Improving dash light brightness? Options

[Cuda911]

Hey all,

My one (and only) complaint with my 914 is that the dash lights are very faint and very hard to see at night (speedometer, etc.).

Someone told me that brighter LED bulbs are available. Is that correct? If so, can someone provide me with:

1. What bulbs?
2. What source to buy them?
3. How many do I need?
4. Are they direct replacements (i.e. no other modifications need to install them)
5. To replace them, do I take out the 5 or so screws on the dash faceplate to access them?

Thanks, guys!

[bluhun]

Hey all,

My one (and only) complaint with my 914 is that the dash lights are very faint and very hard to see at night (speedometer, etc.).

Someone told me that brighter LED bulbs are available. Is that correct? If so, can someone provide me with:

1. What bulbs?
2. What source to buy them?
3. How many do I need?
4. Are they direct replacements (i.e. no other modifications need to install them)
5. To replace them, do I take out the 5 or so screws on the dash faceplate to access them?

Thanks, guys!

The bulbs, designation BA7s-W, can be obtained from superbrightleds.com http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/ba9s-ba7s/

I bought a pack of 15, which is plenty to replace all of the incandescent bulbs in the
instrument cluster. They are direct plug-ins. Their is no need to remove any screws. Just pull the gauges directly out from the instrument cluster, remove the light receptacles from the rear of the gauges, remove the incandescent bulbs and replace with the LEDs.

It makes a huge difference in illumination.

[Steve]

Hey all,

My one (and only) complaint with my 914 is that the dash lights are very faint and very hard to see at night (speedometer, etc.).

Someone told me that brighter LED bulbs are available. Is that correct? If so, can someone provide me with:

1. What bulbs?
2. What source to buy them?
3. How many do I need?
4. Are they direct replacements (i.e. no other modifications need to install them)
5. To replace them, do I take out the 5 or so screws on the dash faceplate to access them?

Thanks, guys!

The bulbs, designation BA7s-W, can be obtained from superbrightleds.com http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/ba9s-ba7s/

I bought a pack of 15, which is plenty to replace all of the incandescent bulbs in the
instrument cluster. They are direct plug-ins. Their is no need to remove any screws. Just pull the gauges directly out from the instrument cluster, remove the light receptacles from the rear of the gauges, remove the incandescent bulbs and replace with the LEDs.

It makes a huge difference in illumination.

This is what i did for my car. The bulbs are direct replacement. I had to take off my steering wheel to pull the gauges. The only downside is the bulbs are not brightness adjustable, but the brightness is just right, so I wouldn't want to adjust them anyway.
I only did the illumination bulbs. I left the stock bulbs for the idiot lights. I also have quite a stash of 914 parts, so I was able to change all the illumination bulb holders to the BA7 type.

[drem914]

This is what i did for my car. The bulbs are direct replacement. I had to take off my steering wheel to pull the gauges. The only downside is the bulbs are not brightness adjustable, but the brightness is just right, so I wouldn't want to adjust them anyway.
I only did the illumination bulbs. I left the stock bulbs for the idiot lights. I also have quite a stash of 914 parts, so I was able to change all the illumination bulb holders to the BA7 type.

@Steve that's good to hear since the BA7 bulbs I found on amazon are supposed to be 200LM and the BA9 you swapped out for are listed at 150LM. The lower powered LEDS provided by carmagic and 914Ruber are listed for 50LM so I will be curious to see how the swap goes. I did them a few years back, it was a relatively easy swap, but not a big boost in brightness.