I'm curious what you guys think of changing the black faces to white gauges in the 240z?

I'm thinking of buying a spare set of gauges to do it to so that i can change back at a later stage.

The easier to read gauges and blue bulbs would be easier than the black with green lights but it's just not a very period correct thing at the same time.

I've attached the gauge set so anyone can download them here and try it out. :classic:

guages.zip

I actually voted before seeing the pics.They look nice. SHUWEET!

You'll get a lot of opinions, and most probably won't match this one, but I don't like the looks of white gauges in a S30.

I'll go with brighter bulbs, maybe even LED's if Will and Dave come up with something good.(they were working on something I think, but haven't heard much about it in the last couple of months)

In the mean time, I can live with the stock set up, with the brightness turned all the way up.

I vote no, on several counts.

1. I don't think they'd suit the car, but that's just my opinion.

2. Blue light = bad idea. This comes down to the basics of how your eyes operate. I can't remember the exact reasoning off the top of my head, but basicaly your eyes will take longer to readjust to the low light conditions when driving at night after looking at the blue light. Now red is a better option as it's picked up by a different type of "sensor" in the eye that can quickly adjust to the varying light levels (if someone wants to correct any of that or give a more technical description, feel free).

3. Big white faces lit up with bright blue lights = extra bad idea.

Steve Graber did those for his 250GTO replica. I guess the Ferrari had white faced gauges. I started work on a metric scale conversion, but never finished it off. Got a bit busy... Still have the psd file somewhere though.

Old vintage cars used to have white faced gauges, then they switched to black. Now some new cars have white gauges again. Its just a styling trend I guess.

You dont want them too bright, as it will make it more difficult to see down the road at night time, as your eyes will adjust to the ambient (brighter) brightness.

(And its Gauge not Guage)

i kinda dig 'em, but i think i'm gonna stick to black (with possibly LEDs....)

i think it depends on the colour interior and stuff like that...i was thinking of doing them in my car over the next holidays as the car is kinda lacking a light colour up the front of zed with a cream interior but then i wasn't sure what colour leds to do as a brighter green makes sense (since my car is green) but i'm not a fan and then theres the reasons of it being to bright and uneven where as black kinda hides that. i dont think the stock ones are bright enough at times (well most of the time).

if i had a silver car i'd go with orange like all the euro cars, red sounds like it would look pretty cool in a red car and if you get the white strip on the side of your car i say do it but yeah i'd do it to a spare set, and you have to design/make the faces yourself, no stealing someone elses

Heres what they look like in a car.

<img src="http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8015" width="600px">

and you have to design/make the faces yourself, no stealing someone elses

Steve has put his up on his site for people to use free of charge. You can also buy ones printed on UV resistant PVC, which are often on ebay.

they look great, i'm getting some!

I'm curious what you guys think of changing the black faces to white guages in the 240z?

I'm thinking of buying a spare set of guages to do it to so that i can change back at a later stage.

The easier to read guages and blue bulbs would be easier than the black with green lights but it's just not a very period correct thing at the same time.

I've attached the guage set so anyone can download them here and try it out. :classic:

Gavin, as usual your good taste is again present....JUST DO IT ! They look great!!! I've also installed the white face overlays and I think they look far better than the original black faces. Easier to read for sure. Some people may think they are not appropriate but I think they give the car a bit more of a vintage look...like alot of the early sports cars that came with the white faced Smith gauges.

yeah i might give it a try first i need a spare set though. As long as it can be reversed at a later stage I'm happy with any mod. White faces with green lights would have to look cool too.

I was just trying to see what other purists thought of the idea. For me it seems a little ricey but i really like the look of Autometer gauges in a Z however i don't have the $$$ right now for those.

PS thanks for the typo correction Mr C I keep doing it bad habbit.