Technical how do you remove this

[nay27uk]

Can anyone guide me on how you remove them little black headless screw things. (SEE PICTURE)

 

[T14086]

Whats on other side? Is it a rivet? If so carefully drill it out I reckon but mark/center punch it first.

 

[HP]

There's always the Almighty Dremel to take the head off, if it's a rivet.

 

[cm246]

why you want to remove it? if you want it to be removed for the white dials just stick the paper on it you dont have to remove it

 

[nay27uk]

thanks all i cant see what is on the other side its in a deep hole. cm246 it is for the white dials but how the heck can i scan it with the needle on when i print it off i will have a picture of a needle that i dont want ther

 

[alexGS]

I think if it was me, I'd edit out the needle in Photoshop. Easy to use the rubber stamp tool, since it's not overshadowing the gauge markings. Better than risking damage of the thin aluminium trying to get those rivets out.

By the way I have grave concerns about what non-black dials will look like at night - the front-lighting is going to illuminate the whole dial face instead of just the markings. I've probably got Chas on my side when I question the wisdom of large bright objects in the instrument cluster. Maybe I'm getting old...

I have an idea... UV LEDs with the standard dials, should make the white numbers 'glow'...

Oh, and do you think you've got enough tape measures?

-Alex

 

[cm246]

hello there mate right i havent thought about the needle because when i did mine i had a spare dial unit wich i destroyed. I will have a look if i can find the scanned images of mine, but also there are some on the forum site as well see the white dials thread there is a link.

regards christos

 

[nay27uk]

Thanks alex yes im intending on using ultra bright blue led's for all the interia lighting needs so lighting should be no problem.
cm246 thanks for the help, i would use the pictures that are on the forum but i have a mk1 uno and the picturtes on here are for the mk2 so im trying to do my mk1 ones so i can post up the pictures for other mk1 owners.
I have noted just for informations sake that if you set up your scanner to scan the image inverse it actualy scans it white anyway no messing about in photoshop with layers, all you have to do is add your personal touches

 

[Chas Uno]

By the way I have grave concerns about what non-black dials will look like at night - the front-lighting is going to illuminate the whole dial face instead of just the markings. I've probably got Chas on my side when I question the wisdom of large bright objects in the instrument cluster. Maybe I'm getting old...-Alex

Yup, I'm on your side Alex. Personally I'm not a fan of white dials, I just don't like the look of them. Though a lot of modern cars have them fitted as standard, they are designed to be lighted differently compared with black dials so as not to be over bright and therefore not distracting to the driver.

Fitting white dials to cars that originally had black dials can cause them to be too bright - white is more reflective than black obviously. Some reduction in instrument panel illumination maybe needed, but even then that's unlikely to happen with the current rage of fitting high intensity LED's everywhere... But for those that really want white dials, well, it's all down to taste I guess.

Me, I LIKE the retro feel of having black dials! As white dials are becoming commonplace (everyone has them - yawn!), I like the fact that I have 'old skool' black dials that are more individual Plus, if you change the old bulbs for new in the instrument cluster it will look so much better for it.

I wonder how long it will be before everyone will want 'black dial' kits?!!!!!

 

[alexGS]

Chas,
I knew I could count on you...

My favourite instrument panel was my Lancia Thema's (as below) - six rather elegant gauges telling you everything that you didn't really need to know. The black panel was made of translucent material, so the numbers were back-lit. As if that wasn't enough, the whole cluster was also front-lit like the Uno's. I counted nine bulbs just for the illumination...

I changed my Uno Turbo, on a bit of a whim, so that the instruments light up in red. I removed the green strip at the top of the cluster, and put onto the bulbs those red silicone caps that you can buy. It worked perfectly - the needles show up particularly well (being red/orange) and I can still read the odometer easily. At the same time, red is thought to be less interfering with night vision (and, photographic darkrooms are lit in red, so that tells us something about the intensity of red light being low).

There are actually all sorts of excuses; one of my others was that red is the colour of passion and love, which is what I want to be with me when driving my Uno Turbo.

I then went on to change the heater controls so that they also light up in red and, err, red (instead of green and red, not a complete success there), and the clock which also looks great in red.

I drove a BMW 525 recently and noticed that the dials light up in red as standard, so possibly I'm not the only one that thinks it works well But yes, black dials all the way - with red numbers!

-Alex