How to make the "Si" logo on your gauge cluster glow

Courtesy of JoshuaVTEC from ClubSi.com

Here's what you'll need:

-Phillips head screwdriver
-Flathead screwdriver
-400 grit or higher sandpaper OR nail polish remover
-Your gauge cluster

It should be noted that the orange gauge needles are rather fragile and will break off easily if you man-handle them. A replacement from hparts.com is about 20 bucks, but if you're cautious,  you shouldn't even come close to breaking them.

Start by unscrewing the two screws, on the top underside of your outer bezel, in my case it's an aftermarket one



Next take the four Phillips  screws out of all four corners of the gauge cluster assembly. The entire assembly will simply pull out once you're done.



On the back of the cluster will be four wiring harnesses you will have to un-clip. There's two large blue ones, a small green one, and a small yellow one. The whole cluster will separate from the dash now.



Time to take off the outer clear shell. On the bottom of the cluster is three clips, on the top of the cluster is four more. Use the flathead screwdriver if they give you trouble.




Next is the black outer bezel. Three clips on the bottom, four on the top.




Unscrew the light bulb/wire on the top of the cluster. It simply turns a quarter turn and pops right out.



Now pull off the gauge bezel overlay, in my case a carbon fiber CTR version. It is held on by the two small white nubs in the bottom two corners.



The cluster should look like this, and here is your victim: The fuel/temp gauge area



On the back of the cluster, right behind the fuel/temp gauge, is two sets of three Phillips screws. Remove them. Careful, the fuel/temp gauge will drop right out now.



You can set everthing else aside now, you should be left with just the fuel/temp gauge...



Flip the gauge over and find the area directly behind the "Si" logo. This is where you are going to use either the sandpaper or the nail polish remover to rub off the black coating. It will NOT rub off the red of the "Si" logo! That's the whole point



Grab your sandpaper or nail polish remover. I used some 400 grit sandpaper that can be bought for dirt cheap at any hardware store or Walmart. Use Home Depot, they're like the ricer emergency room... You want a MINIMUM of 400 grit, the higher the better!




Once you've sanded/nail polished off the area it should look like so....



You can hold it up to the light to make sure you're hitting the right area...



The sun makes for a good "tester" of how your logo will glow.



Then just do everything in reverse order to put the cluster back together and re-install it. Be sure to clean any greasy fingerprints off the clear plastic overlay!


And here is the finished product. The logo will glow whenever you have your parking lights or headlights on. It looks especially bad-ass at night.



That's it, you're done. One small, cheap, simple mod and there ARE other variations of this. You  can rig it up to glow when your VTEC engages; You can sand down the black part in varying degrees to how you like the logo to shine, etc etc.

*on a side note, don't bother sanding behind ALL your lettering/numbering on your gauges...it looks like ass!