Reflector Housing Rebuild
Porsche 944s seem to have some common problems that everyone who owns these cars share. One of those problems is your instrument gauge cluster may be extremely dim. This is due to the reflective coating in the gauge cluster reflector housing deteriorating. It was important for me to resolve this problem because driving at night I could BARELY read my instruments. I would often times find myself cruising at 80+ mph due to not being able to see my speed with my peripheral vision.
Unlike modern cars that have backlit gauges, the Porsche 944 uses light bulbs in the gauge cluster, that shine through a kind of tunnel coated in a metallic finish, and this light is finally redirected towards the front of the gauges. Replacing the reflector housing itself with a new Porsche part can cost nearly $200 (Porsche part #944 641 941 04).
There are cheaper ways of doing this. One common method that many people use is taping aluminum foil under the reflectors. I was not sure this method would hold up very long, especially in the Texas heat, due to the tape pealing off.
I found a $20 kit from www.9xauto.com which includes new reflector material (looks to me just like replacement side view mirror cut-to-shape replacements, and some kind of "space age" mylar (which to me looks just like some bulk black vinyl sticker material). Anyway, $20 isn't too bad.
Here is a description of their kit from their web site:
Illumination repair kit. 100'S sold! Not too many people know how beautiful a 944 VDO cluster panel could be at night. Looking on their dark-lit panel, people wonder- "Why did Porsche produce such garbage?" Well...they didn't. The 944 VDO cluster panel has three optical-elements, which control the ambient light inside the cluster. The glazing on the elements has faded and cracked in 90% of 944/968 cars. As a result, the elements are no longer capable of transferring light correctly, making the panel unreasonably dark. 9xauto’s repair kit will address all these problems by re-facing these optical elements with proper material and seal the light inside. However, you must remove the cluster to work on it. No paint or disassembly of the cluster will be required. You need to have heavy-duty scissors, a sharp blade, and a few drops of epoxy cement. The rest will be supplied in the kit. Step by step instructions are enclosed.
The instructions for their kit can be viewed by clicking this link.
Here you can see some examples of the deterioration of the reflectors. My two spare gauge clusters as well as the one I run in the car were all deteriorated. I'm sure most everyone's clusters look like this, unless you have a super low mileage car that spent most of its life in a garage out of the sun. Here I have cut the reflector material from the kit to the shape of the optical reflectors.Note that I have also removed all of the old reflector material off the old reflector housing. I did this by using fingernail polish remover and paper towels. Take your time and be careful. Try not to touch the inside of the reflector housing or get any of the metal flakes in there. Use some square nose pliers to bend the reflectors to match the angle of the bend on your old optical reflectors. Then, use some Krazy Glue to mount the reflectors to the housing. Trim the mylar covering to allow it to overlap. This keeps the light in better, and also keeps your new reflectors in place. If I were to do it over again, I would have cut larger pieces, as I've noticed in some places they have started to pull up from the surface. When I put everything back together, I was amazed at what a difference it made! After making this modification you will not know how you lived without it!
