Xtuners BB9 5th gen Prelude

[xtuners]

The gauge needles in white color



Silver paint for the rings



Pictures from the SMD mod and the new SMD illumination for the gauge needles.



The dials are also ready for the install. They turned out great. During the weekend I will reinstall and calibrate the gauge needles. At last I will work on the wiring. I will try to update the topic tomorrow.

[wurlycorner]

I'm intrigued by the LED dial mod - How much of that kit is pre-bought kit specifically for the lude and how much is being made up by you?

[Sven]

Looks nice. I tried to change my needles and now I don't know how fast i'm driving cause the needle doesn't want to move anymore .
So if you like to explain what you did, I would be really happy. (cause it's my Type S cluster )

[xtuners]

For this upgrade I used following parts:

- SMD LED stripes. You can buy these parts in my area. I ordered extra bright stripes from a friend of mine, because I want to see the light during the day as well. They have a big advantage over the plasma dials, because no maintenance is required, they never stop working, the light is brighter and many many more ...

- gauge needles SMD illumination kit. Customized for the RMP needle ( because of the color change ) - I produce these parts. Everyone can buy a set.

- repainted the stock needles, because there are no white ones on the market.

- custom made dials. I produce the parts .. this is what I do for a living.


The problem with this project for the regular person with zero experience is actually the part where you remove the gauge needles from the coils. Preludes have the Nippon Seiki gauge cluster and you can't just pull the needles on this one. They will stop move after you do this and you have to buy another gauge cluster. This is also the reason why you don't see good gauge cluster upgrades in real live. Nobody has the knowledge how to do it write.

[xtuners]

Sven , how did you pull the gauge needles? Is only the needle showing the speed not moving or all of them?

[mercutio]

so how do you remove the needles?

[xtuners]

I just realized something. The gauge cluster illumination is too bright for night driving. I wanted to install some sort of brightness regulator but all of them would look bad in my interior.

I know the 4th gen Lude has a dimming button for the gauges.



Do you think this button will fit in the 5th gen Prelude button console? It would be cool if I can install it .. will be almost like factory. There is also another problem. If I install the dimmer there will be no free place to put the fog lights button. Or I just have to remove completely the rear bumper fog light button.

[mercutio]

the shape of the buttons are different between the 4th and 5th

[xtuners]

To remove the gauge needles you have to hold the coils axis with some thin pliers like the ones shown in this list:

http://www.piergiacomi.com/piergiacomi/ ... aglio.html

If the axis comes out with the gauge needle the cluster is gone. This is why you have to catch the metal axis of the coil with the pliers and then start moving the needle to the left and right until it comes out. The speedometer needle is really hard to remove on 5th gen Preludes ( EDM and USDM ) because the alignment of the odometer wheels.

If you remove the gauge needles without causing damage to the coils they will loose their start positions. You have to calibrate the needles later in order to show correct values. This is also not too easy to do

[xtuners]

Sure about this? The other buttons look exactly the same as mine