Results 11 to 20 of 26
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20 March 2012 #11
Kyle Hudson My Brain Is Turbocharged
- Join Date
- 12 Mar 2012
- Location
- Ellicott City, MD
- Posts
- 21
- Saab(s)
- 1989 Saab 900 16 Valve Automatic
[FONT=Arial Black]Kyle Hudson[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Black]My Saabs :[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Black]1989 Saab 900 16 Valve[/FONT]
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31 March 2012 #12
Ian Scott 1 |0v3 |>@|\|(@|<35
- Join Date
- 03 Jan 2011
- Location
- Akron, Ohio
- Posts
- 114
- Saab(s)
- Current: 87 900t, 02 9-5 4d Past: 88 900t, 05 9-5 wagon, 87,89 9000T, 91+85 900S, 84 900 8vt 4d
Ok, my argument about white leds is that you're buying an led that creates all the colors in the spectrum, only to force it through a green filter, so you're losing light. I highly recommend sticking with green leds, as the final result looks closer to stock, just sufficiently bright. Also, you will find that even though the Superbrightleds.com lights have circuitry that allows them to dim with a rheostat, the stock one in our Saabs doesn't have enough of a range to make much of a difference.
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31 March 2012 #13
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31 March 2012 #14
Jeffrey Master SaabTech/Moderator
- Join Date
- 25 Oct 2010
- Location
- Point Pleasant, PA
- Posts
- 1,316
- Saab(s)
- - 86' 9KT - 95' 9K Custom CS - 06' 9-3 Combi - 07' 9-7X Arc - 08' 9-3 Convertible - 08' 9-3 TurboX -
Looks good! This could be a mod for my 86 9000 someday down the road. I agree - your aftermarket gauge needs a green filter/led now.
As for the dimming - you can always source an aftermarket dimmer/potentiometer switch to make them dim.European Motor Services, LLC - Point Pleasant, PA 18950 - www.europeanmotorsvc.com
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01 April 2012 #15
Ian Scott 1 |0v3 |>@|\|(@|<35
- Join Date
- 03 Jan 2011
- Location
- Akron, Ohio
- Posts
- 114
- Saab(s)
- Current: 87 900t, 02 9-5 4d Past: 88 900t, 05 9-5 wagon, 87,89 9000T, 91+85 900S, 84 900 8vt 4d
haha I hear ya about the accessory gauge, after setting base boost, I moved the gauge down to the cubby hole and pretty much forgot about it.
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04 June 2012 #16
Paul K. Saab Enthusiast
- Join Date
- 31 May 2012
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ
- Posts
- 126
- Saab(s)
- 1990 Saab 900 Turbo Convertible
How hard is this mod to do? I think my dash lamps are a bit dim, but I thought it was the way it was designed. Dash lamps have been getting brighter for the past decade or so, so I chalked it up to vintage. If it's a real ball-breaker, I'll probably just leave them stock. I have bigger fish to fry at this point anyway.
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04 June 2012 #17
Renato Piereck Spreading the Saab virus
- Join Date
- 24 Jul 2011
- Location
- Ansbach, Germany
- Posts
- 1,520
- Saab(s)
- '00 9-5 Aero SC, 87 900i 8v
It's a very easy and straight forward thing to do. I recently replaced my dash lamps with the correct bulbs. Eventually I'll get LEDs, but getting to the bulbs is very easy. Remove your left side speaker grill, and you can access both bulbs from there, they lie on the upermost part of the instrument cluster. I have seen an image of it somewhere on the web. I'll look for it and post it here for you to see.
Edit: I can't find the picture of the rear (I think it's on the Bentley manual you just bought), but here is a picture of the front.
You can see on the upper part there are the two light ports where the bulbs reside. Although the shines forward the bulbs come in through the front, so I imagine there is some kind of reflective material in there to turn the light around (metail foil, mirror?). I imagine that over time that reflective surface gets dirty and reflects less light too. I don't know if anyone ever tried cleaning the reflective surface. If you look at the backside of the cluster, directly behind those light ports there are two plastic bulb holders, on my car they were green. You grasp the end of the holder with your fingers, twist it 90 degrees and pull it out (toward the front of the car). The first time I pulled mine out they were hard to remove and I took my time to make sure I didn't break anything. There is a thin film with electrical contacts behind the bulb holders, so be careful with those. It's actually easier to do then it seems.Last edited by rpiereck; 04 June 2012 at 07:30.
Now: '00 Saab 9-5 Aero Combi - '89 Peugeot 205 CTI - '91 Peugeot 309 GTI
Gone: '87 Saab 900i - '95 Saab 900 SE Turbo
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04 June 2012 #18
Paul A Saab Nut
- Join Date
- 11 Mar 2011
- Location
- West London and Wiltshire, UK
- Posts
- 251
- Saab(s)
- T16 '93 Ruby - T16 '94 Vert Ruby
This is what the rear of the instrument cluster looks like, minus the boost gauge etc. You can see the two dash light positions, one fitted and the other with loose track. The light is actually not controlled by a reflective surface but by a plastic refractive lens that fits around the light source and directs the light downwards internally. You can see this in the second pic. Very clever, very Saab, but still often too dim. I have considered taking one of these light assembles apart to get an even better look, with a view for improvement, but haven't got around to it. If I do I'll post pics.
There, I've done it and taken it apart. In the third pic you can see the internals. The light travels to the LHS of the fitting and is the directed down through the dash aperture by the white plastic wall sticking up. The fourth pic show the plastic lens and as far as I can make out the green filter is only on the outside of the lens.Last edited by peva; 04 June 2012 at 09:07.
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04 June 2012 #19
Renato Piereck Spreading the Saab virus
- Join Date
- 24 Jul 2011
- Location
- Ansbach, Germany
- Posts
- 1,520
- Saab(s)
- '00 9-5 Aero SC, 87 900i 8v
Good stuff on the refractive surface, I imagine it will also need some cleaning after a few years. There is still a bit of reflective metal tape there. Nothing a cotton swab won't take care off; I imagine a light coat of film residue will sit on it after so many years since it left the factory.
Now: '00 Saab 9-5 Aero Combi - '89 Peugeot 205 CTI - '91 Peugeot 309 GTI
Gone: '87 Saab 900i - '95 Saab 900 SE Turbo
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04 June 2012 #20
Paul A Saab Nut
- Join Date
- 11 Mar 2011
- Location
- West London and Wiltshire, UK
- Posts
- 251
- Saab(s)
- T16 '93 Ruby - T16 '94 Vert Ruby
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