Thanks to Seedster

Est. Time: 3.5 hrs

(DISCLAIMER: The modifications and descriptions described on this page are to be followed and used at the sole risk of the individual performing them on their vehicle.  When performing any modifications, there will always be the slight risk of damage or failure to other components of the car.  Modify at your own risk…now on to the good stuff….)

~Tools Required~

• Short flathead screwdriver

• Right angled pick

• 2 thin flathead screwdrivers

• wire cutters & strippers

• nail polish

• white or indiglo gauges 

~Procedure~

First, begin by removing the two screws at the top ceiling of the cluster unit.  The screws are 6 point star and look like so (they can be removed with the right sized flathead screwdriver, although a short one will be needed):

Once the two screws are out, the cluster can be tilted down from the top and pulled forward.  Remember that there are 3 harnesses [1-white on the right side and 2 (1-small black & 1-blue) on the left] behind so don't pull too hard, you'll have to remove these now.

Maneuver the cluster around as to get to the white harness on the right.  You'll want to push the left side back and pull forward on the right side so you can get a nice profile shot of the right-side harness.  Below is a picture:

(notice how the right is pushed back and the left is pulled forward)

o remove, you will need to push a small tab on the rear of the harness (shown in the middle picture with a red arrow) which allows the lever to be lifted up.  Using a right-angled pick would considerably help.  The lever must be pushed ALL the way up and the harness automatically pops out.  Pictures are shown below:

(here are the 2 left side clips)                push tab and lift white lever)           (lift lever higher than shown)

Repeat the same steps now on the left side as to remove both harnesses (both black and blue like in the above pics).  Push the right side of the cluster back and pull the left side forward.  You should now see the two harnesses.

Although these cars don't come with tilt-wheel (at least mine doesn't), the cluster can still easily come out.  Turn the car on and turn the steering wheel clockwise while pulling the cluster out (to the right) along with the motion of turning the wheel.  It easily slides right out.  Time for the gauges……

When you have the cluster unit out…the rear will look like this.

(ignore the white wires at the bottom as this is an "after" shot)

You will need to remove the 5 screws pointed out w/red arrows.  The screws look like this and were removed with the following flathead screw driver.

After the 5 screws are removed, you will be able to open the cluster unit.  Beware of the certification (aka the "don't tamper with") sticker shown below.  I slowly, but carefully, peeled it down from the top about an inch so that it wouldn't tear when I opened the unit (shhh…don't tell anyone).

When the cluster is opened, the gauge-half of the cluster will look like this.

There are 3 locking mechanisms that hold all the gauges down (as shown above with the orange arrows).  You will need to turn the "white part" of them 180 degrees to unlock it.  It may take a little pressure and a pair of pliers might help, but they do turn so don't worry.  Here, 2 of them are shown below in detail (the left and top ones):

After removing all the gauges, set them down and proceed in removing the "mini" MPG gauge.  There are two clips to push and the unit just comes right off (no need to unscrew anything).  The two clips are shown below.

Contrary to the directions given with the indiglo gauges, the needles on ALL 5 gauges (fuel, MPH, RPM, MPG, and temp.) must be removed.  BE SURE to remember or lightly mark on the white gauges where the fuel and temp. needles lay prior to removing them.  They are about 3-4mm below the "left line" on the gauges.  The MPH, RPM, and MPG don't need to be marked as they rest against the rester needles when off.  The needles are easily removed by placing two flathead screw-drivers (one on each side) underneath the needles and gently prying them up (twisting both screwdrivers so they go from this _ _ to this / \ ).  The needles come right off.  You might want to paint the needles (like I did) so that they are more visible during the day since white needles on a white background is a kind of unclear situation.  And for the sake of showing everything step by step…here's the nail polish that I used (color: "hot red").

Placing the needles back is kinda tricky so take note.  I'm sorry for not taking pictures during the whole "needle" painting and placement, but being this far…I'm sure you'll be competent enough on how to follow along.  When the white gauges are placed on top (yes, on top) of the stock black gauges, the painted needles can then be put back.

Begin by replacing the fuel and temp. needles.  They need to be put on with the needle pointed approx. 3-4mm below the left line on each gauge (or as where marked as stated above).  Simply push the needles on gently without going too far down.

As for the RPM, MPH, and MPG, the needles need to be positioned and pushed down so that when pushed down…the needle is JUST touching the rester needle (reminder: you do not want to turn the needles back a little passed the rester needle in order to give the moving needle some tension…NO tension is needed when placing the needles back).  You may want to manually swing the needle all the way around and see if it comes back smoothly.  Remember not to push the needles down too far as they might get stuck along the way up or down.

When you are done with the MPG gauge…it should look like so:

Clip the MPG gauge back onto the main gauge units and place the whole gauge unit back onto its shell…locking them in place with the 3 white "locks" shown above (making sure they're turned back a full 180 degrees back to their original position).

You will then want to run the wires from the MPG gauge up and around so that the wires come over to the right side of the cluster like so:

The black connecter must be cut off in order to give slack to the MPG wire and allow it to fit through the hole in the cluster backing (be sure to allow an ample amount of wire to be fed through the hole).  Below is a picture of where the wires will go.  The red arrow shows the hole in which the MPG wires go through…and the green arrows show that the remaining single wires will run along the side and run out of the cluster through the crack there.

When the cluster backing is placed onto the cluster and the MPG wires are ran through the hole (3 ^rd from right), it will look like this:

(as you can see, the single wire is run along the side on the right)

After screwing back in the 5 screws, you will see the following masterpiece:

Be sure to solder on the MPG connecter that had to be cutoff to allow it to fit through the unused hole.

Run the wires down from the "brain" box of the indiglo gauge kit and connect the positive and negative wires.  I opted to splice (tAp) into the dimmer switch wires as this will allow the gauges only to turn on when the parking lights or headlights are on.

I kept the switch that came with the indiglo kit on BLUE since I liked this color over the green and knew I wouldn't be switching over to the green.  I hid the switch and placed strictly the knob/dimmer for the gauges right next to my panel dim switch, which is kinda nifty  =)

Put the instrument cluster back in place, reconnecting all 3 harnesses and both indiglo power connectors (2 of them – small black).  Replace the 2 screws at the top and you're DONE! ~pHeW~

Below are some pics of the final product…I hope you like  =)