94 Mustang GT: Odometer fix and LED bulbs

At 226,000 miles, the odometer stopped working.  This was a serious nuisance for me, because I track all of my fuel, repairs,  scheduled service, everything using an app on my iPhone called Gas Cubby.  Since I got the car, I have 488 entries and $27,685 tracked since January 2009!  There is a great how-to video on youtube created by latemodel restoration on how to do the replacement.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k_DbsSxRg8

You can buy the replacement gears from a variety of different vendors.  I went right to eBay for mine.  They showed up a few days later.  I also ordered some replacement LED bulbs for the dashboard (set of 10).  There are only 5 bulbs in the dash cluster.  There are another two in the heater controls.  There are yet another two for the license plate illumination.  I wound up with one bulb left over, which was fine.  It's always nice to have a spare.  Here is a link to the bulbs:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150793635333?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I followed the youtube vid exactly and it didn't take long to have the odometer gears replaced.  The next step was to pull out the bulbs and put the new LED bulbs in there.  This can be a bit tricky because the new LED bulbs have a polarity to them.  There is two different ways to install them, and only one way will work.  I had to install them all, then plug the dash back in and turn the lights on.  then I found which ones I had installed incorrectly.  I pulled them, turned them around, and they all worked.  

I moved on to the heater controls.  I removed the shift boot and the trim for the radio.  This opened up a can of worms for me even before I got to remove the heater controls.  

The shift boot was pulling away from the trim, and the trim had pulled away from the bezel.  I had to unplug the cig lighter connections, and the shift knob so that I could get that in my hands.  I spent some time here and made some repairs.  

I also found that the vents had broken away from the console trim.  Once I had that in my hand (had to disconnect the radio), I needed to do some repairs here as well.  I employed some super glue and clamps to keep things in place while it cured.  Now I could get back to the heater controls.

I removed the torx screws that held in the heater controls.  I was able to pull the controls out enough to get my hand behind there and remove the bulbs.  I put the new ones in and hit the lights.  I had to rotate one of them because it didn't light up.  After rotating the bulb, it came to life.  I re-installed the heater controls.  After some time, I re-installed the trim for the radio with the vents.  Then re-installed shifter boot, shift knob and cig lighter connections.  

Finally I got to the license plate I opened the trunk and removed the retaining screws for the bulb casing.  It isn't a true phillips head screw.  It pushes in, which spreads the housing.  I was able to loosen it enough to get my fingers around the head and pull it out.  Then the rest of the retainer comes out.  the bulb housing twists to come out of the plastic outer housing.  I replaced the bulbs and re-installed everything.  Now the license plate bulbs were MUCH brighter!

So that was it!  The odometer works now, the dash bulbs are worlds better and the license plate bulbs have new life.  I wish I would have done this LED mod a long time ago. It was super easy and the dash looks worlds better!