The housing LED housing and related components. To cut out the approximate shapes you see in the 3rd picture, I used a template to mark holes to be drilled, 3/16" or bigger. Then I used a dremel with a 1/8" carbide bur to cut out the shape, trying to stay tangent to all of the holes.
Since I had changed my design, it now meant that I had to locate the position for the new design. Fortunately I had already marked the panel but had not cut out the hole for the original lens. So I made a line through the center of the original markings and made a template for the new cutout which uses that line and an arc with the diameter of the instrument hole to get it lined up. From there I drilled my holes and used a cutoff wheel to cut that portion out.
The panel is slightly curved in that area and with the clamping pressure of the speedo/tach bracket, I was not confident that it would stay in place. So, I added a stud at the very bottom of the large center hole. Welding tip - steel will not stick to copper and copper is a great heat sink. I used some copper because the area where I was welding the stud was so small along with my stud fixture tool outlined earlier in the thread. It offered extra support to the steel and prevented me from burning through the edges of the panel. Where did I get the copper? In the plumbing section of the hardware store. I hammered it flat, gently as possible, then sanded it lightly.
Pretty much finished. A little filler and sanding, and paint remains.
I added the wires to the LEDs. I decided on Red/Green/Blue LEDs. Because they are RGB I went with red, green, and blue wires for the anodes (+) and black for the cathode (-). That will make them easy to identify for future plans. It is automotive TXL wire. I'm probably going to add something for strain relief so that the weight of the wires and vibration don't cause the LEDs to fail too soon. The voltage regulators for the turn and high beam indicators are on the far left of the panel in the 2nd picture. It will be rubber mounted to reduce vibration. I just need to add wiring to it. I'll wait until I have my wiring connectors here.
And, the magic! With just one light lit, it does bleed through the lens a little but it is not bad at all. It's not bad enough that I'm going to do anything about it.
Up next is to add wires to the regulator, some sort of strain relief for the LEDs, make the harness for the instrument panel, and then paint it.
