what kind of reflective red paint are you thinking of? if you use fluorescent paint it should work with the UV bulbs.haha, ya sorry to dig up an old one. But I just found it and did the modifications last week.
You painted your needles, right? I just replaced the bulbs with red ones and cut out the blue films. It looks pretty good at night, but in the evening they don't light up very much, and in the day I can't even tell that they are supposed to be red. I'm thinking reflective red paint and UV bulbs is the way to go. Any suggestions?
and I've done the red bulb mod long ago and it worked too. i thought it was ok for a while but got sick of seeing the entire cluster glow red from those bulbs so thats why i went with the white led numbers/marks and fluorescent needles. it is much better