White face gauges

[WestCoastSVX]

I've had a set of the white face "indiglo" gauges sitting on the shelf for years. Still debating whether to put them in or not. These are the newer style where only the numbers light up, so at night they look like stock, just lit the nice blue color.

Either way, I'm going to do the whole dash in blue lights, and lately it looks like some others have almost got it down to a proven method, including using blue (or red) leds behind the gauges to get a similar look to the indiglo gauges at night, stock black face during the day.

So the question really comes down to the daytime look - stock black faces or white faces.

I'm really torn, but kinda leaning towards the stock faces since some nicer light can now be had with them at night.

The white faces do come stock on lots of sporty cars these days and could be a "modern update", which is what I'm going for with my SVX, but something still might seem "off" about it.

Opinions?

[SilverSpear]

Originally Posted by MacGyver

So the question really comes down to the daytime look - stock black faces or white faces.

I'm really torn, but kinda leaning towards the stock faces since some nicer light can now be had with them at night.

Opinions?

I have the white gauges on. And now after owning the Z and seeing the mix of orange and red all over the dash wiht the black faces, I think this is the classy way to go.

I am planning to replicate it in the SVX in the future. I wouldn't go with blue though.

[BoxerFanatic]

Blue, physiologically does more to harm your night vision. It is brighter, and a frequency of light that is near the ultraviolet edge of the spectrum. Eyes usually have less fatigue with reds or yellows. Even green isn't as far up the spectrum. Also why blue-blocking sunglasses are somewhat popular.

Personally, I love the red/white illumination combo in my Legacy, with it's electro-luminescent gauges. Needles, button logos, and such are all red, but alpha-numeric displays on the gauges, and the center stack, are white, which really helps them stand out, without being as harsh as blue.

Green is acceptable, but somehow seems a bit like an old Ford. I've not seen an amber/orange illumination scheme that I have liked, the color just doesn't appeal to me as interior lighting. Red is not as garish as orange seems to be.

I have blue LEDs on a phone base in the bedroom, and it has to point away from me at night, it is just too coldly bright, and it actually lights the room more than one would think.

[Johnybeas]

I've got some that I don't want that I'll sell anyone, I bought them and when I went to put them in I decided I liked the black face ones better and didn't wanna switch them.

[WestCoastSVX]

Yeah, I'll think about other color options when I go to do the lights if I don't use the indiglo white face gauges. Guess I was just saying blue as that was a direct apples to apples night time comparison between the black and white gauges (since the indiglos are blue).

The question was what is the better day time look, white gauges or black....


Although I do appreciate the commentary on benefits of different night time colors. Have heard that about red before, I think most military aviation still uses red lighting in all their instruments.

[SilverSpear]

Ok here is the 350z dash:





This is a custom dash:












For those with Wooden dash, I think a brighter orange or red flows better than Blue. Blue and Wood is like installing AMG rims on a 1950 mercedes.

To each his own.

[svxash]

Originally Posted by SilverSpear

Ok here is the 350z dash:





This is a custom dash:












For those with Wooden dash, I think a brighter orange or red flows better than Blue. Blue and Wood is like installing AMG rims on a 1950 mercedes.

To each his own.

Any pics of the 350z dash at night?

[WestCoastSVX]

Originally Posted by SilverSpear

Ok here is the 350z dash:





This is a custom dash:












For those with Wooden dash, I think a brighter orange or red flows better than Blue. Blue and Wood is like installing AMG rims on a 1950 mercedes.

To each his own.

You are right, that 350Z coloring does have a nice look. Also curious how it looks at night.

I might be leaning even more heavy on the keep-em-black side of the fence. The stock black with some new lighting might be just the thing.

The 350z does make me wonder how a silver gauge bezel on the SVX might look though..... hmmmmmmm (while keeping the rest of the dash pieces black, including painting the woodgrain, no stick-on aluminum or anything)

BTW, would never have thought of doing the blue lights along with woodgrain - repainting the dash has always been part of the project.

[svxash]

Originally Posted by MacGyver

You are right, that 350Z coloring does have a nice look. Also curious how it looks at night.
The 350z does make me wonder how a silver gauge bezel on the SVX might look though..... hmmmmmmm (while keeping the rest of the dash pieces black, including painting the woodgrain, no stick-on aluminum or anything)

.

I thought someone on this forum had painted the trim on theirs silver.

[WestCoastSVX]

Originally Posted by svxash

I thought someone on this forum had painted the trim on theirs silver.

I've seen it before, but I think the 2 or 3 times I did, it was in combo with some other change that made it less desireable to me...

Silver bezel with white face gauges - not enough contrast, kinda wash each other out.

Silver bezel with silver dash trim - overkill

All my opinion of course and it's been years, I'd have to look again.

Not sure that I've ever seen just a silver bezel with black gauges and black and gray dash though.

[SilverSpear]

lol took this picture while returning from work... with my cell phone:




The needles are red-er than shown in the picture...

[Sov13t]

Actually, in low light conditions Blue light is much easier to see for human eyes, and as such does not need to be as bright as Red or any other color for that matter... once again talking purely about low light conditions. So, I will argue otherwise... heh...

[SilverSpear]

Originally Posted by Sov13t

Actually, in low light conditions Blue light is much easier to see for human eyes, and as such does not need to be as bright as Red or any other color for that matter... once again talking purely about low light conditions. So, I will argue otherwise... heh...

What about the rest of the dash? will blue fit the "wooden" dash of the SVX?

Any pics?

[gsodonis]

Originally Posted by svxash

I thought someone on this forum had painted the trim on theirs silver.

That would be ME.

Stock gauges


White gauge faces


White face gauges close up (with bezels painted silver)


White face gauges with the faces lit at night (with blue LED's illuminating the white faces). I can't remeber what my inspiration was other than I saw a high end Britich car with this look and decided to give it a try.

The camera at night GREATLY exaggerates the blueing effect of the blue LED's - you can dim them to get a much lighter blue effect. As a matter of fact, you can replace the LED's with any color available.


Here's a blue over red/amber - Mazda 3 I believe.


Blue on a GTO

[WestCoastSVX]

[QUOTE=gsodonis;604494]That would be ME.




White face gauges close up (with bezels painted silver)


QUOTE]


Ahhh I see........ See I was thinking the entire black plastic piece that goes around the gauges, everything behind the clear plastic, similar to the large flat-silver area on the 350Z. But I do like your near-chrome outline around just the edges of the gauges - very classy.

So when you talk about lighting up your white gauges with blue LEDs (and that it could be any color), did you add something to illuminate the gauge faces themeselves, beyond just the blue indiglo numbers that they do by themselves?