Topic

Going to upgrade the instrument cluster to LED's next week, have been thro the how to guides and have a couple of questions:

I'm going blue to match the car and some say they are too bright, will the dimmer still work? some say yes others no.

I know about removing the yellow? filter but has anyone tried a different colour filter if so with what result.

Is it possible to change the colour of the odometer/trip as they all seem to be standard in the pics.

Related to this i'm inclined to ditch the clock, I have one on the radio, my arm and phone anyway so its pretty much redundant and always has the wrong time as the battery gets disconnected on a regular basis. I was thinking electrical oil pressure gauge but can I source one that matches and if so where ? did another MG/Rover model have similar gauges.

When working on SRS related items steering wheel etc is it ok just to pull the SRS fuse and not disconnect the battery and is there a check to perform ie something on the same fuse/circuit that will also be disconnected. Your probably thinking I'm frit of the SRS and your right too many episodes of UXB.

Thanks

Will dimmer switch work, I would say that would highly depend of what type of LEDs you will use. If LEDs are drawing higher current dimmer should work.

Regarding oil pressure gauge, MG F/TF are the only ones from MGRover range of the era that had such gauge.

For the SRS system it is advised to remove battery terminals. Removing only fuse will not get you on the safe side since wires are tight together in the car and you do not know in which state are the wires, so with battery still attached parasitic drain or interference may occure. Since SRS system is very sensitive, you might end up with open airbag in face. This is the reason why removal of battery terminal is required to be on the same side. Of course do not forget to wait 30 minutes for all residual power br drained out, after terminal removal.

Blue is the worst colour for instrument lighting, way to much glare, red is the best colour for instrument lighting, much easier on the eyes at night.
Blue instrument lighting is just a silly fad! And most leds aren't dimmable, if you were to use high current leds then you've defeated the purpose of the main advantage of using leds, which is the lower current draw.

I looked for a matching oil pressure gauge, in the end I bought two new gauges, lol.
The odometer has its own bulb so you CAN change the colour.
My RED leds do work with the dimmer.

Cobber I take on board what you say and admit Hollywood never switch on blue lights for night vision but I see you drive a red F so perhaps your choice was pre-ordained. I may not be the epitome of sartorial elegance but I would never wear a red shirt with a blue jacket, so blue it is, if it doesn't work perhaps I'll go violet or pink to reach out to my feminine side (never thought I'd bloody type that). Seriously if it does cause eye strain I will switch back it's not exactly a difficult or expensive job and I bought the car to play with during retirement so it's fulfilling its role (pub avoidance strategy).

David thanks for the info on the odometer that's new to me and perhaps you can help further, what size thread is the existing oil sensor? I need a Tee with a 1/8NPT outlet for the gauge with the other inlet/outlet as the current thread. Depending on the person/forum the existing thread is either 1/8 NPT or M10, perhaps they are all right and it changed some time in the run VIN?, Rimmer's list the sensor thread as "coarse parallel" a damn fine description if a little light on detail.

According to my records my original oil temp sender is m12x1.5.

Interesting read for you.
Matching gauges

Thanks David did you use a Tee piece if so can you remember where you got it, I'm looking at a set of three gauges on eBay but I only want one of them and they seem too cheap but they appear to be a good match for colour/style which is what attracts me, decisions, decisions.

I did use a t-piece, probably ebay. But it was over 6 years ago, so...

David Aiketgate wrote:

According to my records my original oil temp sender is m12x1.5.

I believe mk1 Fs are 1/8 NPT Thread.

My old eyes don't much like glare, I have a clock DAB+ radio in my bedroom and the bastard has a blue screen, I have it taped over, too bloody bright. I didn't relise it was blue when I bought it, I thought it was a muted grey screen, that's what the picture on the box had. I must give it the arse and get a new one.

The F is not red..........it is Volcano orange, the Jag is Cobalt blue, the TR7 is white as is the 2500s (probably respray the TR7 Poo Fly Green), the Land Rover is Baby Poop yellow (bloody awful colour a proper yellow would be better), the Ford F250 is currently primer grey (will be dark blue) .......Ok the Ute is red, but it's a faded shitbox work horse.
As you should see see I've got nothing against blue and don't mind red.
So I don't tend to have a colour preference as such, but I do despise brown, beige & pink and I'm bored shitless by this modern obsession with monochromatic hues, endless depressing greys.... and no don't call it silver (if silver was that colour no bastard would bother digging it up!)) Black used to be a cool bad arse colour, but when the likes of Toyota started painting Camarys Black it became soooo uncool ( the Camary is so boring even the red ones are beige!)
And white has always been boring, very few cars can get away with white, the E Type and XKi20 can pull it off, white needs chrome or another colour to work, otherwise it's too bland and unimaginative.
I do like gold cars, but it has to be a good bright gold, not some horrid week as piss metallic beige..
I don't even mind purple cars, but it should be the right purple on the right car.

I actually don't mind the F's yellow instrument lighting it's not too bright but lets me see whats going on.
I think MG were going for a nostalgic look with the magnolia gauge faces, and the yellow light was probably meant to give a vintage feel.

I like my cars bright and standing out, but not my instrumentation lighting.