Can I buy the small instrument bulbs at Pep Boys, Oriley's, etc?

You can check with a Bug shop, since the beetles use the same bulb. Or go to Super Bright Leds Look for the 7s bulbs. These will light the instruments much better, and wont burn out.

YES ... get the LEDs

How many bulbs and what type would you need to complete all the instruments including the three in the center console?

Thanks

BA7s LED bulb --->

12VDC BA7s Single Contact Midget Flange Base bulb with Wide Viewing Angle LED
Available with White, Blue, Green, Red or Amber LED $ 0.89


I'd think a 'baker's dozen' would do

I went with the LEDs... Only thing better is the electro-luminescent strip lighting - but you would have to fab that up and dis-assemble your gauges to do it.

I like my LEDs and have had no problems. They aren't dim-able though. On full bright they are just perfect for my eyes.

I also used a 3M reflective material for LCD screen backlights, and cut strips to fit around the inside of the back of the gauge. This doubled the brightness of the guage, since VDO just pained the inside white.

Have any pictures of that?

I did that last yr. , I really like it, except for the directional arrows, they remain

on all the time. to correct that ,i need to rewire, to much for me. I will just go

back to stock for that.

Dave

Sorry, didnt take any pictures of it at the time. Was just something I did on a whim to see how it would work. You could use tin foil or something like that. I like the 3M stuff, since it had a plastic backing.

You cannot use the LED's or anything but the original bulb for the alternator light.

I use 'superbright' LEDs when building custom instrument panels on bikes. They work great and handle vibration issues better than incandescent bulbs.

I bought some LEDs for the P-cars but haven't installed them yet. For me the gauge faces are my main concern, but was planning on replacing all the incandescent bulbs 'while I was in there'.

Interesting note about the turn indicators staying 'on' ... also the alternator light info

I don't know why the turn indicators would have this problem ... they're just switched through dry a set of dry contacts on the flasher relay, no?

Is the problem that they 'flash' when the signals are used, then remain on afterwards, or that they don't 'flash' at all, just stay on all the time?

... and on the alternator light issue, does the alternator light circuit have a varying voltage that makes the LED inappropriate?

EURO911. The directional light problem is they are on all the time, they are on all

the time,they flash correctly but they are never off. Will pull the battery down in a

week. I posted a ques. on that here,results were it could be corrected by

rewireing. I will change the LED in that socket for a new stock one. Hope that

helps you. Dave

The reason they don't flash is that they don't draw enough current to heat up the bi-metal in the flasher. It is the current draw that makes the flasher unit work. With just a low draw, they won't flash and will just continually draw low levels of power

That makes sense.

I'll experiment with adding in some different resistor values to see if I can get the load up to the where the flasher circuit is happy, unless someone else here gets to it before me.

Thanks ...

Have you studied how the alternator circuit works at all?
The current through the bulb has to be able to go both ways, and it has to be the correct current to excite the alternator into starting.

No, I haven't, but that makes sense too ... I'll not change that one out then

Thanks

Mark:

My Multifunction gauge came from NHS with LED for all warning lights...Which is fine for all but the Alternator...

What you have to do is splice in an incadesant bulb into the wire that comes into the gauge from the Alternator...It comes on during start and then goes out once the Alternator output voltage overcomes the resistance in the circuit...The element in the bulb is a necessary part of that resistance...LED's do not produce enough resistance...If your Alternator fails, the LED will come on and notify you that you have a problem...

Mine is up under the dash and I cannot even see it, but both come on during start, then go out upon reaching RPM...
2-OH! 

Dave-
my turn signal indicators also glow dimly all the time the car is running, but not when the ignition is off- that I know of, but there IS a slow drain somewhere in my system, so maybe it is related.
So I remember reading a pelican post long ago that said this was because it had the wrong turn signal flasher- apparently the parts books don't distinguish that there were changes, but I believe there was a change in 73 or 74. I think we both need an "early" TS flasher. I think I'll actually try to find one.

Thats a darn good idea, Rick

I still think I'm still gonna see if I can determine what value resistance will work. I used a 'resistance substitution box' to determine the correct value for a gas tank sender/gauge circuit in a '59 Ford P/U, then installed an 'x' ohm 1-watt fixed resistor.

(Project # 1,352 ...)