https://www.f150online.com/galleries...828&anum=13341

See that white connector under the cluster. Look to bee the Shift Selection Cable. How does that disconnect for cluster removal.

Are there other procedures or snafu's you can help me with?

THANKS!============>

 

when you remove the cluster, the whole PRND12 piece unclips from the cluster and stays with the cable.

 

Got her out....

https://www.f150online.com/galleries...908&anum=13341

 

eh? you had problems with THAT? i stuck my skinny lil girly hand in there, wiggled my finger on the connector and popped it off! right then, i realized i love my small hands lol.

soo... more LED's?

 

But it was easy to get it out, once I knew what to do. Now my issue is, the guages are blue, bit the shift selector is still green... gotta figure out how to tackle that...

 

probably 2 bulbs? im guessing the smaller size, like the small size inside the instrument cluster.


i want details how you tackled that cause i'd love LED brightness. i just dont know about going through the hassel of switching to all blue like your doing right now. although i must admit, it looks sweet and it would compliment my bad AZZ older deck lol

 

Well... I know how the Shift Selector is lit. It just pulls light from the main gauge cluster. Thing is... it has an overlay that is printed in green... no aftermaket overlay for it...


The main gauge cluster is lit via white LEDs and color LEDs, and white bulbs(no colored rubbers).... the green glow of the gauges,.. comes from the overlay (green ink silkscreen. (Keep in mind this is for a 2003 with XLT cluster, includes RPMs)

 

i got a 97, not sure whats different except yours has a digital odometer/tripmeter vs my analog?

i have 1 question about the overlay... is it thin (10 thousandths area), flexible yet rigid? if so, you consider a peice of lexan? look for "hobby shops", they sell LEXAN rc car/truck bodys, which you can probably airbrush a light coat of your blue and make work?

my advice would be to ask for some scraps, around here hobbyshops usually have a lot of people who do the painting for them or come there for it.

otherwise if its like super thin and flimsy, your on your own there :/

just an idea, odd but an idea.

 

Great minds think alike...!

That was my thought... I had read a post in here somewhere that liked to an article where someone took the stock overlay, removed the green ink.. and colored it blue.... I suspect that will be my (only) viable soultion. I am going to price the whole cable assembly from ford.... and see what I can find on ebay.....

 

lol fords gonna be pricey... e-bays gonna be hit and miss.. boneyard will be best bet. also i do have a company here that has great prices on body parts n such. its in spokane washington and its called a-star distributing. they had a headerpanel for my truck for $40, napa didnt have it and ford wanted 160... you do some pondering on that lmao.

but im confused... ink? i work with ink and i dont see why they'd apply ink to something plastic.

 

The stock overlay seems to me to be a clear/clear green plastic... with a black on the front side... underneath.... you can see all the areas where light shines through, such as gauge areas, or the cruise etc. But you can plainly see that they used a silk screen type process to apply coloring... like behind the speedo and rpm gauge, its like a lighter green ink. I will get a pic of the backside of the stock later tonight.

https://www.f150online.com/galleries...037&anum=13341

 

ok well i think my lexan idea is a useable idea, i just dont know about coloring it.

 

Ive been wanting to get my gagues to glow blue also, anyone have any idea on how to do that with the stock overlay? Or know where i can buy a overlay that glows blue with a stock like look?

 

The pics in my gallery show the Nu Image SS113B. That is Nu Image's part number for the overlay. I also purchased SS213B, which is the overlay for the temperature controls.