I receive this same question quite often, “How do I get red needles for my gauges?” And about a paragraph of text explains the process quite well. It’s really not very hard. But after typing out the same thing for the 50th time, I decided I could do better. So here ya go! How to paint gauge needles. It’s not tricky, but it is a bit tedious.
Remove the White Paint
Yeah. That’s right. I’m advising you to take a knife to your delicate needles. Really, it’s quite safe. Just scrape very carefully. Use the edge of the blade rather than the point. Do not gouge the plastic. If you make a gouge, you will need to sand it out with some 800-1000 grit sandpaper.
For the blade, I like a #2 straight edge blade. It’s long and sharp. Perfect for removing paint. You can usually find X-acto knives near the models in your local hobby store.
Everything has to go. All traces of white must be removed. You will be able to see the white paint under the needle center. It’s funny how the angles work.
Not too bad eh? A needle can be done in about 5 minutes. Just scrape softly. Nothing to it. Now repeat for the other 4 needles.
Painting the Needles
Supplies you will need:
- Model paint.
- A fine art brush.
Treat yourself. Spend $10 on this project. You’re going to be looking at these needles for a long time, possibly. You want to do it right. Don’t settle for the old and crusty model paint in your drawer. Also, you deserve better than one of those horrible white-handled Testors brushes. A good brush and fresh paint will make this a 30 minute project. A poor brush will make this a 4 hour pain-fest.
Good brushes can be found in the art section in your local hobby store. This is usually a few aisles over from where they keep the model paint. The one I used for this tutorial is a 3/0 spotter. It is fine, but not too pointy. Just perfect for this project.
This is the difference between a good brush and a poor one. The ones on the top are good art brushes and cost about $3-5 each. The wide one is about 5 years old. It still paints a fine line and isn’t shedding. The ones on the bottom are not good brushes. They cost about $2-3 each.
This stuff is easy to find, works well on most plastics, and covers well. And the red color is just about perfect. A bottle should be under $2. And you can wash acrylic out your brush in the sink. I sometimes use rubbing alcohol to get brushes completely clean.
Go slow. Don’t glob the paint on. But at the same time, don’t paint too thin a coat. You want 2-3 fairly thick coats. That way it will look opaque when viewed from the front.
While painting, keep checking your work from the front. Pay close attention to the edges. If you make a mistake, you can wipe the paint off before it dries and start again.
There’s one coat. Not too thick, not gloppy, and not thin. From the front, there are some thin spots visible. They will be taken care of by a 2nd coat of paint. And once that 2nd coat is dry, you can fix any small imperfections in the edges.
Ta-da! Nothing to it. Really, this is a 30 minute job. It might take a bit longer due to paint drying time, but it shouldn’t be that much effort. Not a tricky job at all. Just a little careful work and you too can have red gauge needles.
Needles in Action
If you get stuck or have any questions about the process, just leave a comment below. I’ll try to help in any way I can.
pure dash art.
Thank you sir!
I went a little bit more lowtech but I’m equally happy with the results. I used acetone on a napkin to remove the old paint, being careful to not puddle any acetone on plastic (basically just wiping). Comes off in a cinch. Then I used fingernail paint (cheap, plenty of color options). Took a couple of tries to get it nice and even – if I had thinned it out a little it would have helped – but hey, more acetone and it wipes right off when wet.
I’m glad it worked for you, but that is not something I’d ever recommend to anyone. Acetone melts clear plastic. Let me say that again…
Acetone MELTS clear plastic. Do not use it on your gauge needles.
I know this from years of experience modifying small, plastic, transforming robots. That is maybe the lamest thing one could ever boast about, but it has taught me a lot. And one thing I have learned is how aggressive acetone is. Did you know that a few hours of soaking will remove ALL the paint from a Hot Wheels car? Yup. And a single swipe on a plastic toy jet canopy will assure that it is never translucent again. It becomes opaque.
So. You got very lucky. Glad it worked for ya. But acetone and clear plastic should never be mixed.
I will say I had an extra gauge cluster to pull needles from which is why I attempted such a bold method. Plus there’s also the potential for “hazing”, like when you use CA on clear plastic – but I was surprised by resistant the needle was, makes me almost wonder if it’s not polished acrylic instead of ABS. And I certainly don’t want to take responsibility for messing up your needles.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-892H_koVMdM/ULRywyvKYEI/AAAAAAAAPBw/jlIWkQC9FvE/s1152/IMG_20121127_025734.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-RMFhLiKSBXw/ULRyC1XKmiI/AAAAAAAAPBY/rQsZnGt6uaw/s1152/IMG_20121127_025224.jpg
.. also used a little red gel filter (which does melt with superglue, so make sure your glue application is far from the gauge).
That turned out very nice and VERY even. Well done sir!
Polished acrylic? Hmmm. Now you have me wondering exactly what they’re made of.
I used a paint thinner with no problems on my needles. That way you wont have to worry too much about getting the plastic needles ruined.
Thank you so much for this post! I’ve been thinking about doing this for ages…
By the way, if you still have the needles off, would you be able to give the length and width of the pin the needle attaches with? I’m the proud new owner of a 3D printer and I’m trying to print up a set of custom needles to mimic the centerless ones found in a Ferrari 328. If I’m sucessful, I’ll send you a few if you want
Sorry for not getting back to you right away. I meant to and then got busy with gauge orders.
For the little center stub that the needle connects with:
NA 3.75mm diameter and about 5mm length.
And note that the tach and speedo center pins are different diameters. The studs in the needles are the same though, one just has a bigger hole than the other.
NB: 3mm diameter and 9mm length.
When putting back the needle does the car have to be running so the setting (RPM, Oil pressure and Temp) are accurate? Thanks
Yes. It’s just like changing out gauge faces at that point. You have to re-set the needles.
http://revlimiter.net/mods/gauge_install.php#needles
That link will have all the info you need.
I’ve read on Miata.net that the white paint on the back of the needles is necessary to reflect/carry the light through the needles for proper illumination. Earlier I decided to just try it with several coats of red Sharpie ink, installed it, and the needles didn’t illuminate at all. So what I’m left wondering is: would the white paint have helped? Or should I really just get the model paint and brush it on?
You really do need actual paint. Red paint will illuminate just as you see in the photos above. I didn’t create those with photoshop or anything.
Red Sharpie… that’s not really paint. It’s more like dye. That doesn’t give light much to bounce off of. You need a layer of paint.
And you need to apply the paint to the back. Painting the front and sides will result in invisible needles. The needles are clear plastic. The light shines down the shaft and bounces off the painted surface on the back.
It’s like $8 worth of stuff – $3 for the paint and 5 for the brush. Worth it.
I feel this is among the such a lot significant info for me.
And i am glad studying your article. But wanna observation
on some general things, The web site style is wonderful, the articles is
truly excellent : D. Good process, cheers
Would rubbing alcohol work to remove the original paint from the needles? Also, does anyone have any experience with changing the color of the actual gauge faces? I’ve seen other places that rubbing alcohol can be used to get the original gel colors off of the back but I want some more info if anyone knows anything.
[…] the how to paint your cluster needle write up i found How to Paint Gauge Needles — revlimiter.net […]
I have an aftermarket oil pressure gauge and tachometer I need to paint the needles on. My needles are white,which is fine in daylight,but at night they disappear. My problem is getting TO the needles;they’re sealed inside the gauges with crimped bezels. Anyone know of an easy way to do this?
[…] на красние, буду делать это по этому мануалу >>> How to Paint Gauge Needles — revlimiter.net выставлю фото и от […]
Thank you for posting this. As far as my application goes, just looking at them from inside the cab, the gauge needles in my 1995 Ford Bronco are four edged clear plastic with fluorescent paint on the top edge and clear on the bottom? So how do I keep the paint off the sides and keep it on the top edge?
Since I want to change the needles from red to white (actually they will be white with red tips) can I deduce that the paint procedure described above will work for me? I just ordered the Fighter series for my 2004. I can’t wait to get rid of the white faces and the glow red at night feature. I am looking forward to the installation, your instructions seem foolproof, and I be the fool now and then. I am still toying with the idea to keep my low fuel lite and maybe find a new spot for the high beam lite. Thanks for listening.
Frank Carr
The Mazdaspeed version of this car has different needles, how does one remove the red paint under the black cap? It’s sealed from the back and there’s no way to reach the red paint, I’m going for white needles, but it looks like I’ll end up having red around the needle cap…. Anyone tried this on the MSM?
The best way is to source a 99-00 cluster. Those came with white needles and they’re the most produced NB gauge cluster. You can probably find one on ebay for under $50 shipped.
Hope that helps!
I put the red paint tested with a light and when i put all in the needle was to dark at night and dint light up at night.did i use to much how many coats did you use..what paint did you use to light up the needle
Did you put the paint on TOP of the needle? If so… yeah, it’ll never light up again. Paint goes on the bottom side.
Not all needles have paint on the bottom BTW. For example, Toyota has fluorescent red/orange with white on top of that on the bottom of the needles,then white with fluorescent red painted over the white on the top off the needles. Light shines through them with no issues.
Hi there,
I recently purchased the sunstorm gauge for a MX5 ND2 (looks great and cant wait to install it). Do you know if i can paint these needles in my ND2? It looks different from the one in your blog. the white area is bordered by black. Just wondering if you happen to know before i go get the paint, brush and blade. thank you
Yes,I’m changing leds on my Tacoma,going with blue and red needles,do I need a red led behind my needle in order for it to shine at night? Or do I need a white led behind the needle?