Corrado Mk4-Golf-Reverse style white dials (old thread)

[Henny 0]

Henny, how did you get the backlit digital display? could it be a different color text?

 

Any colour you like... 8) (blue's a sod to do with just filters though, so you'd probably have to use LEDs instead to get 'em bright enough... )

 

There's a thread about how to do it kicking about somewhere...

 

Ah, in HERE in fact... :D

[Chaos 0]

im getting a vr6, hopefully in the next week or so

these dials sound excellent so can u add me to the list please? (as long as the dials are gonna be black)

[dinkus 10]

Aye, what Chaos said, I've seen similar dials and I want them :) I'll hopefully have a C in a couple of weeks, so please count me in :)

[dinkus 10]

Ok guys and girls... I drove zarman's car yesterday and I can say his dials are fantastic in both light and dark so I'm even more keen to get these into my (yet to be!) Corrado!

 

The design of zarman's ones is more Audi TT than original Corrado, but the needles are standard VR red ones and he used a UV tube (such as mentioned earlier) to illuminate the neeles.

 

The picture has been posted before, but they look like this

 

 

For reference, his car is Canadian, so his dial is in kph (not 200mph :() but they all say how inconvenient it is only having kph as they go to the USA quite a bit. Similarly the yanks only have mph on their dials. Thus a dual mph/kph dial is a good idea.

 

He also has TT style chrome surrounds around the dials, which as said before is part of the binnacle, nothing to do with the dial faces. If you want them, you can get them seperately from his dubdesigne industries site at http://www.dubdesignindustries.com/cata ... ucts_id=86

 

They're pretty expensive though and I think you can get them elsewhere too.

 

So guys, for these dials go with..

 

Black face

Speed in mph up to 160, with a smaller kph ring as well

Revs in single digits x1000

Corrado logo on the rev dial

Standard red needles (or early white ones painted)

A 2x 4" UV tubes

A power inverter for the UV tube

 

As far as the UV tubes go, ideally you need a 9" or 10" tube, but they seem to only come in 4" or 12". So the best option has to be to get 2 x 4" tubes. ebuyer.com have a 2 pack of 4" UV tubes with a dual output inverter to connect to a 12v supply for £3.52 inc VAT plus p&p. As of now they're on back order, but once they're in stock it will be easy to put a bulk order through.

 

If Andi is too busy, I'll be willing to take the reigns of this GB as long as everyone is still game?

 

Edit: Just been talking to zarman and those dials were HAND MADE!??!?! He's thinking of getting some UK spec ones manufactured though, so maybe that could be an option? His work is certainly top notch. He also said that the standard dials are a little too shiny and reflect a bit under UV, so a matt finish on the dials would be good too

[Shilakadaddy 0]

I got some of those aluminium dial surrounds from germany: http://www.tachoringe.de/Shop/shop.html

 

I think its a fair bit cheaper from there than it is from DDI :)

[dinkus 10]

I got some of those aluminium dial surrounds from germany: http://www.tachoringe.de/Shop/shop.html

 

I think its a fair bit cheaper from there than it is from DDI :)

 

Yeah they are a bit, still 45 euro for them tho

[exturbo2003 0]

dinkus if your taking over i want a set of black/black so count me in please mate

[Dick Dastardly 0]

i have just stumbled across the thread what a excellent idea i hope this post goes through. I will pm andi to see what the state of play is if is straight forward the i will put myself forward for taking over the group buy, i hope i am not standing on any toes here :-P

[Henny 0]

The main reasons that this thread has stalled for a while is that Andi has moved house recently and has been a bit busy with that and also that we were trying to work out a viable solution for the invisible needles problem... Having the dials back-lit is very nice, but is sod all use if you can't see the needle to work out where it's pointing! ;) :roll: On a new car, the needles are also back lit so you can see them... you can't do this on a Corrado... :?

 

I'm happy with the UV led method of doing this, (shown earlier in this thread) so I'll be taking a spare set of clocks which I've rigged up with the UV leds and some painted early needles to the shows with camp-overs I'll be going to so other people can see what they think to them and make sure that they are happy too... 8) The next one I'm staying over at is the 3rd and 4th July at Malvern for BVF, so come and find me when it's dark and I'll show you mine! ;) :lol:

 

If the general consensus of the people who see it is that this is viable, I'll put a full "how to" up including part numbers and costs for the LEDs and circuit and we'll get this group buy rolling again... 8)

 

Sound reasonable? 8)

[dinkus 10]

Yeah I think the UV lit needles is definitely the best option, especially as the standard red (later spec) needles glow without needing paint.

 

As far as light source goes, you may be better off with cold cathode tubes instead of LED's as they are a) bigger and b) have a greater viewing angle. Certainly zarman's dials look great and they're done like that. Having said that, I haven't seen Henny's work :)

 

I'm going to try and make it up/down/out for the BVF show (ownership of a C permitting!) so I'll try and come find you Henny.

 

I know that Andi is still settling into his new place, so this thread might take a while to get anywhere, so it may be worth mentioning that zarman is developing some of his dials for UK spec cars. His existing ones were hand made, so he getting some US spec ones manufactured now, then if they work he'll do the UK ones. I must say that his work is of a very high standard and we may be able to convince him to give us a good deal on a group buy when they are ready. As he has made them before, it may also cut out the hassle of designing our own.

[Dick Dastardly 0]

the uv leds sounds like the way forward is there any differences in old and new style dials i m sure I read on the thread that there is two different types if there is are they interchangeable. :?:

[dinkus 10]

is there any differences in old and new style dials i m sure I read on the thread that there is two different types if there is are they interchangeable. :?:

 

Yeah, the early needles are white and don't glow under UV, the later ones (and possibly early VR ones) are red and do glow under UV.

 

I think that is the only difference though, so I'm sure they're interchangable, or you can use a UV marker/paint to make the needle glow instead.

[Henny 0]

If they've got a digital milage counter, they are interchangable... I've got early twin digital display dials with late needles in a late set of clocks at the moment (Don't ask, I just have! ;) ) The font of the text, and the needle design were the only things to change... even the part number on the actual moving coil is the same... (and that applies to G60, 2.0 AND VR6 (I know 'cos I've now got one of each set to test! ;) )

 

The UV secuity marker idea DOESN'T work... (I tried) you need such a high power UV lamp that it just floods the car with UV... :? Also, the cold cathodes may be TOO bright... the reason I used LEDs was 'cos you can still adjust the brightness with the brightness control on the headlamp switch... 8) That way you can vary it depending on what the conditions are/how much you give a damn how fast you are going! ;) :D :lol:

 

UV sensitive paint is definately the way to go with the early needles... 8)

[zarman 0]

Hey guys, I'm here to i guess confirm what dinkus has already told you (btw, thanks for posting it). I do have plans to make the gauges for you if the US versions that we're working on turn out the way it should. Maybe they'll be done in a month. We'll know exactly where we stand then.

 

As for the needles. If you have the white needles you need to paint it flourescent red/orange and use a 10 or 12 inch UV tube over the top of the cluster. I placed it outside of the cluster wedged in between the small gap between the cluster and the black plastic cover that goes in front of it. Where they meet there is a gap and just enough for the UV light to shine through. The needles light up pretty nice. It's not as bright as that of a real lit needle but it's plenty bright enough that you can see them at night. That is the easiest solution. The UV is not bright enough to flood the cluster with purple light. It works great.

 

I'll provide more updates on how the US ones are progress in a few weeks.

 

 

Thanks

[Andi 2,147,483,647]

I think we mostly decided on which design would look best, but the thing that concerns me with your site, zarman, is the cost....

 

Unless you can offer us an excellent deal with regards to ordering about 60 at once, it would still remain cheaper for us to go directly to the original manufacturers - although the time frame would probably signifcantly larger.

 

I will have to have a talk with Dick Dastardly as I'm essentially handing over the leg-work to him ;)

[anthonyg 0]

been playing round with a spare set of late clocks, and discovered that the needles act as a waveguide and can be light from behind. A series of small holes drilled into the dial face around the needle hole, and a bright led mounted inside the white plastic casing will give the desire effect. A bit of messing around, i agree but the final result better than using uv's i think.

 

BTW how's progress dastardly ?

[Henny 0]

yeah, I tried that too anthonyg, it works really well on the late clocks, but won't work on the earlier white needled clocks which are solid plastic... :?

 

I'm trying to come up with a "one shot" solution which will work for all Corrados... 8)

[Tattie 0]

This any good for you guys??

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 90071&rd=1