FC Gauges w/ Contour needles (pics)

[SuperFlea]

Time: Aprox 1 hour and 30 min.
Cost: FC gauges - $ 70.00, Contour needles - $ 3.00, blue tape and sand paper $ 3.50

I was at a local junk yard and noticed that the Ford Contour has clear needles in the gauge cluster. So, i got me a set cause that gave me an idea. I also got from New Edge Performance a set of silver Focus Central gauge face and while i was at it, i also got a silver SVT HVAC surround.

Here's what i did ---->

I took my cluster apart and repleced the three bulbs that light up every thin with some nice apc blue ones. Seeing as the contour needles i used are clear, they with lith up what ever color bulb you use




The fuel and temp needles from the contour are not that same as the Focus'. I had to cut them a bit from he tip, cause the contour needles are a bit longer. Also the Focus needles have a small stop tip (bump stop) that prevents the needle to go around past the lowest point of the "cold" and the highest point of "hot".


I cut these little stops and glued them on the countour needls.





I also took took some time and removed the film behind the odometer glass (where it tells you how many miles on the car). I sanded the back part of it with 400 grit and then with a wet 600 grit sand paper, to get all the green off (i saw this mod in the how-to section). Afterwards put some blue electrical tape in the back (sanded) part of the film and this gave it a nice blue look.




Remember that before puting things back in place, you have to calibrate your needles, please look in the How-To section for this.




Here's the finished product









Some night shots, for some reason they came out too dark, it looks way better in person.









Sorry i didn't get all the pictures that i should have, i kept forgetting too. Hope this wanna be how-to helps.

Thanks!!

[Sponsor]

[MISVTfocus]

Looks good, the pics are HUGE.

[SuperFlea]

Thanks!!!! The pics are huge, thanks to Photobucket.com!!

[SuperFlea]

so, no one else liked this?

[madmark10]

man i like those gauges, i have a blue 05 and i want my guages to look identical to that, well maybe red needles but its still nice

[SuperFlea]

thanks! It's really a very easy mod. All you need are the clear needles off a contour.

[Tyler@SH-AutoTrends]

Originally posted by SuperFlea
thanks! It's really a very easy mod. All you need are the clear needles off a contour.

Also you can paint those clear needles to have them light whatever color you want.



Thanks,
Tyler

[SuperFlea]

great idea!

[Tbones00SE]

It's actually been done before. There is a how-to somewhere in this forum on how to do it.

EDIT: Here it is, with pics for those of you who are interested in doing this mod.

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/s...ar+and+needles

LOL, I noticed the date of the old thread, you did your mod almost a year to the day Superflea.

[SuperFlea]

oh, thanks! I didn't know it was already done, DUH!!! hahaha! It's actually wierd, i searched for thwe how-to on the needle calibration but never saw this one. And it's way better than mine.

I also thought about painting the rear of the clear needles but i wanted to leave mine white instead.