1965 light bulb replacement
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 4,761
Likes: 138
From: Clinton Township MI
Cruise-In III Veteran
Kenneth,
WELCOME! You will find this forum to be an abundance of help and support. Please complete your profile so that folks here know what you have (besides a '65...options? coupe? convertible? small block? big block? auto? 4 speed?). You get the drift. This way the responses on issues you raise going forward will be zeroed in to your particular car.
Anyhoo, the search feature in this forum will give you plenty of instances where folks here have "been there and done that".
I just did a search on instrument bulb replacement and found topics on this going back to 2002.
Here's 2 of 'em:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-a...difficult.html
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-a...placement.html
2 things you can do to "ease the pain" on replacing all your bulbs:
1. Pull the driver's seat out (2 bolts)
2. Purchase some threaded rod (1/4 x 20 thread). Cut into 5 pieces at least 6-8 inches long.
You'll see why when you read the above posts.
Good luck!
Regards,
Jim
In God We Trust!
WELCOME! You will find this forum to be an abundance of help and support. Please complete your profile so that folks here know what you have (besides a '65...options? coupe? convertible? small block? big block? auto? 4 speed?). You get the drift. This way the responses on issues you raise going forward will be zeroed in to your particular car.
Anyhoo, the search feature in this forum will give you plenty of instances where folks here have "been there and done that".
I just did a search on instrument bulb replacement and found topics on this going back to 2002.
Here's 2 of 'em:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-a...difficult.html
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-a...placement.html
2 things you can do to "ease the pain" on replacing all your bulbs:
1. Pull the driver's seat out (2 bolts)
2. Purchase some threaded rod (1/4 x 20 thread). Cut into 5 pieces at least 6-8 inches long.
You'll see why when you read the above posts.
Good luck!
Regards,
Jim
In God We Trust!
Perfect advice
Tech Contributor
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 15,576
Likes: 118
From: Conroe Texas
Kenneth,
Welcome!
I have very few soapboxes, but this is one - if your car has Factory A/C, then your panel lamps pull 0.66 Amps more than a car without factory A/C - due to the addition of 2 more lamps around the clock.
Now, all 65s have 2 more bulbs to begin with, than a 63/64 corvette due to an upgrade Chevrolet did to the lighting of the main cluster. So now a 65 A/C car has 1.32 Amps more in lighting than a base 63.
Why is this important? In 1963 the panel lamp circuit was a 4 amp circuit - and in 1965 it is STILL a 4 amp circuit. So your system is close to the 4 amp limit right now (again, if you have factory A/C).
All this is to say that you may be tempted to go with brighter bulbs. That's fine, just watch your total amperage pull. You may need to go up to a 5 amp fuse in the Panel Lamp circuit in order to accomodate. This is what I had to do, based on the recommendation of my wiring harness manufacturer.
Jeff
Welcome!
I have very few soapboxes, but this is one - if your car has Factory A/C, then your panel lamps pull 0.66 Amps more than a car without factory A/C - due to the addition of 2 more lamps around the clock.
Now, all 65s have 2 more bulbs to begin with, than a 63/64 corvette due to an upgrade Chevrolet did to the lighting of the main cluster. So now a 65 A/C car has 1.32 Amps more in lighting than a base 63.
Why is this important? In 1963 the panel lamp circuit was a 4 amp circuit - and in 1965 it is STILL a 4 amp circuit. So your system is close to the 4 amp limit right now (again, if you have factory A/C).
All this is to say that you may be tempted to go with brighter bulbs. That's fine, just watch your total amperage pull. You may need to go up to a 5 amp fuse in the Panel Lamp circuit in order to accomodate. This is what I had to do, based on the recommendation of my wiring harness manufacturer.
Jeff
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 3,461
Likes: 18
From: cooper city florida
Replace all your #1816 bulbs(except turn signals) with #1817 bulbs from Atlanta Bulb Company........pricey, but worth it.......makes a huge difference on cluster brightness. I think you will need 10 bulbs if you don't do the clock, but I would order a couple extra in case you have a factory defect, or a premature burn out. I didn't increase my fuse amps, and I have had no problems with blown fuses.
1816, 1817, 1965, 65, bulb, bulbs, chart, corvette, dash, difference, instrument, instruments, light, replacement, required
