i am starting to research into this (googling) so maybe a way can be determined to change those ugly green VF displays that we find in things such as the Z24 gauges. that is something ive been wanting to do to them for a very long time. since merlot got his first car, a 88 Z24.

anyone have any input on this?

this is to change the green displays in such things like some digital HVAC controls, stock radios, and gauge clusters like the Z24 cluster to a red color that will match the pontiac theme.

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First LX9 Fiero GT, 1987 | My Fiero Fuel Economy | MPG Display for OBD I
Youtube Videos of My GT | 87 GT Inside Test Run | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 01
3500 Fiero GT Test Run 02 | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 03 | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 04
If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem
Fiero's are people too. We pay just as much attention to them, if not more than our loved ones
screw paying those bastards. im not going to become rich by paying for things.....

[This message has been edited by americasfuture2k (edited 04-02-2009).]

Only way is to replace the (most of the time custom for only that device) screen with one that's designed from the beginning as red.. ($$$$$$$$$) You could get real creative, suck the gasses out of the screen and replace them with some neon gasses. LOL The voltages and drive signals are specific to VF, so no way to pop in an LED or LCD display without re-designing the circuitry, at which point you've got a completely new device anyway..

There is always the filter option, I went to a theater supply shop and got a sample pack of gels for theater lighting. Had a couple hundred different colors in it. Powered up my display and went thru the process of holding most up there till I got the color output desired. After you pick your color they can sell you a sheet (@18"x 30") for about $8.00. Just a thought.
Mike

hmm, i like that gel's idea. how well does it filter the color? how possible is it to go from chevy green to pontiac red? im sure you would hafta experiment with using different colors in different layers.

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First LX9 Fiero GT, 1987 | My Fiero Fuel Economy | MPG Display for OBD I
Youtube Videos of My GT | 87 GT Inside Test Run | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 01
3500 Fiero GT Test Run 02 | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 03 | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 04
If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem
Fiero's are people too. We pay just as much attention to them, if not more than our loved ones
screw paying those bastards. im not going to become rich by paying for things.....

[This message has been edited by americasfuture2k (edited 04-03-2009).]

quote Originally posted by americasfuture2k: [Using a filter] how possible is it to go from chevy green to pontiac red?

Not very possible. Filters work by blocking light; they don't replace one color of light with another. Thus a red filter will block all but red light from passing through it. If the original green phosphors don't emit any significant amount of red light, then when the green light is passed through a red filter it will appear to go from green to black ... probably not what you want.

Just as with LEDs, usually the only way to change the color of a fluorescent display is to replace the light-emitting part of the display module. While it might theoretically be possible in a factory environment to replace just the phosphors in a VFD module in order to change its color, it would be neither practical nor cost effective ... especially for an automotive hobbyist.

Finally, did you ever stop to consider that there might be a good practical reason that most VFD displays are that "ugly green?" Three possibilities come immediately to mind: 1) Green phosphors are the most efficient and/or produce the brightest light for a given electrical input. 2) The human eye is most sensitive to light in the green region of the spectrum. 3) Green phosphors may last longer in automotive service than other colors before eventually wearing out (i.e. going dim).

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 04-03-2009).]

dang marvin, you shot my idea down. *tear* the truth hurts sometimes...

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First LX9 Fiero GT, 1987 | My Fiero Fuel Economy | MPG Display for OBD I
Youtube Videos of My GT | 87 GT Inside Test Run | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 01
3500 Fiero GT Test Run 02 | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 03 | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 04
If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem
Fiero's are people too. We pay just as much attention to them, if not more than our loved ones
screw paying those bastards. im not going to become rich by paying for things.....

I agree somewhat but you can change it alot attached is a pic of the dash i am working on it has the bright green VFD. By the way these are not the colors i settled for but the ones I chose. Sorry so blurry.
Mike

[This message has been edited by mswenson289 (edited 04-03-2009).]

hmm...from all that i can see going on in that picture, it really interests me. got a build thread going?

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First LX9 Fiero GT, 1987 | My Fiero Fuel Economy | MPG Display for OBD I
Youtube Videos of My GT | 87 GT Inside Test Run | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 01
3500 Fiero GT Test Run 02 | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 03 | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 04
If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem
Fiero's are people too. We pay just as much attention to them, if not more than our loved ones
screw paying those bastards. im not going to become rich by paying for things.....

no did not document it because I did not know if it would work, so far so good. Hope to get some road time to "shake down" this weekend. I will warn you before you ask it is not a project for the weak at heart or the short patience type. lots of cutting moving wires and cursing.
Mike

thats how my 7730 conversion rewiring is going. last harness merlot built worked, but was full of problems. thats a brother that half asses things for you. what cluster is that you are using? and what is that in place of the aux gauges? i see buttons and looks like a screen....

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First LX9 Fiero GT, 1987 | My Fiero Fuel Economy | MPG Display for OBD I
Youtube Videos of My GT | 87 GT Inside Test Run | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 01
3500 Fiero GT Test Run 02 | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 03 | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 04
If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem
Fiero's are people too. We pay just as much attention to them, if not more than our loved ones
screw paying those bastards. im not going to become rich by paying for things.....

The cluster is a S10 and the "other is my "DIC" (Driver Information Center) out of a 90 Grand Prix. Good luck on the 7730 harness it was a piece of cake compared to these two projects.
Mike

quote Originally posted by mswenson289: The cluster is a S10 and the "other is my "DIC" (Driver Information Center) out of a 90 Grand Prix. Good luck on the 7730 harness it was a piece of cake compared to these two projects. Mike

I am interested in the DIC... Heh, that sounded almost like "I like the DIC". BAAAAAADDDD...

Any info you can provide on it would be spectacular.

What kind of info can I supply? If I get everything together in the morning I will test drive and decide if it stays or if it go's. I have had a problem getting gas mileage function to work, thought because I was running 7730 ECM I would have it made (90 Grand Prix ran a 7727 same ECM just mounted in the engine bay in a weather proof housing. Recently had Ryan (GMTuner) reprogram with $A1 from a W body car rather than the typical Y body program. So soon I will know. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Mike

i was thinking s10 in the back of my head...looks cool.

------------------
First LX9 Fiero GT, 1987 | My Fiero Fuel Economy | MPG Display for OBD I
Youtube Videos of My GT | 87 GT Inside Test Run | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 01
3500 Fiero GT Test Run 02 | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 03 | 3500 Fiero GT Test Run 04
If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem
Fiero's are people too. We pay just as much attention to them, if not more than our loved ones
screw paying those bastards. im not going to become rich by paying for things.....

quote Originally posted by mswenson289: I agree somewhat but you can change it alot attached is a pic of the dash i am working on it has the bright green VFD. By the way these are not the colors i settled for but the ones I chose. Sorry so blurry. Mike

For the record, so as others do not think you changed the whole display, the only green displays on this dash is the speed and odometer - the gage displays on the sides are the original color.

[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 04-04-2009).]

quote Originally posted by americasfuture2k: dang marvin, you shot my idea down. *tear* the truth hurts sometimes...

Don't let me discourage you from experimenting. If you already have access to a VFD that you would like to use, gels are cheap. You may even be able to scrounge scraps free from a local theater. While a VFD may look predominantly green, it's possible that it produces "enough" light for your purposes in other regions of the spectrum. Just don't expect to produce a bright, deep, deep red.

quote Originally posted by Mickey_Moose: For the record, so as others do not think you changed the whole display, the only green displays on this dash is the speed and odometer - the gage displays on the sides are the original color.

To modify the record both speedo and gauges are the same green display only using different filters The original from the factory had a green filter on the speedo to enhance the green and a blue to change the green to a blue tint. I used a different blue to make more blue. And in the gel pacs I found a red that would make it a dark red it was not the color that I desired I was trying (and damn close) to match the newer style Pontiac radio. The dark red also seemed to make it blurry not real crisp.
The gel pack I sampled from was a company called roscolux http://www.rosco.com/us/filters/roscolux.asp
Mike

quote Originally posted by mswenson289: The dark red also seemed to make it blurry not real crisp.

That's a limitation of human eyes. The eye's optimum focus point for red (long wavelength) light is not the same as for shorter (green or blue) wavelengths. That's why you seldom see multiple colors used in aircraft instrument panels, for example, and it's another good reason to stick with yellow or green.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 04-05-2009).]

Well I got to test her today and the software resolved the issue with the mpg readings on the "DIC" so for the time it stays till I get tired of it anyway. Marvin that makes sense on the red and the wavelength. I knew I wanted to change the display colors and if presented with just a couple it would have been a no brainer but with a couple hundred it took hours to sort thru them. The speedo color I ended up picking was a #25 called orange red looking at it i would have thought a lot redder but ended up orange' ish like the newer Pontiac radios. Keep in mind that if using a tinted bezel to test with that as well it effects final color as well.
Mike

quote Originally posted by mswenson289: To modify the record both speedo and gauges are the same green display only using different filters The original from the factory had a green filter on the speedo to enhance the green and a blue to change the green to a blue tint. I used a different blue to make more blue. And in the gel pacs I found a red that would make it a dark red it was not the color that I desired I was trying (and damn close) to match the newer style Pontiac radio. The dark red also seemed to make it blurry not real crisp. The gel pack I sampled from was a company called roscolux http://www.rosco.com/us/filters/roscolux.asp Mike

While this is true for this display, the Cavalier displays (as are most other ones) are green without any kind of filters - so changing the color is not so simple.

Ideally if a person wanted custom colors you would have to go with the backlit LCD type dashes (Corvette, TransAm GTA) - these displays use a LCD that turns clear to illuminate the digits. The color comes from plastic card behind the LCD that has the different colors (semi transparent) printed on it - so if you paint the card with different colors, you can make these display whatever color you want (even change the tach red line).