Want new dash lights ,LED?? & more

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wyoduster

wyoduster

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I hear tell that its possible to buy LED dash light bulbs for my 67 Barracuda rallye dash.. Yes? Where?
Got my gauges/dash out so nows the time to replace.
I need a speedometer cable also one with the clip .
:sign10:
 
I think it's also possible to get different colors. This is an upgrade well worth doing. Have you ever had to replace one of those little dash bulbs? Pain in the arse unless you remove the gauge pod. With an led you will NEVER have to replace it. Plus the power draw is waaaay lower,a huge plus. Less load on your charging system is always good.

There are also now specialty led's available for brake lights etc. Tecnology is expensive but wonderful!
 
The instrument panel lamps are bayonet type bulbs, numbers like 158 or 194. I've seen the LED clusters to use there. Here's what puzzles me though... The original bulb and bulb socket will go in turned 2 different ways since polarity doesn't matter.
Polarity does matter with LEDs. They wont work with reversed polarity. I assume those LED clusters come with a socket built on and include instructions for the user.
I went with a conventional type bulb but a more modern / brighter example. I dont have its number now. Member Slantsixdan can provide it if you like.
 
i have done a few swaps, easy and bright 194's light wont work? pull it out and put it back in the other way. they are polarity protected

superbrightlleds.com is resonably priced.

i did blue in my 78 shortbox but going to rip them out and redo them with a light green i think.
 
chrisf said:
i did blue in my 78 shortbox but going to rip them out and redo them with a light green i think.
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Doesn't the stock dash have blue covers over the lights? So your going to have to take the blue light covers out to change the color to green.
 
I did this in the duster about a year ago, tremendous difference, you can actualy read the guages clearly at night. I found some very inexpensive LEDs on ebay ($1.85 + free shipping) similar to these http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-X-...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories. Yeah they are from China but if you can stand the 3-4 week shipping they work quite well.

As for polarity goes, its trial and error if it doesnt work one way pull it out and turn it arround.

And YES you can dim them with the switch exactly the same as the standard bulbs should you need to.
 
I did the lights in my rallye dash with the LEDs. They are polarity protected and can be bought in a variety of colors. As mentioned there are blue lenses on the dash already so that`s something to take into consideration when choosing a bulb color. I just chose white and kept the blue lenses, some people remove the lenses to make the lights even brighter. They can be dimmed as usual. I think I bought mine from superbrightleds, about 40 dollars for an entire rallye dash.
 
A battery charger or a spare car battery will work.

Follow the light traces for the dash lights and see how they connect. apply 12v dc to the traces that connect the lights and they will light. Just don't hook the polarity up backwards, it won't hurt anything, but when you install the cluster into the dash none of the lights will light!:angry7:

These are also good for swapping out sidemarker lights, and other miniature lights! Great and easy mod to let your charging system catch it's breath!
 
i can get these they are from visionX they are a supplier to nasa,military and various race teams top quality stuff 360 degree lighting on them. 8.50 per bulb.

Norm
 
Who makes the led cluster light for brakes? They pop through the light hole and open up sort of unbrella like.
 
RustyDusty said:
A battery charger or a spare car battery will work.

Follow the light traces for the dash lights and see how they connect. apply 12v dc to the traces that connect the lights and they will light. Just don't hook the polarity up backwards, it won't hurt anything, but when you install the cluster into the dash none of the lights will light!:angry7:

These are also good for swapping out sidemarker lights, and other miniature lights! Great and easy mod to let your charging system catch it's breath!
Click to expand...
Ok does anyone have a picture of one being tested? or with arrows to the + & - hookups??:sign10:
 
Since you have the cluster out should be able to track the circut board to see which way the buld needs to go in. Then hook the wires from a battery to see if they all work.
 
Sylvania #2825 and I grounded each dash light to the dash- bright as heck now.
 
matthon said:
Sylvania #2825 and I grounded each dash light to the dash- bright as heck now.
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Thats probably the bulbs I used too. I purchased only 4 of them for the illumination bulbs in my rallye panel. Brighter indicator lamps really didn't make sense or justify the expense. Those 4 got new 194 bulbs.
 
I went and looked fishy. Nice link! Thanks! Led's are worth it. We changed almost every bulb here in our house over a 2 year period. My elec bill hasnt gone up inspite of the govt rubber stamping it every time my elec company want's more money. Heck they just signed themselves a 14% rate increase!
 
needsaresto said:
Who makes the led cluster light for brakes?
Click to expand...

Hold it; read this before you replace any exterior light bulbs with LEDs. It's not safe, no matter which "LED bulbs" you use. You might or might not get a ticket, but you'll very likely get in a crash. (search the linked page for LED retrofit if you want to skip down directly to that section).
 
Thanks for that eye opener Dan. I wonder how many know about this? It sure is news to me!


So it seems the stock reflector would be a big issue. What if you were to recoat the inside with something like electroplating or chrome in a can? Would it bring things up to a safe level?
 
Nope. The problem is basic: bulb-type lamps must use bulbs, because any other light source will not work correctly in them. It's like putting on somebody else's eyeglasses: no matter how good they look on your face, no matter how much you clean 'em and shine 'em, they're made for someone else's eyes and so you won't see properly. The same goes with putting the wrong kind of light source in a lamp designed to produce a particular light distribution (which is every exterior light on a car). Whether it's putting an "HID kit" in a halogen headlamp (see ) or putting "LED conversions" or "LED bulbs" in a brake light, turn signal, or marker light meant for a bulb, it just does not work safely or effectively.

To give a specific answer to your question about chrome: No. First off, most brake lights and turn signals made before the advent of window-clear lenses with jeweled reflectors don't have a specular (mirror-like) reflector. They have a diffuse (matte) reflector, like the "dull" side of aluminum foil. That's important; it helps spread the light evenly throughout the angles required to guarantee other drivers can see the signal properly no matter where they are located relative to your car's lights. If you take a lamp that started with a diffuse reflector and make it specular, you might have higher intensity directly in line with the lamp, but at wider angles (like...from the next lane over!), the intensity will be much lower. Also, there's no electroplating that would be suitable as a reflector material. Even the best show chrome is just over 67% reflective even though it looks a mile deep to the naked eye. The aluminum material used for lamp reflectors, whether it's diffuse or specular, is over 98% reflective. But your second suggestion, chrome-in-a-can ("chrome" or "chrome aluminum" spray paint) is an excellent one; that is a very close match for the material originally used on most of our cars' lamp reflectors, and so it's an excellent choice for restoring our lamp reflectors to new efficiency.

But even if we do that, "LED bulbs" don't work. They do not emit the right amount of light in the right directions to allow the lamp's optics to collect and distribute the right amounts of light for safe performance of the lamp as an assembly.
 
Ok thanks Dan.Your second answere is rephrased much better for me. Damn,sometimes you sound like my old electronics proffessor at vcc. Your a smart man Dan...lol That rymed! It means Im smart too,lol! So chrome in a can will work. Will I again negate the benefits if I use a clear coat on top of the rattle can chrome? It would certaily again change things from a matted finish to a shiny one.
 
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