Discussion: 2003-2007 GMT800 (NBS) LED cluster conversion

I want to do this again. My ECSB had them in blue.

Scott, I have like 4 digital hvac controls and a spare speedo, if I sent you mine would it help you out if you had spares? With winter here some people might want to have theirs to have heat but still have them. Do you need any cores?
 
I want to do this again. My ECSB had them in blue.

Scott, I have like 4 digital hvac controls and a spare speedo, if I sent you mine would it help you out if you had spares? With winter here some people might want to have theirs to have heat but still have them. Do you need any cores?

I tried stocking up on cores in the past and it kinda backfired on me. More than once I exchanged parts and got back a beat up switch panel with the black icons all worn off all the buttons. I told the buyer he had two choices, either I would put LEDs in his original panel and he send mine back, or else he had to buy my panel since I couldn't use his as a good core. After the second time it happened, I didn't bother to try and fork out the cash for any more parts. Only cores have left now are a few window switches ( a 03-07 CC DL3 Drivers door switch, and a few rear door window switches). I have a 99-02 CC Drivers door switch that all the buttons are faded BAD. Looks almost like some type of chemical was spilled on the switch. It works fine, but looks like shit. Only reason I'm even keeping that one is because if my own switch ever fails, I can use it and just swap my buttons over to that switch.
 
Going to bump this. I was going to send to Scott but I just bought a new Butane Portasol Soldering pen and I'm going to give it a shot myself since I have spares of everything. If I fuck it up I'll send it out. :corny:

Sorry Scott! I got caught up with other stuff.

Anyways going to order LED's and some strips and give it a go. My soldering has gotten much better lately.
 
The strips are the way to go :imo: at least for the big areas like the cluster. Much brighter and 99% of the time you don't have bright/dim spots.
 
Ordered 5M blue roll, 100 flat top leds and 100 470 ohm resistors. Then I ordered blue needles too.

I made sure it will all be here before this weekend so I'll have something to do since my sandpaper for sanding the plastics hasn't showed yet.

I was going to try something different like purple but meh.
 
I think you'd get all the purple ones in there, look at it all lit up, then want to rip them out 11 seconds later :rofl: blue or white looks cleanest, then green or red.
 
Yeah, blue in my EC was cool esp. when I dimmed them down.

I almost never have my stock lights on at night BC its too bright...... the blue makes it more doable.
 
Mine are white and at night they have to be dimmed all the way down to be usable. Maybe I'll do blue if I get the other truck...
 
I've gotta get back into my cluster and put some white LED's in to illuminate the gauge needles... can't see them at night lol.
 
That's a bummer, didn't you use 1m of strip in the cluster??!?! :D

I need to do my ac controls and the 4x4 switch. the ac controls have some dim spots and the 4x4 switch half the lights are burnt out. I need James to take pictures of where he soldered the strips on for the ac controls. I think for the 4x4 I have to use actual bulbs
 
The Cluster:

To make needles glow so they aren't dim. IDK if this way was better or if a single LED pointing up towards the needles would make the needles light up better. My 5mm wide angle leds just showed up and I wasn't waiting that long.





In this one the RPM doesn't have a blue circle of LED's around it and the MPH gauge does. You can kind of see the difference in color.






Took some pictures to help others out with soldering and figuring out which is +









 
For what its worth, I did my HVAC tonight and used Matt's photos to verify the connections, my 06 digital had several of them backwards from what is shown in his photos. that is all.