okay i was wondering if anyone know if the white ones from nissan snetra i believe(b13) are or can be switched with for example p11(1999+ g20s) neddles???i mean if they weight the same with it mean they will register the same????anyone experieced this?

Just curious, but why would you want to change them? What do the G20 needles look like?

well i was thinkin about some sentra white ones....mine are red but found some kit that would make the red ones look dope so im happy with this actually now ;0p

You can't take the needles out without f-ing something up. I tried taking the needles off a while ago and it never worked right again. Learn for my mistake and don't try it.

i took off my needles when i installed my gauges, the rpm was off by about 300 rpm too so now it shows the right rpm. just turns off clockwise and snaps on.

could you paint them instead of switching them out?

i ran a red sharpie over mine, it works.

Sure you could paint them... that's what I did (which is why I asked gEE in the first place why he wanted to change them out).

Here's some happy snaps I took of them for everyone... sorry they're not better quality pics but I was in a hurry. They look better in person than in the pics.

http://www.sr20forum.com/img/data/500/medium/2005-05-29_002.JPG

http://www.sr20forum.com/img/data/500/medium/2005-05-29_019.JPG

Here's what I used to color them...

http://www.sr20forum.com/img/data/500/medium/2005-06-25_020.JPG

It's Clear Red Acrylic from Tamiya. I picked it up from my local Hobby store. :biggthump

Oh one more thing... prep work is the key with doing this. If I had to do it over again I would take more time with it. I would mask off behind the needle and sand the needles down gently between coats of the clear red acrylic. It came out good and I'm happy with it, but you can tell if you look long enough at it that it wasn't factory OEM. With proper care, you wouldn't be able to tell.

The reason I painted them is for two reasons... just by painting the red needles I can see them a LOT easier at a glance. The second reason is so that they'll match the aftermarket gauges I'm planning on getting once I boost.

http://www.defi-shop.com/product/bf/images/df04401.jpg

They should match nicely I think...

so when you were prepping the needles, you didnt take them off. or you just worked on them while still connected to the cluster? i want to do mine.

I just worked on them while they were on the cluster. You only need to paint the top and sides... there's no need to paint the underside of the needle. I did take apart my cluster to a fair degree when I had it out and I don't see much point in trying to remove the needles if you're just painting them. In fact, I would think taking them off the cluster would create more problems than solve.

Really I spent very little time on mine. I didn't mask off the cluster like I should of and I didn't sand down the needles in between coats. I also didn't take long enough for the paint to dry properly between coats. I was in a hurry and I should of spent more time on it. That's unusual for me because I normally take all the time I need when I work on a project. Even with hurrying though they came out well. They could be factory OEM looking though with just a little more prep work.

If I were to do it again, I would do the following...

1) Mask off the whole cluster with paper and painters tape (the blue tape you can by in the paint section of Lowes or Homedepot).

2) I would then come up with a block of wood or something else that you can fit between the needle and the gauge. That way you can press on the needle while sanding it without putting undo strain on the needle assembly.

3) coat - sand - coat - sand - ect. The trick is getting enough of the clear red acrylic to create a uniform red color without putting on too much and making it too dark when it's backlit. Make sure to use a very gentle sandpaper grit.

One thing I found that worked pretty well for me was to use a flashlight behind the needle to simulate what the dash bulbs would do. It worked well. By doing this, it allowed me to really see where I needed to add more paint. If I had taken the time to sand between coats my paint job would be totally even. As it turned out, I think I did a pretty good job even without sanding.

The only thing I don't like about this mod is that because I didn't sand between coats and could only adjust how even the color was by adding more paint, the paint is a little too thick on the underside of the needle. This causes the needle to stick to the needle rest on the gauge cluster when it gets really hot out sometimes. I don't notice it on my speedo or the gas gauge, but I do notice it on the coolant temp needle and sometimes on the tach. I have to tap the cluster a few times to get it to unstick. This is due to a little too thick of a coat on the needle at the needle rest point (the little prong that supports the needle when it's at rest). Sanding between coats would fix this annoyance.

I think this mod is great... it costs under $10 for all your supplies and it's a fun weekend afternoon project that's not that involved so you can relax and enjoy working on your car.