The dashboard is an important part of any car. However, auto manufacturers do not really bother with the design of this part. Most often, they use standard, black and white, colors, in which it is impossible to consider the main indicators of gasoline and speed in the dark. Therefore, it is worth thinking about a brighter and clearer backlight by tuning dashboard.
Varieties of tuning the dashboard
In order to do the tuning of the dashboard with your own hands, you need to know about some subtleties.
It comes in two varieties:
- functional;
- aesthetic.
Functional tuning is designed to replace some devices with more accurate ones. Or adding new ones to existing ones. This type of finish provides for the addition of data on technical specifications, as well as the general condition of the machine and all devices. In addition, the current tuning fully provides for the presence of a meteometer or the original clock.
Aesthetic, in turn, involves only changing the backlight and decoration appearance set of instruments. How it will look, you can see here at this link:
Requirements for tuning
Attention! When adding new devices, it is necessary to take into account such a nuance as calibration. It implies the failure of all systems. For its absence, it is better to install all new devices on top of the dashboard.
Thus, having fulfilled all the requirements, the only thing left is to prepare necessary materials and make tuning instrumentation.
Tuning stages
Dashboard tuning for each car model is organized in the same way, with the exception of small subtleties and nuances.
Before starting work, you need to prepare the entire set of tools:
- pliers, screwdrivers, self-tapping screws;
- sharp knife;
- all wiring used in tuning4
- soldering iron.
This is the main arsenal that is required for any kind of tuning. To this list are added those tools that you need when choosing one of the types of finishes.
Important! If you are going to add unusual fixtures or lighting, you should take care in advance to purchase those materials that can help you in the location on the dashboard.
After preparing everything you need, you can proceed to the work itself.
Dashboard disassembly
During this procedure, you must be extremely careful. Dashboard disassembly is the same everywhere.
Functional and aesthetic tuning
After completing these steps, you can proceed to the next part of the disassembly. The dashboard needs to be taken apart. For this:
- the screws holding the shield are unscrewed;
- all wires are disconnected;
- the screws holding the nozzles are removed;
- the recirculation and automatic signaling buttons are turned off;
- at the very end, the immobilizer is removed.
Everything is assembled in the reverse order.
There are quite a few tuning options, so you can use either one of the options, as, for example, in this video:
or all at once.
Functional tuning
With this type of tuning, some aesthetic elements are used. First you need to deal with the scale of the dashboard.
For this, there is no need to disassemble or get something. It is enough to draw a small stencil on the film, which is pasted on the old indicators.
Attention! To make the indicators glow, you can use a special fluorescent paint. Or you can use regular paint.
After you figured out the scale, you can proceed to the installation of devices on the panel. To do this, disassemble the panel before the wires appear. Then the devices that you need are installed.
Aesthetic tuning
After all the devices have been installed, you can move on to finishing the backlight. There are a lot of options for doing this. Everyone includes fantasy in this matter and does as he wants. Here are two examples of lighting finishes.
Option 1.
Option 2. You can replace light bulbs with LEDs. It is done like this:
- The old film is cleaned or a new one is purchased. Which type to choose is up to you.
- It is glued to the dashboard directly on the light bulb.
- Dyed green. This is in the case of purchasing a transparent film or when using an old one. However, it is best to purchase ready-made, green, film.
- The red tint is removed from the hands, and the numbers themselves are painted with white varnish or paint.
There are also other options. It all depends on your imagination and ingenuity.
Dashboard Installation
After the tuning has been completely carried out, it is necessary to install the dashboard in place. This should be done not only carefully, but also correctly. When performing this work, it is important to make sure that all wires are correctly connected and that the devices are functioning correctly.
If all actions are performed correctly, the dashboard of your car will sparkle with new colors. At the same time, the tuning done by you will not differ in any way from that which is done in a car service. The main difference between the two methods is that it will cost you much less money and time than with the work of specialists. And, in addition, with self-finishing, you can organize a free flight of fancy.
An important element that has serious functions - it displays some of the characteristics of the car while driving. The driver, thanks to her, monitors the instrumentation, looks at the state of the light signaling, which informs about the normal operation of most of the most important components and systems. An attractive appearance of the interior can be given by additional tuning of the dashboard, which will fit into the overall interior. However, the structure should be decorated in such a way that it does not interfere with driving and meets the minimum requirements. passive safety. An ordinary dashboard is always installed on all factory cars, there are several options for modern tuning that you can do yourself.
Where to start tuning?
In order not to decide to do a motorist, he needs to first prepare the tools that will be needed during work:
- hair dryer used in construction;
- an ordinary clerical knife or, in extreme cases, a new blade;
- wiring and controls;
- soldering iron.
Most likely, other materials will be needed, which will depend on the preferences of the car owner. It is better to purchase and prepare in advance the tools that will be needed to disassemble the panel, remove the casing and unscrew the elements that need to be replaced.
Unscrewing the old dashboard
Qualified specialists usually tune the dashboard in a dry, ventilated area, it is important that there is no dust in it. Despite such a simple condition, the success of a creative idea depends on it. Dust does not allow you to stick the film evenly, which changes the color of the instrument backlight, and high humidity, in turn, can ruin the wiring. To do everything neatly, you should not rush. It is best to remove the casing, this will allow you to get to the "organs" of the car that monitor its control and condition. Some motorists change the instrument scale, for this you need to remove the arrows as carefully as possible. An ordinary marker will help in this matter, they can mark the connection point of the arrows. Soldered arrows should be removed with a soldering iron, heated tin will release them from the coil. When doing all the work, you need to be extremely careful to correctly set the arrows back after the improvements. If the connection points are not marked, calibration will be required, which can only be carried out by service center employees.
All kinds of improvements
After the complete removal and disassembly of the dashboard, it is necessary to stop again and think over in detail all the operations that are planned to be performed. It is necessary to do everything deliberately so that the modifications made do not adversely affect the performance of the machine. To date, you can decorate a car in several hundred ways, if we talk about tuning the dashboard, then it is worth considering some of the most interesting options.
Complete replacement of the instrument scale
Most often, motorists try to give an attractive appearance to the interior by replacing the scale on the instruments. In this case, the former scale is painted over, and a new pattern is applied in its place using a stencil or a specialized film is glued with the existing dial. The production film will help to get a better result.
However, master drivers can make such a film on their own: a marking layout is drawn in a graphic editor and printed on a special film in a printing house. Can be additionally changed color scheme arrows and other elements located on the scale, paint over the desired areas with paint. An unusually interesting glow effect will help create a fluorescent paint that glows after connecting the LEDs to the backlight.
Backlight Replacement
Dashboard lighting is created by adding LEDs for certain instruments. To replace the standard factory lighting with LED, you should prepare in advance, as this process is quite complicated. Removing old wiring and backlights is not easy, and besides, you can not install too many LEDs. It is best to proceed from the calculation of 1-2 LEDs per device. This amount will provide a bright backlight, thanks to which even at dusk good visibility will be provided, while it will not act on the eyes as an irritating factor.
The main thing is not to overdo it with LEDs Sometimes car manufacturers create devices that glow from the inside, while making the scale completely transparent. You can decorate such elements by adding more LEDs, however, they should be placed so that the direct light emanating from them does not interfere with passengers and the driver, does not blind.
Backlight brightness adjustment
The backlight of the dashboard needs to be dimmed. You can adjust it behind the device itself, if the light is too bright or, conversely, dim, the device will have to be disassembled and adjusted again. Several thoughtful actions will allow you to save time: the backlight can be connected using a variable rheostat, which will edit the intensity of the incident light in a few twists. For accuracy three times - during the day, in the evening and at night, this will allow you to check the availability of convenient viewing of devices.
Complex tuning
Naturally, complex tuning of the dashboard at a time will improve its appearance. Updated instruments with interesting lighting will provide it with a new stylish look. If the car enthusiast decides to improve everything, you will need a complete set of pre-prepared templates for scales and LEDs of the same color. If it is not possible to purchase LEDs of the desired color, ordinary white LEDs should be installed, and the desired areas should be sealed with a translucent film of the preferred color. This will create a light filter that will be no worse than the light from the LEDs of the desired color.
Conclusion
The process should be completed with the installation of all removed devices and the complete assembly of the panel. This should be done only after the car owner has verified the correctness of his actions, checked the system's performance and was satisfied with the result. You should look at the power supply of the devices and the condition of the fastening of the skin. A laborious process can tire the owner. However, he will be rewarded with a do-it-yourself dashboard. Such a procedure in the service center will cost a large sum, in addition, if something is not done the way you want, it is unlikely that you will be able to redo it yourself.
An optitron is a special instrument cluster illumination system. It works like this: when the car's ignition is turned off, the instrument cluster remains invisible. After turning the key, the arrows on the instruments should be the first to “come to life”, and only after them the instruments themselves - the speedometer, tachometer and other sensors.
The optitron has a special anti-reflective background, thanks to which all indicators are well read in any conditions.
Required Components
The Mayak lamp is a donor of lighting components.
Lighthouse lamp, rear view.
SMD LEDs - in fact, what I was looking for in a lamp. The size is about 3 by 4 mm.
Whole lamp, consumption in the "dimensions" mode.
Whole lamp, consumption in "stoplight" mode.
LEDs, 330 ohm resistors.
PCB blanks cut on a lathe.
The boards are marked for the installation of components. The black dots between the tracks are the places where the LEDs are installed.
Marking "tracks" on the board. Here the fifth, inner track is superfluous, I first wanted to do a two-color backlight, changed my mind.
Arrangement of LEDs by 3 in a cluster.
Alternatively, you can place the LEDs on the same track in series, it will be even easier plus saving one track, but my version is more reliable.
Making optitron
I'm trying to clean the filter on the edge of the scale. The peculiarity of these scales is that they are focused on the use of ordinary light bulbs, so they have an additional layer of a dark filter (dots) applied to them, which ensures uniform illumination (closer to the light bulb - darker). A yellow light filter is also visible under the white scattering layer. I would leave yellow, but removing black and white without touching yellow is unrealistic.
This is how it looks in the light. Despite the white backlight, the numbers are still yellow thanks to the yellow filter, so you have to remove it, although you didn’t want to.
Illumination of indicators of fuel and temperature. I was afraid that three LEDs would not be enough for the scale, it turned out to be in vain - the scale is illuminated evenly, the gradient is not noticeable to the eye. Yes! As a result, only 3 tracks remained.
Rear temperature and fuel gauges. The light filter is partially removed in the right places.
Ready temperature and fuel scales.
I remove the light filter on the tachometer. I use nail polish remover and pieces of cotton pads (we take everything from the arsenal of my wife / mother / sister). The technology is as follows: we soak the pieces in a liquid and apply to the place for a minute. While we are doing the next one, the previous one soaks and the coating is easily removed with a fingernail. Carefully! The front side is very sensitive to solvents, especially alcohol!
Installing the backlight of the tachometer. Hot glue from the “gun” serves as supports and at the same time as fasteners.
Minus - in this version, the tachometer turned out to be non-removable.
Finished tachometer scale.
"Combined" backlight. The tachometer is LED, the speedometer is normal. The temperature scale and fuel gauge are double illuminated. Here the photo does not quite correctly convey the effect.
Speedometer backlight board. The main difficulty, it turned out, is here. Due to the built-in odometer, the speedometer device is very bulky and there is very little space left for backlighting. As a result of undercuts and undercuts, very little remained of the scarf.
Rear speedometer board. I had to restore the track in this way
Installing speedometer lights. Two lights did not fit, moved to the side surface
I connect the backlight of the speedometer, I check. Between the tachometer and the speedometer, a common plus and minus are displayed in the T10 base, a protective diode and a common current-limiting resistor (all from the same lamp) are also installed in it, plugged into a regular cartridge from under the backlight.
Finished speedometer scale
Whole tidy. At the moment the finished state.
conclusions
- The inner edges of the numbers are slightly shaded by the protruding parts of the devices;
- The inscriptions did not shine through, I did not want to overload the panel with light - it was necessary to seal it with black tape from the inside;
— Odometers were highlighted weakly (one must think);
- The arrows were not highlighted, left the usual light bulbs.
The panel is in working order. The photo looks close to the real thing. The time is after noon, summer. It's bright at night, a little distracting from habit. I expect that over time the brightness will subside.
Probably every motorist who owns a VAZ family car wants to upgrade his dashboard. On modern foreign cars, the instrument dial is illuminated from the inside, which looks very attractive, as if the numbers and the instrument scale itself are lit. But the instrument panels of VAZ cars are illuminated by ordinary lamps that emit light on the dials from the arrows, with outer side. At the same time, the brightness is low, and the detail of this backlight is not very effective. That is why most owners of such cars very often improve the instrument panel with backlighting. Plus, it's pretty easy to do it yourself.
To independently make a tuned backlight on cars of VAZ models, you do not need to have special skills, but in a specialized company this procedure will be expensive. You can try to make the dashboard backlight from the inside, as on modern cars.
To work, you will need a light-transmitting standard dashboard trim. Dashboard with vehicle must be removed and disassembled. Do not forget to also dismantle the old trim and instrument arrows. In order for the backlight to better fall on the lining from the inside, special cutouts should be made under the lining with a heated knife or soldering iron.
Then we go directly to the backlight. It will be organized using LED strip. It is necessary to choose a tape that can be easily cut into small pieces, three diodes each. Regarding the uniformity of the glow, it is made from ordinary foil using a reflector. For the speedometer and tachometer, we take three parts of the tape, and for the fuel level and coolant temperature gauges, one is enough.
The standard illumination of the VAZ should be retained, since its task will be to illuminate the arrows on the instrument scale. If desired, it can also be upgraded by sticking an LED strip in place of the standard lamps. To make the highlighting not too bright, you can tint it a little. Toning is carried out using a tint film or a black marker. It is better to leave the regular light filter, then the backlight will be soft and uniform with a bluish tint.
Everything should be connected to the contacts on the plate of standard backlight lamps, having previously determined their polarity. In order to stabilize the current, it is desirable to use a driver to power the LEDs.
Illumination of the instrument panel VAZ 2114
First you need to remove the main backlight along with the cartridges. Next, very carefully remove the arrows, prying them with something thin. You can simply rotate them near the restrictions and slowly pull them off the axis. At this time, there are a lot of varieties of panels. On one part of them, the drive of the arrows is mounted on the main board, and on the other - on the basis of plexiglass.
After that, you must carefully remove the Plexiglas insert. Pry it off the edge and just rip it off. The adhesive layer should not be soiled or washed. The insert must be turned over and placed on a clean surface. Using the blade, we erase the green coating, which is noticeable in the area of \u200b\u200bthe numbers. Now you can assemble the plexiglass and insert.
How to change the color of the instrument scale on a VAZ car
You need to take a piece of plastic and scissors. We cut out the contours so that the plastic fits into the main part. We also cut out places for arrow drives. Next, we apply the markup for the LEDs. Three LEDs are needed for fuel, four for temperature. Then we set the instrument panel numbers for each scale.
Now, guided by the markings, we make holes for the LEDs and resistances. This can be done with a hot awl or a small drill. The top of the LED needs to be ground off, since a lens is mounted in it to focus the beam. It is important not to damage the light element itself. LEDs should be soldered in parallel with each other and in series with the resistance.
How to install LEDs instead of incandescent bulbs on the panel of a VAZ car
First, the LED base must be inserted into the housing and the connection wires must be brought to the board. Next, we make a Plexiglas insert with the body. Plexiglas should be inserted tightly. On the reverse side, fasten with four screws. Then we install the board. Carefully, the pins of the wires from the arrows should not be bent. Next, fasten with self-tapping screws or screws. Now we solder the power of the LEDs to the power wires of any standard lamp. We put on the arrows and set them to zero.
How to make the backlight of the instrument arrows on the panel of a VAZ car
For this you will need:
- Fluorescent marker.
- Super glue or instant glue.
- Not power wires.
- Ultraviolet light bulb.
- Insert into the instrument panel of the required model.
- Soldering iron.
The plastic and the dashboard must be removed, then we disassemble it, remove the black plastic and glass, then carefully remove the arrows, after which the standard insert. We make holes if there are none in the new insert. To prevent the arrows from sticking, it is advisable to make the holes a little larger than they were in the factory insert. Now you can remove the standard backlight and the board with bulbs.
The neon lamp should be glued on the panel from above, replace the standard backlight and stick the plastic protection on top. At the top, attach the neon lamp control unit. Observing the polarity, we connect the lamp to the place of the standard backlight.
Now we mount two lamps on the device. We connect all the wires and stretch inside the partitions. We connect to the power supply and put the lamps. We carefully attach the wires to the plastic. We paint the arrows with a marker several times. Next, assemble and install the instrument panel.
The dashboard of a car is a very important part of it. It is with the help of the dashboard that the motorist can quickly orient himself on the road and make the right decision, understand whether he should increase speed or whether it is time to switch to another gear stage. In any case, not only the safety of the motorist on the road, but also his comfort behind the wheel will depend on how well the dashboard will work.
It is also worth mentioning the appearance of the dashboard, because it is the dashboard that the driver constantly sees in front of him. And it is this element of the car that should be monitored and, if necessary, put in order, regardless of whether you have an old car or a new one.
Even with the help of the simplest actions that can be performed by almost any motorist who is able to disassemble the dashboard of his car, you can transform it and make it truly unique.
What is dashboard tuning
Tuning this element of the car can be conditionally attributed either to functional improvements or to aesthetic ones. Often, motorists who think about improving the dashboard of a car pursue both goals and want to make the panel both more beautiful and more functional.
A rather complicated, but interesting process of tuning the dashboard in detail:
Functional tuning is primarily aimed at either replacing the controls or instruments of the car with more advanced analogues, or simply involves adding additional devices or controls. The main purpose of such tuning is to improve the quality of obtaining information about the condition of the car or about the weather or other conditions overboard.
Aesthetic tuning, in turn, is aimed solely at improving the appearance of the dashboard. Naturally, such improvements can be made even at the expense of functionality, which is not always good for the car, but if a person wants to do something with his car, it is difficult to stop him.
Difficulties of functional tuning
Often, functional tuning is limited to replacing older or failed car devices with newer and more modern ones. However, do not forget that functional tuning should also include the installation of additional car control elements such as an immobilizer, on-board computer or built-in accessories. The main problem with such refinement is not so much the choice of components as their competent installation. Most often, novice tuning enthusiasts who want to carry out such an installation at home will have to face such a problem as difficulties in calibrating devices. Imagine that the speedometer will show inadequate vehicle speed or the fuel gauge will deceive you at the most inopportune moment. 
Separately, it must be said about such a moment as the legality of improvements. That is, if the design of the car provides for a speedometer or tachometer of exactly the model that is installed at the factory, it will be quite difficult to explain its replacement during maintenance. Therefore, it is better to carry out aesthetic tuning of devices that have already been installed on the car, and place additional ones either on top of the dashboard or in those places that are still free.
aesthetic question
When it comes to aesthetic tuning, you need to carefully plan everything, because you will need no less skills than when performing a functional improvement of the dashboard, and besides it, you will also need an excellent sense of taste. If you yourself know what you want, it remains only to prepare the necessary materials and elements, and we will talk about this a little later, but if you don’t have a clear plan, then you should develop it in advance. 
First of all, look for inspiration on car forums or ask friends of motorists who have tuned their cars for advice. Naturally, each person has his own taste, but someone's finished improvements may well lead you to an interesting solution that you can later implement.
In addition, knowing what you want to achieve with your car, you can easily choose the right materials and apply certain solutions related to the manufacture of the elements necessary for tuning.
Where to start tuning
No matter how you plan to improve the car dashboard, first prepare necessary tools:
Dashboard Disassembly Tools
Industrial dryer
Utility knife or sharp blade
Necessary Wiring and Controls
Soldering iron and solder
The rest of the necessary tools and materials will differ from each other depending on what you are going to do with the dashboard. You may also need specific tools if you need to use non-standard techniques and non-standard tools to disassemble the panel. Find out in advance what tools are needed to remove the car trim and unscrew those elements that need to be replaced or modified. 
Disassembling the dashboard
Experts recommend that any work be carried out in a dry, dust-free room. This is enough important point on which the overall success of our undertaking depends. Firstly, dust can prevent us from evenly sticking various colored films to change the color of the instrument backlight on the panel, and high humidity will simply ruin the wiring.
Carefully remove the trim on your car's dashboard in order to gain access to those controls or vehicle controls that you want to work on. In the event that you are going to change the scale on the instruments, we advise you to carefully remove the arrows. For this, a simple marker is ideal, which marks the junction of the arrow with a dash or dots. In the event that the arrow is soldered, you can use a soldering iron and heat up the tin that holds the arrow on the coil. However, do not forget that the arrow will still need to be set back, and in order to do this correctly, you need to mark the connection points, because otherwise the calibration can only be done in a car service. 
How to improve the dashboard
Once you've stripped down your dashboard to the point where you can work with it, it's worth stopping and rethinking what you're planning to do. You also need to check if your modifications will damage the car and if everything is in order, then you can continue.
After that, with your dashboard, you can do almost anything you want, but from the abundance of various possibilities, you often start to get lost, so let's look at several tuning options.
Change the instrument scale
First of all, you can replace the scale on the instruments. To do this, you can either paint over the old scale and apply a drawing to it by hand or using a stencil, or stick a special film with an already printed drawing on top of the scale. Most often, this option gives the most beautiful and high-quality result. 
In order to make such a film, it is enough even in the simplest graphic editor to draw a layout of what kind of markup you want to see on a particular device and print it on a special film, for which you can contact the printing house. In the same case, if you want to change the color of the arrow or individual elements on the instrument scale, you can even carefully paint over the desired areas with paint. Some motorists who want to achieve interesting glow effects use fluorescent paint for this, which glows perfectly when even a small LED is connected to the backlight.
Replacing instrument lighting
Since we are talking about adding LEDs to the lighting of certain devices, it is worth mentioning that LED lights instrumentation is a very popular tuning.
However, despite its popularity, with the addition or complete replacement of the backlight with LED, you should be very careful. Firstly, you will have to deal with the rather complicated process of removing factory wiring and factory backlights, and secondly, you can overdo it with the number of LEDs. To prevent this from happening, we advise you to limit yourself to 1-2 LEDs per device, which will be quite enough for a bright backlight that will be clearly visible at dusk, but it will not hit your eyes at night. 
In the event that the device has a glow from the inside, and the scale of the device itself is transparent, you can add a little more LEDs, but they should be placed in such a way that their direct light does not fall into the eyes of the driver or passengers.
An interesting way to replace the backlight with a Skoda Octavia:
To install such a backlight, you should use the car's native wiring, since it is initially connected to the controls and you do not have to puzzle over how to power the backlight or where to place the button to turn it on.
Adjusting the backlight brightness
Most often, to adjust the brightness of the backlight located behind the device, you need to assemble it, but if something does not suit the brightness, the device will need to be disassembled and adjusted again. In order not to have to waste time on such actions, we advise you to connect the backlight through a variable rheostat, with which you can control the intensity of the glow by simply twisting it. Naturally, the setting is best done 3 times - during the day, at dusk and at night, in order to understand whether it is convenient to look at the devices.
Complex tuning
Quite often, motorists who improve their dashboard with their own hands modify several instruments at once or the general illumination of the dashboard to make it look more stylish. In this case, it is better to prepare in advance the same templates for instrument scales and the same color backlight LEDs. In the same case, if you do not have access to the LEDs of the desired color, you can get by with ordinary white LEDs and simply stick a translucent film of the desired color on the right places. Such a film will be an ordinary light filter, and you will achieve the same effect as when using LEDs of different colors.
tuning tricks
To successfully complete any modification to a car or its dashboard, you need to know a few simple tricks that will allow you to perform the desired actions. We have already talked about how to properly stick a tint film, namely, such techniques are also used when sticking translucent films on reverse side instrument panel with slots so that the divisions and numbers glow with the desired light. Another no less interesting technique is the use of fluorescent paints to paint over the arrow or divisions of the instrument scale. To evenly apply such paint, it is enough to use either a simple template on top of which you can safely paint, or just gently apply it with a thin brush.
Also, do not forget about the need to properly calibrate the arrow after removing it, because an incorrectly calibrated device is very serious problem, which can be solved only in the service center.
Installation of instruments and assembly of the dashboard
When you are sure that you did everything you wanted and are completely satisfied with the result, it's time to put the removed devices in place, connect them and assemble the dashboard. Do not forget to check if the devices are powered and if everything is in order with the skin fasteners. If you do everything calmly and do not rush, then such tuning of the dashboard will not only be no worse than the one for which you would have to pay a fairly large amount in the studio, but even better, because you will do such tuning with your own hands and in at any time you can change or redo something.