Written by: Dwayne Penner (Zilverado)

Many of you have been wondering how we can brighten our dash lights/gauges. Below is an example of a very simple and cheap fix - no additional lighting installed.   I did this during my recent camping trip (yes, while in the camp ground). All you need is some spray paint, tape and some screw/nut drivers.
 

What I did:

I removed the bazel and everything back until I could remove the gauge/light housing (simple). I unplugged the wiring harness from the back of the housing and removed it (I had to loosen the front of the dash pad to give more space - no problem).

I took the housing (kinda' cream colored) and masked off the light bulb holes and the gauge connector clips. I also masked off the holes in the "reflector" which sits in front of the gauges (black front with light blue back) to avoid paint from blowing through and painting the front (black) side of the reflector.

Now paint: I used a bumper chrome touch-up paint. It didn't take much. I gave it a couple of coats. Running of the paint is not critical since these parts are not visible once reinstalled.

Just a note. I first tried it with a cheaper metalic/chrome spraybomb (I think it was Rustolium). Well, to say the least, the color was not chrome as the lid suggested but a metallic silver - not good enough.

The results  (photos taken after dark, park lights on, but no interior cab lights. Shutter speed - 1 second in both pictures):
 

Before:

After:

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