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I always liked the look of the 1984-1989 300ZX center gauge pods with the OIL and VOLTS sitting in little recessed windows and backilt by the cluster lighting, as opposed to the 350Z's with the words just silk-screened on the front of the cluster lid. I decided to modify my 2006 350Z GT to achieve that look. If you want to do something similar, you'll need to buy the oil & volts center gauge cluster from a 1984-1986 300ZX with analog gauges which had orange gauge faces. You can pick them up on ebay anywhere from $10 to $30 from either private sellers or salvage yards. You'll first start by removing your 350Z center console housing to get access to the triple gauge cluster. An excellent write-up can be found here:
You'll have to cut out a rectangle in the the 350Z cluster cover the same size as the one on the 300ZX cover. I tried but the results were not up to par so I ended up having a commercial sign lettering shop cut two 1/8" thick overlays in matte black acrylic. The texture and look is almost dead on to the factory plastic. I left my 350Z cover with them so that they could get the dimensions of the openings. I then used some two-part epoxy to secure them inside the cluster cover.
Custom made overlay:
The 300ZX cluster cover is held on by a couple of screws in the back and then secured by four snap tabs. Once the cover's removed, you'll have access to the OIL and VOLTS appliques which you will use in the 350Z cluster cover.
Remove OIL & VOLTS appliques from 300ZX cluster:
Place the appliques so that OIL & VOLTS are centered in the window. I used a pencil point soldering gun to tack weld the applique to the back of the cluster cover:
Finished overlays:
To backlight the appliques, carefully cut out (I used a Dremel with a small drill bit) the gauge pointer cover along the outer perimeter except for the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions. This will allow light from the pointer LED to illuminate the backside of the applique. I do not recommend removing the pointer needle as it will be difficult, although not impossible, to get the proper gauge readings.
Drilled out pointer cover:
You'll need to cut out and place an opaque piece of flat plastic over the cut out pointer cover. This will help diffuse the light. I did not take a picture, but I used a coffee can lid that was transluscent, but not see through. I used small dabs of two-part epoxy to hold it in place. After the epoxy dried, I used compressed air to gently blow the dust and plastic shavings off of the front of the gauges then re-assembled the modified cluster cover and lens back onto the cluster assembly.
Finished product:
I placed the cluster back into the dash and checked to make sure the gauges still worked and to see how well the backlighting looked. The lighting was not perfectly uniform because of the partially obstructed pointer cover but it's not objectionable.
Modified cluster back in place:
With headlights on:
All in all, I'm very pleased with the outcome. This is the way Nissan should have done it, in my opinion.
__________________ 2004 Honda CBR 600RR current 2009 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom current 2009 Subaru WRX - current 2011 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4 current 1975 Datsun Fairlady Z RHD Project 2004.5 Nissan 350Z (gone, but not forgotten) 2008.5 Nissan Titan(Goodbye my monster truck)
Thanks for the compliments. What can I say, I'm an old school guy at heart. I like my mods a little on the conservative side and I really wanted it to look OEM. The coupe de grace for me will be getting the 81-83 280ZX Turbo NACA duct driver's side hood scoop and passenger side air duct installed on my 350Z; pics will be forthcoming when it's done.
I know, this is "off topic". However, I need to find the vacuum boost guage routing information for my 1984 300ZX Turbo. Anyone, know where I can find this? My boost guage, is non-op, and I would like to trace this information down. Thanks
I know, this is "off topic". However, I need to find the vacuum boost guage routing information for my 1984 300ZX Turbo. Anyone, know where I can find this? My boost guage, is non-op, and I would like to trace this information down. Thanks
if you talking about the factory boost gauge, it's best to leave it alone and buy a boost gauge that actually works. my factory boost gauge reads about 8psi when i'm running 23psi. as far as info goes you can try these sites.
response to the wtf's. I was referring to the people doing the z led conversions and charging people money insted of just posting a diy. an off topic statement I know.
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Nismo.Alpine Type R.Rockford Fosgate.TC Customz
DIY: Z31 retro-look for OIL & VOLTS gauge pods
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