I searched around but couldn't find anything on replacing the instrument lights with LEDs. I bought a couple new instrument bulbs from Pelican, but the light was yellowish, not the white of the OEM lights. On the other hand, the OEM lights are not that bright (ok, they barely illuminate the gauge).
I found http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=CAR&keywords=&cart_id=8291852.32491&next=50 that look like they would be a direct replacement (the BA-7 model). Has anyone tried them?
I would be interested to know as well, with the winter months coming up I'm gonna be driving home in the dark and I'd like to see the guages
Check the member vendor area, Mike914 has a kit for just this. http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=76008
His work is good. I have the kit, just not the time!
malibu barbie is right
Math is hard!
If I was looking at the correct LED, then the price is .89 each! What we need now is a duty cycle dimmer.
914s have a dimmer?
Many of us (myself included) bought these from Quarl a few years back. I have the white. They are not really much (if any) brighter than stock bulbs mostly because the LED's are very directional - as in, most all of the light comes directly out the end of the LED much like a flashlight. This isn't ideal for the gauges which were designed for regular bulbs which throw off light in all directions. So the end result is that the gauges don't really end up any brighter than before (maybe slightly).
With that said, I like the LED bulbs simply because the white light is much more pleasing than the yellow of the standard bulbs.
Also, the dimmer doesn't work with the LED bulbs, but I can't imaging anyone caring about this. The gauges are so dim anyway, why anyone would want to dim them further is beyond me.
Demick
i'm sure i'm different, but at night on long drives i turn them down as low as i can and still see the needles.
worse yet, i wear my shades when i drive long distance at night. for some reason, the oncoming lights really bug me.
maybe it's age?
I got blue LEDs from Quarl a few years ago. I don't recommend 'em. They don't seem as bright as incandescents, and the blue has a wierd effect that I think reduces the ability to read the guage quickly. Maybe it is just residual from a mis-spent youth, but if I sweep my eyes across the blue lit instreuments, I see traces of the blue when blinking or looking back up.
I got the blue in right now but also got some whites from Qarl before he gave his business away, I would love some Amber yellow ones for my signal orange car...
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I repolacede all my dash gauges ,a couple of months ago. At that time I installed
Led's in all the gauges. Last night was the first time i had tyhe opportunity to
drive after dark,much brighter all around. Now factor in to that all new lenes
in the dash gauges. Surely that counts for some of the brightness, not looking
thru 30 yrs. of dirt. All and all i like the Led's Dave
Red might be interesting to try, if available... Pilots, particularly us single engine pilots use red lens flashlights at night to prevent light blindness from brighter white bulbs...
I have Red LEDs in my gauge cluster and console. They are Ok but I will eventually send the 3 gauges down to North Hollywood for a cosmetic tuneup. Adding extra bulb slots in them, similar to Dr. Evil's setup.
I swapped my guages to the LEDs a year ago, and they are OK. It's a whiter light, not yellow like the original bulbs. To my eyes, a bit easier to see at night.
However, in talking to the people at North Hollywood Speedo, their setup is much better, though much more expensive than simply replacing bulbs with LEDs. As usual, you get what you pay for.
Also, be careful as there are higher wattage bulbs that will fit in the illumination holders. They get too hot and can melt/ burn out the instruments from what I've been told.
What about new, regular wattage incandescents. Is part of the dimness related to the 30+ year old nature of the bulbs?
Paul
The other night I had just the parking lights and interior lights turned on... with my car parked in my outdoor shop on a dark night and I was looking at that thing and it looked like a UFO.
Man I love new Hella lenses and incadescent light. No LED's for me. Color temperature is not warm enough.
For some reason every year the lights just get dimmer(at least since I rounded 40).
I fixed dim gauges real good, drilled new holes where needed and installed mini halogens(+lgr ga. wire). At night oncoming traffic can count my liver spots.
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