hood. This is not a plug and play cheap kit or a janky rebased bulb, but all OEM components, looking to HIDplanet and a number of Audi forums, H7 projectors seem to be the only kind of halogen projector that can take this kind of a retrofit well, and is a definite improvement over stock halogen lighting. I'll post up some pictures of cutoff and output when I get around to the other pics as well.

-Using rubbing alcohol to take off green layer on back of gauge cluster, now a clean/intense red light instead of the dim color. Under direct sunlight you can see some hot spotting but at night it looks uniform. Also used some Scratch-X 2.0 to completely restore the scratched clear plastic cover over the instrument cluster. A little tedious to take the film off but I think it gives me more of the look I was wanting, but it was also fine before.

-Wiring in overhead ambient lights in map light assembly- I got a overhead console from a recent Audi and took out the small red LED's that put a soft red glow on the center console, drilled 2 small holes in the stock map light assembly, and wired them to the interior illumination circuit. Need to fiddle with the aim a bit more but looks stock and has good dispersion and illumination. Complements the other red LED lights in interior

-Red Clock- used red stage gel glued to face of clock (behind plastic cover on the glass face of the VFL assembly) and snapped off the green plastic filter on the plastic cover to give a nice true red color, matches perfectly

-LED tail lights/running lights, 7443 CK bulb from SuperbrightLEDs that work great, now I really want to get an electronic flasher and swap out the turn signals to LED as well.


Next up (likely spread out over a few months):
-Red LEDs for auto HVAC unit (I have a few ideas I am experimenting with, might get this done for less than $10 hopefully)
-LED turn signals and flasher module
-Wiring map lights to come on with dome light
-Redline padded leather armrest cover
-Painting mirror covers accent color (CGM)
-HIR for high beams
Are there drop-in replacements for turn signals to LED?
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Old 09-08-2022, 12:20 PM   #44
Wayne Suhrbier
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There are. Make sure it has a built in resistor so they flash at the right speed.
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Old 09-13-2022, 07:40 AM   #45
thatgarrett
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There are, I got ones from SuperBrightLEDs a few years ago, and the matching electronic turn signal relay (that’s plug and play) and have no problems. I have had some strange flickering from my tail lights I got from them, I ended up switching those to the Zevo series by Sylvania and am much happier, but all of the other bulbs (interior, license plate, cluster, running, turn, side marker) are all SBL and no problems, and I’ve used them for a while on other cars too. The LED make a big difference in look too in my opinion, with the crisp on and off
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Old 09-15-2022, 09:38 AM   #46
lambtor
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thatgarrett View Post
There are, I got ones from SuperBrightLEDs a few years ago, and the matching electronic turn signal relay (that's plug and play) and have no problems. I have had some strange flickering from my tail lights I got from them, I ended up switching those to the Zevo series by Sylvania and am much happier, but all of the other bulbs (interior, license plate, cluster, running, turn, side marker) are all SBL and no problems, and I've used them for a while on other cars too. The LED make a big difference in look too in my opinion, with the crisp on and off
Do you need 1 resistor for each bulb? 2 for front left / right, 2 for rear? or 1 for left side and 1 for right? i'd like to see if i can swap out just the front, and if it works ok swap the back after testing.

Last edited by lambtor; 09-15-2022 at 09:43 AM.
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Old 09-25-2022, 09:39 PM   #47
thatgarrett
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Do you need 1 resistor for each bulb? 2 for front left / right, 2 for rear? or 1 for left side and 1 for right? i'd like to see if i can swap out just the front, and if it works ok swap the back after testing.
No resistors needed with any of my bulbs, the best way to do it in our cars is running an electric turn signal flasher, it’s less than $20, plug and play replacement for the stock one, and works with both LED and regular bulbs, also mixed too (I’m running LED fronts but regular rears because I haven’t gotten around to swapping those yet). Resistors are usually used on cars you can’t swap the relay/flasher on, this way you don’t have a random chunk of metal producing heat and eating up amps of energy (and no spliced wires either)
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Old 10-01-2022, 07:26 AM   #48
Mikku
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Have just stumbled on this thread whilst searching for info on LED bulbs. A good read which gives me lots of ideas for my '05 Hawkeye wagon.
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