So I posted a photo of my XR6 centre console after I'd done the clock mod, and another member mentioned that the LTD clock had better readability with the lighter coloured face, compared with the Fairmont one I had used.

I liked the idea of better readability, but the LTD had a bit too much chrome for my liking. I decided to swap the black bezel from the Fairmont clock onto an LTD one to get the best of both worlds.



After a while, the discussion turned to changing the backlight colours of certain interior items... Well I happened to have some SMD LEDs laying around, and a fair bit of spare time due to the COVID-19 lock-down, so I thought I may as well do some more modding.

Inside the clock, the backlighting consists of four SMD LEDs - two red in the centre, and two white on the outer.



Some soldering and cursing later, and the reds were swapped out for ultra blue!



And there we have it folks - custom XR clock (LTD clock, with a Fairmont outer bezel and custom XR colour scheme)



Yes, I realise it's a slightly different purple than the XR purple, but I can still do some more experimenting with colour combinations, and at least it's brighter and really easy to read now.



EDIT: It turns out that leaving the red in the centre and replacing the outer with ultra blue is perfect! It looks so much better in person than what it shows in the photo - the numbers are a stunning blue, and the increments and needles are red, with a slight purple on the edge that perfectly matches the ICC backlighting!

sooooo........ any hints on how a total novice should do it or should i post it to you

Well you remove the clock from the vehicle, then take off the outer bezel, then the clear plastic front, then the inner bezel, then the hands, then the face panel, then the white plastic insert (held on with clips either side) and the buttons, then you can remove the main circuit board...



Once you get that far, it would be ideal to have the tools for SMD soldering, but if you're good enough with a decent fine-tipped soldering iron and ceramic tweezers you can get away with it...

Observe the polarity marks on the LEDs you are going to remove, so that you can solder the new ones in the correct orientation (they are polarised). Gently heat one pad on the first LED while lifting up on the LED with your tweezers. Once that end lifts slightly, repeat at the other end so the LED comes off the board. Clean up the pads and apply a small amount of fresh solder. With the board supported in a third hand setup or other clamping device, position the new SMD LED of your choice over the pads with your tweezers, then gently heat one pad, and when the solder melts, apply the led (in the correct orientation) and let the solder cool. Heat the other pad and press the LED down, then remove heat while maintaining pressure until that pad cools.

Repeat with remaining LEDs, test that they all light up, then reassembly is reversal of disassembly.

That would probably be easier if you aren't experienced at soldering.

what you trying ta say willis??





i can burn anything with my trusty soldering iron................. especially the larger one

















wonder IF they sell in bulk.............. where the hell do you find ceramic tweezers

I get my SMDs in bulk from wish / ebay, same places I got the tweezers

https://www.ebay.com/p/1769215498

It's not too bad a job with some practice, but unless you have several clocks to waste I would practice on something else first one slip and jab in the wrong place and it's toast...

You're more than welcome to post it to me, but with this lockdown I have no idea when I would be able to send it back - nothing is open here

thanks for the link/ideas..... i can use some other pieces to practise removing the led's do have several spare Fairmont clocks tho

No problem at all you probably could use normal tweezers, but I imagine it being painfully hard to hold the LEDs without them dropping, and good luck ever finding it if you drop one on the floor

Have you seen how small the LEDs I use are?

There Tiny lol, 0203's or something like that. Hot air station makes them a little easier, Just dont have the air speed cranked too high or you watch components fly away i learnt that on a practice board.

Yeah I've seen a few people do that, melt and blow away all the components At least with a fine-tipped temperature controlled iron and a steady hand you can keep it pretty localised to the one component. I'm getting reasonably good at it now

no fine tipped temp controlled soldering iron here . . .. nor a steady hand






have seen em .... just didn't take much notice hmm def need the ceramics then

My hands aren't steady either until I've had a lot of caffeine or jager.




They do make it a lot easier

Changed my shifter surround today since the old one was a little bubbly - went to a blue LED in behind there too, so now everything is blue and red

won't be changing that one nor any other interior light to blue [except icc] ... so i'll leave that mod to you

I won't be using blue for any others, the rest are white - just wanted the entire dash and centre to match - there's a red indicator for what position the shifter is in, so the blue lighting up the gears it isn't in, makes it match the gauges and the clock