Lincoln Motor Sports White Face Gauges Install

Your stock gauges are made of black plastic with green numbers.  They are illuminated by a clear light bulb which makes the numbers appear green when lit.  The LMS gauges use white paper and black numbers with clear outlines.  When illuminated with the same bulb they will loose coloring and will glow as if you were looking at a plain lightbulb.  To correct this you need to install bulb covers when doing this modification.  You will need 5 bulb covers and since they are sold in packs of 3 you will need 2 packs.  Packs sell for $3-$4 each and are manufactured by AutoMeter.  You can get them from your local parts store or order them from CarParts.com.  Part numbers are:

Green   3215
Red      3214
Blue     3207
Yellow  3208

Likewise, your needles are painted white on the bottoms.  This makes them glow white at night.  This will work fine with your new faces since the faces will not illuminate much at night, letting the needles glow white.  If you choose to change the color of your needle illumination, you will need to paint the bottom of the needles when you have them removed.  The only exception is where the needle crosses the mounting section.  There you paint the top.  Do not paint the whole needle, just the flat bottom surface, or top surface if over the mounting section.

1:  Start your car and bring it up to a normal operating temperature.  You may choose to drive it for ten minutes or so to make sure it has fully warmed up.  With your car running, make notes of how your gauges read.  This is very important to be able to properly calibrate your gauges once you're done.  If your car is like mine, they probably always read the same.  Take notes of:

     ? Oil pressure, both in park and in gear with your foot on the brake
     ? RPMs at idle in park and in drive with foot on the brake
     ? Voltage in park, and in park with the lights, radio & A/C on full
     ? Fuel level
     ? How far away from the odometer reset bar your speedometer needle is
     ? Normal coolant operating temperature
     ? What speed your car is at when in 1st gear at 4000 RPM
     ? What speed your car is at in 2nd gear at 3000 RPM

2:  Disconnect your negative battery cable.

3:  Remove the colored plastic panel from below the steering wheel.? Do this by removing the 3 7mm bolts on the bottom of this panel just under the dash.? Once those are out it is only held on by 2 clips on the top of the panel.? Pulling on the panel will release these clips.? Next remove the black plastic dash trim piece from above the steering wheel.? It is held on by 3 6mm bolts along the bottom and 2 6mm bolts on the top just above the gauges.? The bottom bolts are visible once the first panel has been removed.? With all 5 bolts out of the top panel it is held on by clips like the bottom panel.? Pull the panel out.?T his may take some work since it contains an air vent and is a tight squeeze past the steering wheel.? It is easier if you tilt the wheel to it's lowest position.? Once the panel is out past the wheel, unplug the rear defroster switch from it and remove the panel.

4:  Use a 7mm socket to remove the 4 black screws which hold the gauge assembly into the dash.  Pull the bottom of the gauge assembly out towards you so the gauges are facing up.  This will give you access to the back of the assembly where you now need to unplug both of the 2 large plugs, one on each side of the assembly.  With the assembly unplugged you can now pull it out of the dash.

5:  Place the assembly on a clean, flat surface.  Use a Torx bit  screw dirver to remove the 7 gold plated screws holding the plastic cover onto the assembly.  If you do not have a Torx bit you can also use a 5.5mm socket.  Remove the clear plastic cover.  Next remove the black plastic trim piece.  This will just lift off once you remove the clear cover.

6:  IMPORTANT!  Remember exactly where your gauges are reading.  It is a very good idea to take a picture or at least draw a diagram of their readings.  You will be removing the needles and for your gauges to read properly upon re-installation, they need to go back exactly where they came from.

7:  There are 5 sets of gauges in the assembly.  The middle two (voltage & fuel) are one unit.  Remove one of the gauges by hand.  They simply pull out and are attached to the back of the assembly with long metal pins which also make the electrical connections.  Use a fork to pull the needles off.  Simply slide the shaft that attaches to the needle between two prongs, push the prongs all the way in so the shaft meets the end of the prongs, and twist the fork while pulling up.  With a little work the needle will pop off.  With the needle out of the way you can peel the old gauge face off by hand.  It will leave glue residue on the gauge.  Do not clean it off.  It will be used to stick the new face on.  The tachometer face is also attached by 3 small philips head screws.  You will need to remove these to get the face off and attach the new face.

8:  If you are going to change the color of your needles paint then now that they are off.  Make sure you give them enough time to dry before you re-install them.  If you are going to add light bulb covers you will now have access to the bulbs as you remove gauges.  Do not put covers on the two bulbs on either side of the volt gauge and located in the deep shafts on the top of the assembly.  They are your turn signal bulbs and will be covered by a green coating when you re-assemble the unit.  There is also a bulb located behind the bottom right of the tachometer right below the word "ONLY" in UNLEADED FUEL ONLY".  It is you "CHECK GAUGES" bulb.  Since your new gauge faces do not have this wording on the you need to decide what you want to do with this bulb.  I chose to put a red cover on mine so the bottom right corner or the tach will glow red if this light comes on.  You may choose to remove the bulb but be aware that this warning will not be available to you.

9:  Carefully cut out your new gauge face for the gauge you just removed.  I chose to cut mine with a very sharp pair of scissors and a utility knife.  Do not remove the clear plastic backing.  If the edges or the opening for the needle are not 100% perfect it will be OK.  The gauge trim piece or needle mount will cover this.  On most you will also need to poke a pair of small mounting holes in the face.  This can be done with a sharp nail or screw.  Again, these will not show and are just used to allign the face.  Be careful with your new faces.  They can become dirty and damage or even smear easily.  Once you have the face cut, carefully press it on the gauge making sure it is straight.  The glue residue from the old faces will be enough to hold it on.  Once it is in place, replace the gauge.  Gently replace the needle to the exact position which it was removed.  This does not require any force and should almost fall into place.  It is a good idea to do this job one gauge and cut one face at a time.  That way there is no confusion as to which gauge or face it is and where it goes in the unit.  Repeat this process until all gauges are done.

10:  When you have all the gauges done replace the gauge trim piece and the clear plastic cover with the 7 gold screws.  Place the assembly back into the dash opening and attach the 2 wire harnesses to the assembly.  Attach the assembly to the dash with the 4 bolts.  These bolts may be difficult to get back in since you will need a socket with an extention and the mounting holes are at a downward angle.  A trick is to take a small piece of masking tape and put it on the top of the bolt.  Now put the bolt head in the socket.  The tape will stop it from falling out while you set the bolt in it's hole.

11:  Re-connect your battery.  Next remove the 7 gold screws again which hold the plastic cover on the assembly.  Remove the plastic cover and the gauge trim piece.  Start the car and let it run until the engine has reached it's operating temperature.  Check the gauges for accuracy based upon your previous notes & pictures.  Remove and attach the needles as you find necessary.  Shut off the car and restart the car.  Check the gauges for accuracy again.  Drive the car, shut the car off and restart the car.  Again, check for accuracy.  This may take several attempts.  To check if your speedometer is properly calibrated first make sure your tachometer is accurate based on readings both in park and in drive with your foot on the brake.  Now take the car up to the previously noted RPMs in the noted gears.  Do your speeds match?  The fuel gauge may be trick to get right.  Note that your "low fuel" and "check gauges" lights will still work.  Watching when these turn on may help you in determining where your gauge should read if you know where the gauge read previously when these lights came on.

12:  Turn on your lights.  Do all the bulbs work?  If not replace them now.  If you are having trouble getting the bulb out of the unit you can also unscrew them from behind the assembly.

13:  When you are sure that your gauges are properly calibrated and lights are working, attach the gauge trim piece and plastic cover again.  Next attach the upper dash trim piece, remembering to connect your rear defroster.  Lastly attach the bottom trim piece.

Gagfish

Sponsor Links