Changing the interior lights

[davidl78]

I'm thinking about changing the interior display lights in my 1991 NSX. The orange doesn't do it for me and am thinking about possibly blue, any opinions?

I'm posting this thread to get an idea of how much it will cost and how difficult it may be? Anybody have any experience with this project and does anyone have any pictures of before and after. Thanks

David

 

[NeSX]

Try not to rice the thing out too much with those lights... its not a civic.

The lights are orange for a reason. Studies have shown that orange/red lights are the easiest on the driver's eyes while driving long distances at night. Hence the reason that most manufacturers worth their salt use them... BMW... Porsche... etc.

 

[davidl78]

I noticed that a lot of the high end cars have that amber color. I guess its just a personal thing for me because the interior display lights looks out of date to me and I figured I'd try a new color. But thats an interesting point.

 

[hlweyl]

Someone posted a thread last year with pics that had changed the instrument cluster lights. I believe they went with blue. It looked OK, but remember, you would need to get into the climate control and radio colors to match.

 

[nsxpt]

I'm thinking about making the same change, I'm more comfi with the white or light blue lights, are they just led bulbs that we have to change?

 

[D'Ecosse]

I'm thinking about making the same change, I'm more comfi with the white or light blue lights, are they just led bulbs that we have to change?

The radio, clock & A/C module all have a red screen that is removable if you take the modules apart. (the ligts are white) You can then insert whatever colour you like - best type of gel film is that used for theater lighting
http://www.premier-lighting.com/sales/colorfltr.html

If you look at the first picture in this thread that is what the A/C module loooks like with the red filter simply removed, no replacement added. That is fine for the clock & the A/C, but the OEM radio looks a little naked with no filter.

 

[lithiumus]

The problem is matching all the buttons and other things that light up like the Cruise control letters, Mirror letters and all the letters on the Climate control and Radio which are all orange.

I started getting rid of all the white and realized the amount of effort is huge for a full conversion. I just took the climate control fan sticker (which lights up Orange) and instead of the filter, I found it was painted on. I used a knife to scrape it off but ended up scraping off the white paint as well which was the first layer so now I can see through the fan symbol.

There's got to be a better way. Maybe combining filters to make another color or something... Doesn't blue and Orange make green? Hmmm...

 

[AdventureNSX]

The lights are orange for a reason. Studies have shown that orange/red lights are the easiest on the driver's eyes while driving long distances at night.

Yes that is true, this particular manufacturer(Acura) may have choose orange for good reason. However, other auto makes use Blue/White, such as New VW's and some Audi's. I pulled the orange plastic out of my BMW's, i hate the orange myself it's dated even in new cars.

Best of luck...

 

[AndyH]

If you look at the first picture in this thread that is what the A/C module loooks like with the red filter simply removed, no replacement added.

Is there a DIY instruction somewhere that shows you how to take out the climate control screen?

 

[lithiumus]

Is there a DIY instruction somewhere that shows you how to take out the climate control screen?

The climate control unit isn't too hard to take apart. Follow the instructions on how to remove the center console. The Climate control is 4 screws to remove from the unit. There are 2 screws on the sides holding the front face on.

You have to bend the tabs on the side to pop the front piece off. Disconnect the cables from the circuit board.

Disconnect the remaining 3 cables connected to the rear of the circuit board in the front panel. There are 6 screws to remove. Once you pull the apart the front piece, just peel off the filter. You can also xacto knife the red screen and put the black trim back on.

 

[jerryho]

I actually like the Amber a lot. Is there anyway to amplify the lighting? Mine appears to be dim.

 

[lithiumus]

You can always do an LED conversion. I'm working on one now but I'm trying to change the color of mine.