65 Barracuda dim dash lights - no gas gauge either

Putting a 65 Barracuda back together after 30yrs of non running driveway time. I cleaned all the board traces when the dash was out, and now have it put back together. Charging gauge works fine. Hi beam and oil lights work fine. All interior and exterior lights work fine. wiper fine, sprayer fine, cigar lighter and map lights all good. I tapped a line off "instrument lights" to supply aftermarket tach. That is bright enough. Dash lights DO adjust with dimmer knob.

Dash lights seem awfully dim. seriously, too dim to read! speedo cluster slighly brighter than gauge cluster side. AND Gas gauge does not work.

Could they be related? what could it be?

I put the send lead to ground....nothing, no needle movement.

Any insights?

View attachment 1715352862

The dash lights are dim on old a bodies even when they are working good. Make sure dash has a good ground.

I think the dash light bulb holders ground to the printed circuit board which in turn is grounded through the screws to the cluster housing. I have seen these screws corroded and not grounding the circuit board to the housing. This ground must be good as well as housing to car body. Then, are all the bulbs working? Yes, stock bulbs are dim, check them at night to condemn them..If you need more illumination you should consider LED replacements.

unrelated issues. i changed out the bulbs. in the same physical size, there #158 (3.38 watts), #1445 (1.94w)
also shown LEDs HELLA 921LED5K LED Miniature Bulb 12V; 1W; and HELLA 921LED65K LED Miniature Bulb 12V; 10W;

LIghting is better, but not real bright. Will the 10 watt LEDs work if I just install them without any other changes?
5 times the light? will it work correctly with factory dimmer knob on switch? I thought LEDs and dimmers were problematic

gas gauge? still no work-ee.

The leds I used are much brighter. If you leave one regular bulb in, the dimmer will work. It will provide enough load for the dimmer to operate. If your radio has a regular bulb, that should do it.

The leds don’t generate much heat, so you can probably go as bright as you can stand.

I put regular bulbs in the left side of my dash and leds in the right side. Quite a bit brighter. I used the three sided bulbs.