Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Aesthetics Anyone else a tad unhappy w/their LED needle mod?

Well I installed the #74 no base red LED's into the 5 locations on my SVT cluster to try to brighten the needles(using the stock SVT needles). After installing them I thought it would have looked a lot better but I am kind of disappointed. Not much brighter if at all brighter than stock. I was thinking about buying the glow needle kit from import intelligence but the price was a little crazy. I tried to get the pics to look as realistic to how they actually look in person and I think I captured it. The first pics I took came out w/ the needles looking extremely bright, nowhere near how it looks in person (still getting used to this new cam). It seems that w/ digicam's if not on the correct setting it will make the needles look WAY brighter then they really are. I guess I did not buy the I.I. needle kit b/c it's hard to tell how accurate the lighting is in those pics. Anyone else expecting a little more from the LED's as well or am I forgetting something?

The specs on the LED's I used are:

12v, 18~22 (current draw), 5600mcd, 626peak wavelength, 55deg viewing angle




I was messing around w/ the inverter in this pic so thats why the tach is brighter

im still waiting on my LEDS to arrive, so we'll see. I don't have SVT gauges but I have the normal ones on Green, I think they'll look a litlte better but I have no way of knowing until at least wednesday to see if they are what they should be.

even those pics actually look a little brighter than how they look in person I mean it was not an expensive mod at all but I was really hoping for results like this:

But remember the I.I needle kits have the leds inside the actual needle and you also have to wire it.