How do I install gauge rings?

[fwdtamiya]

How do I separate these two pieces of plastic? Bake in the oven? The dark spots are glue.

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[Agent☣Orange]

I forgot the NA's assembly is glued on. I would assume a quick bake but interested in knowing from someone who has done it.

[fwdtamiya]

I found a couple sources say you can just slip them through the back with some finese. I'm assuming those were oem rings, mine are pretty beefy and I don't think they'll contort to squeeze through the hole. I'm afraid they would be bent at that point too. :lol: I'm about to try baking.

[revlimiter]

Post pix of your gauge rings.

[fwdtamiya]

For future reference: baking doesn't seem like an option. I broke my cluster. I did 8 minutes at 250f, no luck in loosening the glue up. Popped it back in for 10 more minutes and found the clear plastic had bulged out, eliminating the curve it had basically. I thought "well, screw it, I'll see how much the glue loosened up." It didn't. I ended up cracking the clear plastic into a few pieces before getting it all removed from the black backing/glue.

Here is one of the large gauge rings next to the oem "ring."


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[fwdtamiya]

Annnnnnd the black plastic is warped too, so I can't even run my gauge rings with the clear plastic piece gone or reinstall the oem ones, because they won't conform to the warp very well. All is lost. :lol:

[vote4pedro]

I wish I had seen this sooner. You need "the blade of exact zero" (sorry just watched the Lego movie with our Boys), x-acto knife to cut and pry the cover loose at the seams. It works out pretty good. I tried using a home-depot carton cutter once and it started to crack the lens cover.

[fwdtamiya]

I was very impatient about this, despite having the gauges in my closet for years, so it's all good, I knew I was being dumb because I was aware that replacement clusters are fairly cheap.

Update, after sliding my wavy black plastic piece into the rest of the cluster it has become straight enough to slide my rings on. I'm okay with this for now. I planned on going KGW eventually, maybe it will just come sooner.

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[Tkblazer]

Buy mine lol

[fwdtamiya]

So tempting, haha

[Phatmiata]

I was told that boiling them works too, to heat up the glue. I used an X-acto Knife on mine as per Dewa-sans instructions though. Once the cluster is reinstalled you cannot even tell they have been separated.




Installation guide : NA gauge cover panel & Ring

http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~AWD/m1cover2.jpg
To separate the gauge cover panel from the assembly, push in the black plastic tabs on top and the bottom of the housing using a flat blade screw driver.


http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~AWD/cut1.jpg
Next step is to separate the clear acrylic cover from the base. The clear cover is glued to the base and must be cut away using an inexpensive acrylic cutter (available at home improvement centers). Using gentle pressure, score the acrylic cover several times until the scoring line is quite deep. Gently twist the cover from the base to separate. The resulting cut should be smooth and clean. If there are minor cracks or irregularities, do not worry since the dash pod will hide them once reinstalled.


http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~AWD/pn4.jpg
Although the double sided tape should be strong enough to hold the AWD panel cover, the use of additional screws (included in the package) is recommended. First drill pilot holes before attaching the screws. Once the panel cover is installed, remove any OEM rings before installing AWD rings.

Once the installation of AWD panel cover and the AWD rings are complete, reverse the disassembly process. The clear Acrylic cover does not have to be glued back since the pressure from the dash pod cover will hold it in place once reassembled.

[fwdtamiya]

Oh, I didn't even realize AWD uses the factory piece. I thought it came with it's own. That kind of makes me more satisfied with my own cluster in a way.

I'll post better pictures later!

[Airbrush1]

Love the stardust faces! Wish there was something similar for the NB currently available!

[fwdtamiya]

Thanks. You could always have RevLimiter design something similar or better!

And thanks for the very informative post Phat!

[Airbrush1]

perfect idea!

[revlimiter]

Didn't get a chance to get back to this thread. And yeah, Joel's suggestion was the right one. Sword of Exact Zero.