Dragun Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 OK guys... Fitted the new dials today, it actually went all quite well with no complications.....Heres how it was done 1. Take you gorgeous Z for a drive, atleast for 20mins, just make sure that lovely engine is properly warmed up! 2. Park up and with the engine running and the car in neutral make a note of all the needle positions on all the dials including the ancillary dials....make sure that your aircon is off etc for a pure idle reading.....If it helps take a picture of them so you can see where the needles are, helped me 3. Turn your engine off. Remove the rubber ring around the ignition, this just pops off if you pull it. 4. Undo these three screws, as they hold in some plastic trim that will get in the way when you remove the cowling. These are located under the button you press to open the fuel cap. Also take out the 4 screws underneatht the lower cowling, you will need a long crosshead screwdriver for the 2 at the back. 5. Place a butter knife or flat screwdriver under the cowling by the indicator stalk, then gently but firmly prise it up. Also make sure its prised up behind the indicator stalk. 6. Do the same on the other side..... 7. Pull the plastic trim on the left down so its not in the way 8. Do the same for the trim on the right. 9. Now you should be able to loosen the cowling. Please note that the upper cowling is attatched to the spedo housing so please dont try to remove it 10. You dont even have to take the plastic trim off, you just need enough so that you can remove the lower cowling. 11. Now with a 10mm socket remove the 4 bolts that hold the speedo housing in. The other 2 bolts are in the same place on the other side. 12. Unplug the white plug from the back of the speedo and take you clocks inside.....your doing fine so far 13. At the back of the clocks you will see 2 big and 4 small screws that hold the upper cowling in place.....Take cthese out and remove it. 14. Pull off the 3 round plastic caps on the bak. note the middle one is held in with a plastic clip so be careful not to break it. 15. And you will be left with this . Un plug the two white plugs.... 16. Then gently prise up the black plastic back, its fitted well so be aggresive....but not...if you get me 17. Once thats off pull the two black parts under the side button 18. Then turn it around and pull off the plastic front Be careful of the reset button thing. 19. Loosen the black clips holding the front of the speedo on, prise forward and do the same for the clips on the bottom 20. Tadaa.....the dials, bare as a babys bum. 21. Now with 2 butterknifes, slide them under the needles, each in turn. Then slowly prise up, making sure u apply even pressure and they will pop off! Some are on quite stiff so u need to give a little umpff. 22. Once all off, slide a butterknife underneath the dials as they are very lightly stuck on. Heres the back of them. 23. Dials are off... Here are the bulbs, so if you want to change them u need to solder them. 24. Now to remove the black rest needles are very tricky, the best way i found is to grip it between your thumb and pointing finger and push againt the table and they should pop out. 25. Now fit hte black rest needles on the new dials, this can be hard but the best way is to hold the dials and push the needle like this. 26. Now place your new dials on the pod...perfect fit! 27. Take your dials to the car along with your needles, but do not fit your needles yet. Plug the speedo in, to allow more leeway u can pulkl this grey tab out to allow the speedos more freedom of movement. 28. Start the car and let it run for 10mins, this is to make sure the engine is warm as it could have cooled whilst you were doing all the above. 29. When you are sure its properly warm now its a case of fitting the needles to the same readings you made a note of or took a pic of before. (Step 2.). Once all is back in, unplug the speedo and fit everything back together again. Plug back in and admire your handy work! IMPORTANT. Calibrating the needles this way proved very accurate. Only putting the speedo needle in at 0 is not accurate. Comparing speeds with the ancillary dial shows my dial is 4mph innacurate. So i suggest setting your cruise control to like 20mph or even 10mph then put the needle in then. For me i hardly look at the speedo, always the ancillary so ill correct this at a later date as its not major and i dont have cruise control so will be harder for me, but all the other Voltmeter, Oil PSI, REV, FUEL, TEMP guage read accurate. ALSO, the bulbs are unfortunatly orange so to get the desired coulour on your dash requires you to buy and solder on new bulbs, what a headache lol. Hope this helps guys and i hope it encourages some people to consider this mod as it took me all off 40mins. Here is a quick piccy i took of my Baby with the V3 spoiler....loads of you guy hate it, i dont know why it looks sexy lol. Thanks guys!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M350ZB Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Good write up mate, but none of the pics are working, looking forward to seeing the pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragun Posted November 14, 2008 Author Share Posted November 14, 2008 Oh god, ok lemme try fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M350ZB Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Oh god, ok lemme try fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavis Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Oh god, ok lemme try fix it. I am doing it now if you wish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragun Posted November 14, 2008 Author Share Posted November 14, 2008 done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavis Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 done Is it? I have done the bottom 9 pics the rest looks like a dogs dinner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragun Posted November 14, 2008 Author Share Posted November 14, 2008 yeh it should be, i edited teh post and deleted the html codes n replaced them with the image codes....i can see it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavis Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 yeh it should be, i edited teh post and deleted the html codes n replaced them with the image codes....i can see it now. Bottom looks right that i did to the left. The top is to the right. Will leave it up to you but looks messy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragun Posted November 14, 2008 Author Share Posted November 14, 2008 Should be working now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Looks good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Nice custom mod. I think the spoiler look mean in black! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M350ZB Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Wicked write up and looks good , are you happy with the outcome ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 those dials have a lovely piano black gloss look to them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragun Posted November 14, 2008 Author Share Posted November 14, 2008 Wicked write up and looks good , are you happy with the outcome ? I am, just a bit dissapointed with the whole colour thing, but same as stock so cant really complain.....loks awesome in the day though. Goes well with the interior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted November 14, 2008 Share Posted November 14, 2008 Wicked write up and looks good , are you happy with the outcome ? I am, just a bit dissapointed with the whole colour thing, but same as stock so cant really complain.....loks awesome in the day though. Goes well with the interior. change the LED's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M350ZB Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 Wicked write up and looks good , are you happy with the outcome ? I am, just a bit dissapointed with the whole colour thing, but same as stock so cant really complain.....loks awesome in the day though. Goes well with the interior. change the LED's Should be quite and easy thing to do , does look buddy, would you ever be up for a essex meet ? , would be great to get two v3 wide arch zeds ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragun Posted November 15, 2008 Author Share Posted November 15, 2008 Yeah will definatly be up for it. last one i was in spain and couldnt make it but let me know when the next one is and ill be there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmJak Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 Get some petrol tight a@@e Looks really good buddy and like the write up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M350ZB Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 Yeah will definatly be up for it. last one i was in spain and couldnt make it but let me know when the next one is and ill be there Yeah cool, will let you know mate, when the next one is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adriank Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 Looks good made, well done on haviung a go yourself and doing the guide! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve3000 Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 Excellent write-up! Just what I've been thinking of doing - great way to sort out the needle positioning! I'm sure my speedo under-reads by about 2mph anyway (compared to the digital gauge) - does yours under-read or overread now? Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragun Posted November 15, 2008 Author Share Posted November 15, 2008 Get some petrol tight a@@e Its called weight reduction my friend...weight reduction Steve it reads over by 4 - 5mph.....but if you have cruise control this is not even a problem as you can put the needle in accuratly. Although and this might be normal or not i cant remember but £17 worth of petrol from empty filled it to the second from bottom line...is that right? i think im jus bein paranoid lol how much to fill the tank fully? then ill halve it and see if the needle settles in the middle lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 Excellent write-up! Just what I've been thinking of doing - great way to sort out the needle positioning! I'm sure my speedo under-reads by about 2mph anyway (compared to the digital gauge) - does yours under-read or overread now? Steve Speedo should never under-read, thats illegal. Should always be more than the digi gauage and GPS by a few MPH to about 5-10MPH at top end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M13KYF Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 brilliant write up, moved to guides Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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