GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

OK ladies and gentlemen...I'm starting my next project...Custom Guage Faces!I managed to get a spare guage cluster off ebay pretty cheap, so i took it apart and used the existing guages as templates for new ones...I modified them slightly, but all the idiot lights are still in the right spots. Let me know what you think.

That looks pretty sweet, nice work!

And now here's installments two and three:

i like all bluebut it should match you car!

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well unfortunately that wouldn't work. The light system behind the guages are mostly white for the dials, but the idiot lights are colored bulbs. On the faces i pulled off my spare cluster, the only thing tinted was the red areas around the guage arcs...the rest were clear save for the turn signal arrows. Also, for reference, the spare cluster i got was from a 2003. I don't think the internals of the cluster changed at all between the 03 and 04...just the color of the face itself.

You should be right on mine the color is all red and on the wifes it is white, and the design is still the same. Mines a '03 and hers is the'04.

INVERT the colors !!instead of light digits on dark background, do a Dark digit on light background!!

couldnt you change the bulbs?

if they're LEDs or something like that and you know how to do a little electrical work then you could defninitely switch them out, i definitely like the idea if you get them to work let me know i'll be all about buying up some custom guage faces that look like that

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »couldnt you change the bulbs?Those bulbs are TINY! i'll take a pic tonight of the cluster without the faces on so you guys can see what it looks like, but changing the bulbs out I think would be next to impossible.The trick now is to figure out how to actually MAKE the darn things. I'm a model builder as a hobby, so i've got a bunch of clear plastic laying about. I'm gonna try a few things here in the next couple nights to see what happens. BTW...anyone know a way to get power to the lights on this thing so that i can test it out without taking half my car apart to use the plugs there?

Quote, originally posted by joholste »if they're LEDs or something like that and you know how to do a little electrical work then you could defninitely switch them out, i definitely like the idea if you get them to work let me know i'll be all about buying up some custom guage faces that look like thatWell joholste...that's the beauty of doing it like this first...you can make the guage arcs ANY COLOR YOU LIKE. If you have fusion, you can make them orange....doesn't matter. If i can figure out a good way to make a few of these at once, I might consider making a small run of custom order guages...keep in mind though, it ain't gonna be a quick thing as most of the work is probably gonna have to be done by hand. Lemme do some experimenting and see what i can come up with. I'll keep everyone posted on my progress.

for power get a 9 volt battery and find the positive and negative cables that power the lights as they have to be there somewhere, and touch them to the positive and negative terminals on the 9V and it should work that's how i got my cd out of the cd player without putting it back in the car

sweet...thanks, i'll see about doing that sometime tonight or this weekend...whichever day i get to it first LOL

how are you making the red turn blue? it would be sweet to get white face gauges and the rest stock, except the numbers would be black or some other color.

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »except the numbers would be black or some other color.Kinda hard to make a number "light up" black as for how i'm making the red turn blue, on the origional faces, the red areas are tinted plastic...the lights themselves are white...SOOO if you make the arc area a tinted BLUE...then they'll show up blue...at least that's my thinking anyways. We'll see what happens.

black....yea...dunno what i was thinking. its been a LONG day.i was wondering how exactly you were going to tint them, maybe cut out the red and put a different color film in (tint like)

With model airplanes and the like, they make a Translucent paint....clear red...clear blue...clear green....OR i can take a clear gloss and tint it with a drop of paint....still workin on that aspect, but it'll be something like that

would the paint change the red or make it a weird color though?

from what i can gather the backlighting for the guage arc is WHITE...the idiot lights are the only ones that are colored.

here's just a sampling of some of the possibilities that can be doneIf anyone would like the origional scans of the guages, let me know and i'll have them posted here.

Nice,,,

I guess im confused... your going to paint the bulbs or the gauge face?

i'm going to paint the guage face...lolkinda hard to paint the little teenie tiny bulbs

ah i got confused talking about bulbs and paint and the face, long day.... wonder if we can find material like that and then cut and make our own.....

I've got a piece of thin clear plastic from my modeling supplies, i'm gonna try and use that to make them. I'll probably try working on that this weekend

Have you thought about using an inkjet printer to just print your full size designs directly on matte polyester media? I've used what is known as 'Back Print Film' Canon item # BF102, for my Canon printers. I don't know if Canon still sells it.It was designed for printing color photos (in reverse) for use in backlit photo-kiosks. It has a shiny side for display and a matte side for printing.I got some years ago for use with my Canon BubbleJet 610. I bought several boxes of it when a local computer store went out of business and was selling it at 75% off the retail price, so I still have a few sheets left for special projects!It's not very thick, so you'd probably still have to mount it on clear plastic like you mentioned to make it hold it's shape.

Hmm....that's the first i've ever heard of that stuff...I'll look into it. For starters though, i've got a couple ideas on how i can do it...should have some time tonight to play with it a little.

Has anyone ever contacted Speedhut about doing a gauge set up for the vibe/matrix? http://www.speedhut.com. They do custom gauge faces for a lot of different vehicles and they have a group buy section on their website. Here is an example of what ours could look like. What do you all think?

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Quote, originally posted by vibe_commander »Has anyone ever contacted Speedhut about doing a gauge set up for the vibe/matrix? http://www.speedhut.com. They do custom gauge faces for a lot of different vehicles and they have a group buy section on their website. Here is an example of what ours could look like. What do you all think?http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=17124 was a thread about gauge faces, and speedhut was mentioned but I don't think anyone ever approached them for an estimate

I emailed speedhut. We'll see if I get a response.

Have you really taken a speedo apart?..if it's possible? Mine reads 10% high, but the odometer is right on. I was wondering if like some electronic speedos on motorcycles you noticed a potentiometer(variable resister) in there? This helps determine the overall error. The OEM's like them to read high. Yes, it keeps the wife from getting tickets. But I like accuracy.

Here's the response from speedhut:Hi,We don't currently offer EL-Glo Dial Kit's or Bezels for your dash. If youare interested in becoming a Group Leader for your cluster, please read theinfo below:*The Group Leader sends a cluster to begin the Pre Order. Please don't use apersonal vehicle's cluster (we don't send clusters back). We recommend acluster from a junkyard (it does NOT have to be in working condition.HOWEVER it DOES need to have everything intact - i.e., needles, cover etc).Please send the Cluster via Ground (inexpensive) Mail (or anotherinexpensive method). Please make sure it is INSURED for your protection!*Remember to add your contact information in the package.Once the cluster has been received the Pre Order will be added to our ModelDevelopment Program with the sender listed as the Group Leader. The GroupLeader's email will be listed on the site for questions. We will be incontact with the Group Leader throughout the process.Once we receive 25 Pre Orders we will begin tooling. The Group leader willget their EL-Glo Dial kit for FREE (+ S&H). We offer incentive discounts forthe entire Group. *Free Text, Free Standard Graphics, Free Standard Logo's.*We can add the Km/h version at No additional cost!The price for our Custom Gauge Kit's are generally around $99.95 + $8.00 USS&H per Pre Order. The price for our Custom HVAC Kit's are $35.95 + $8.00US S&H.Thank you for your interest and please email us if there are any furtherquestions.*Check out Speedhut's Performance 4" Custom Tach at http://www.Speedhut.com!Customize your Dial, Bezel and Pointer to match your interior! Speedhut has just released our Custom 2 1/16" Gauge line! Not only is thisline Customizable but it is highly accurate and designed by SpeedhutEngineers in-house in the US.Speedhut has many more new custom products that are being designed rightnow! Check back to see new product updates at http://www.Speedhut.com! *Sign up for our Speedhut Newsletter at http://www.Speedhut.com to receive productupdates and special deals only available through our newsletter!Thanks,Speedhut.com teamhttp://www.SPEEDHUT.comDoes anyone know if the vibe/matrix clusters are exactly the same? If we can't get 25 to sign up here we should be able to get there with a little teamwork from the Matrix crowd. Anyone got access to a cheap cluster?

Sweet! Off to the junkyard I go!

yeah, but do you send them a 2003 cluster with the red lights or a 2004+ with the white ones?2005+ with the extra warning lights?Base or GT with different redlines?US or Canada with different warning lights (and km/h vs mph)?

I am sending him what I have, an 03 GT

Wicked! I have an '03 GT so I am eargerly awaiting the response and info on the signup.

from what you're saying, that would only give the GT drivers custom lights and not us BASE model drivers....hmm....I think I'll stick with my little project and see what happens. Haven't had a chance to tinker with actual fabrication yet due to the job, but I'm hoping to start something this week. Will keep you guys posted.

I'm sure we can get one of each type if necessary. Genvibe is a good team - bet my annual bonus that we won't have to exclude anyone! (Oh wait....we didn't get a bonus......) But seriously, Does anyone know if vibe/matrix clusters are EXACTLY the same in a given year?

From what i know all GT and Base vibes have the Same cluster and all Trixs have the same cluster too. so it shouldnt be a problem.Vibe_Commander- all Matrixs and Vibes have the same cluster. the only diff on the vibes is this - (see pics)

Base gauges have redlines at ~6400 and speedo up to ~120 mph. GT/XRS gauges have redline ~8000 and spedo up to ~140 mphUS gauges have speedo in mph Canadian gauges have speedo in km/hCanadian gauges have Washer fluid indicator light03 gauges have red lights behind the faces, 04 and up have white lights behind the white parts of the gaugesLooks like 03 has lights in the same place as 04, and 05 had lights in the same place as 06, but 03/04 has some lights in different places than 05/06 (CEL, hi beam, airbag, O/D, ABS, battery, seatbelt, etc) 05/06 also have more (tire, VSC, skidding car,)

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I posted this before but..Before doing a gauge face change. I am more interested in an accurate speedo. The base auto tranny and AWD read 8-10% high. Is there a company out there that has an module to compensate for oversized tires etc. ?? Similar to what truck guys have to use. They are just plug in devices.

wow i don't know about 8-10% high i know they're supposed to be set to read about 2 miles an hour over at 60. if you're is 8-10% over you might want to get that checked into

I don't know of any external device you could use to affect your speedometer and not also have it affect the odometer. Easiest thing to change would be your tire size.The spedometer is electronic, it gets a pulse train signal from the vehicle speed sensor in the tranny, or from the ABS controller if you have ABS. The circuitry in the cluster acts like a frequency counter, and drives the speedometer and odometer. It might be possible to send the cluster off somewhere to get the speedometer calibrated. you might try calling a place like SPECMO. They gave me a quote of $100 US to set the odometer in one of these clusters. I think there is some amount of programming that can be done to them, I don't know what though,, but some sort of speedometer calibration factor might be an option. When you first apply power to the cluster, the tach and speedometer needles do a sweep, not sure if it's a calibration sweep, or some other purpose. One possible thing to try , and note: I don't know if this will have any effect or not - but you could take the cluster out of the car, take the cover off, and pull the speedometer needle off and put it on with the offset you want. It miht be that the power on sweep is designed to counter any variance in how the needle is put on, but it might not be and your fix could be as easy as moving the mneedle on the motor shaft.My base speedo seems to read right on, in comparison with mile markers at 60 mph, and also running the math on speed vs rpms

My odometer is right on. But the speedo is off-high. I know of at least one other posting here stating the same amount of error. I used a digital stop watch to confirm my errror. I don't like or trust dealers to waste a day with my car for them just to say, "it checks out". Toyota says in their manual, basically they allow 1% low or 6% high. The only check is a voltage check at the CPU. As far as removing the cluster, I don't know? On this new car whether I am up to that?.I had a Nissan years ago that read similar. I suspected it was a "Jap thing". To make you feel you are going faster than reality. My errror is linear 2000rpm = 50mph shown, 3000rpm = 75mph shown. Both are high. I wonder what other AWD's are reading? My wheels & tires are stock.

I don't know. Using math from http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=9053 and AWD gear ratios from http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=4234, on stock tires, ignoring transmission slip, in overdrive, the AWD mph calculates to be RPMs/40.07, so at RPMs=2000, speed = 49.9 and at RPMs=3000, speed = 74.8 mph

The #'s are a bit confusing. The awd final "output" ratio is .7 x 4.24= 2.968 = the number of engine revs taken to turn the wheel one revolution. My formula is rpm/2.968 x circumf of tire in inches / 12 divided by 5280'. Does that make sense? I comeout with 74.55mph on a circ. of 78.2" But I am not sure of the 78.2. Anyone for sure know the circumf of the 205/55's? I checked a site . It said 78.1" . I checked manufacturer ratings of rotations/mile. They very but they are around 830. But the tire size sites say 811 revs/mile which is more to like a 205/60 tire. So, I trust my stop watch on a measured mile over anything at this point.

Quote, originally posted by vibedrvr04 »Those bulbs are TINY! i'll take a pic tonight of the cluster without the faces on so you guys can see what it looks like, but changing the bulbs out I think would be next to impossible.The trick now is to figure out how to actually MAKE the darn things. I'm a model builder as a hobby, so i've got a bunch of clear plastic laying about. I'm gonna try a few things here in the next couple nights to see what happens. BTW...anyone know a way to get power to the lights on this thing so that i can test it out without taking half my car apart to use the plugs there?Hey vibedrvr04,Can you post up the pics of the cluster without the faces on it?Thanks....

Quote, originally posted by vibedrvr04 »should have some time tonight to play with it a little.ah, nothing like quality alone time, huh?

I'd be interested in seeing whats behind the gauge faces too. Thxs.

hey vibedrvr04 hows the cluster thing goin? how far are you? and do you have any pics?