94Z28WP

Why haven't you guys just tried unplugging the small black plug that goes to the on/off switch then use a small piece of wire to jump the two connections on the plug? You wouldn't have to cut up any of the wires that came with the overlays... I would think that way, they would be on all the time.. If you have the overlays wired correctly, it will go on and off with your headlight switch.

Z95m6

I tried that 94z28wp, but it doesn't work. Its not a constant switch all you have to do is touch the 2 on off wires together and the lights will come on then you can unhook the 2 on off wires and the lights will stay on. I believe its a momentary switch, the switch only activates for a few seconds. It does no good to connect the two wires on the switch because the lights won't work. Been there done that. I believe the only way to fix it would be to get a diff, black box/inverter.

silv3rsw33t

Any luck on getting this wired up yet?

-Travis

gt_biker13

I have just recieved the exact same overlays as you Z95M6. Im goint to assume you didnt find a way to get rid of the on/ off swich, so where did you hide it so its out of the way and still has easy access? And what guide did you use for the install? I love your car BTW

Z95m6

I haven't figured a way to wire it up with out the on/off switch i believe the only way it could be done is to get a diff inverter. Cutting the wires and splicing them together does not work Brent has a guide on white face gauge installs. Also i highly recommend you cut out the SES light, and trip odometer black sections out of your old cluster and stick it on top of your new overlay. Look at the pic of mine vs how yours looks. There is a world of diff. As for mounting the on/off switch i put it on the bottom of the steering column. Just about even with the turn signal lever and cruise control lever but put it directly on the bottom if that makes sense. No one can see it. I also like that i can have the headlights on during the day or evening and not have the gauges lit up. Its just more wear and tear on the gauges. I don't know if they can burn out or not. I don't want to find out or i will have to buy a new cluster again. If you have any problem's pm me and i'll try to help you. You'll love them. A damn good mod for $30 shipped.

Silvershark

The switch should be easily bypassed. Just cut the switch out and tap the wires into your headlight system. If they just have an on/off switch this should be fairly easy to get around. I will ask my wife to get me these gauge overlays for X-mas so I can install them with a tutorial on how to bypass the lame switch.

Btw, I am an electrician so I know its possible. However with out seeing the gauge setup I do not want to explain how to bypass it.

gt_biker13

That would be awesome. Ill wait to install them then.

Z95m6

Silvershark if you can figure it out that would be awesome. I have a picture of the gauges layed out on the last page of my sig. There are only 2 wires that plug into the gauge over lay and run down to the "inverter" box at least thats what i think it is. Then there is a power and ground wire coming out of the box. Then lastly there are 2 wires that come out of the box and have plug to plug the on/off switch into. I tried cutting these two wires and splicing them together but that does nothing. The gauges won't come on until you supply them with power and then touch the on/off wires together. After they are on you can pull the on/off wires apart and the gauges stay lit. Then once you touch the wires back together they go off. I think its whats called a momentary switch. I'm not an electrician though. I believe the only way these can be wired up is with a diff. inverter box but i hope you tell me i'm wrong.

Silvershark

Ok, I noticed how cheap these gauges were on ebay so I just went ahead and purchased them and told my wife that she could count these gauges as a present. Since my camaro is out in the cold and the engine/tranny etc is in the garage I will not actually install these in my camaro until spring. However, Once I recieve them I am going to plug them into my truck's 14v power source and see exactly how these are wired. If it is a momentary switch, you can bypass the switch and the inverter and just crimp some wire extensions onto the wires that come out the gauges themselves and then tap them into your lighting system. However, again without looking at them I would not suggest it.

I will keep you guys updated. Hopefully you will know how to do it by friday. Since I imagine they take a couple days to ship.

Z95m6

I'm not doubting you Silvershark i would love for you to figure this out so they work like factory. Don't you need the inverter. What does the inverter do. I thought it was essential for gauges to work.

Silvershark

Depending on the inverters purpose it can do many things. However, An inverter changes DC voltage, nearly always from batteries, into standard household AC voltage so that it can be used by common tools and appliances.

The most common battery voltage inputs for inverters are 12, 24, and 48 volts DC.

An inverter takes the DC input and runs it into a pair (or more) of power switching transistors. By rapidly turning these transistors on and off, and feeding opposite sides of a transformer, it makes the transformer think it is getting AC. The transformer changes this 12, 24, or 48 volts "alternating DC" into 115 volts AC at the output.

A converter does just the opposite.

ZRatedLS1

i bought mine about 9 month's ago. they no longer light up and the Bright Light indicator doesn't line up with the original face. mine are for an LS1 though. i hope you guys have better luck than i did.

Silvershark

z95m6: I checked out your webpage. Its near impossible to see what the black box does without opening it. I will check it out when I get mine. Also, what is that blueish looking strip in the picture that is located and attached under/near the gauge cluster? Is that the lighting source? On a truck I had all I had to do was remove the stock cluster and put the white overlay in its place. No extra lighting source was needed. However, I know you can also change out the lights behind the cluster to blue leds, or whatever you want if you really were worried about the light that the kit comes with burning out.

Z95m6

The Blueish green thing is the on/off switch. The inverter box i don't think was made to come apart. I don't think it had any screws on it. That doesn't mean it can't be taken apart. As to your part about adding lights blue lights. It really won't work with these reverse glow gauge sets. The new overlays have a super thick black part glued on the back of them that contains the electronics to light up the gauges. This extra thick black part pretty much prevents any light from the factory lights in the dash from making it through. I guess what i'm getting at is with the factory gauge lights on an the reverse glow gauges turned off you can hardly see the gauges at all at night. The needles still light up but you can't see the numbers until you turn on the reverse glow gauges.

Silvershark

So I assume you did not remove your stock overlay? How is the lighting source hooked into the gauges to allow them to glow? I am very curious how they light these gauges up.