Interior dash lighting guide DIY
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,239
Likes: 74
From: Palatine, Peoples Republic of Illinois
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-‘18
NCM Sinkhole Donor
The LED's in my dash are plenty bright and I didn't have to tap into my wiring harness. One tip I learned the hard way - blue lighting look cool but is almost impossible to read at night. Has to do with the way your eyes react to different color lighting. Good luck with which ever way you choose.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 328
Likes: 30
The LED's in my dash are plenty bright and I didn't have to tap into my wiring harness. One tip I learned the hard way - blue lighting look cool but is almost impossible to read at night. Has to do with the way your eyes react to different color lighting. Good luck with which ever way you choose.
Any idea on my mystery bulb ?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,239
Likes: 74
From: Palatine, Peoples Republic of Illinois
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-‘18
NCM Sinkhole Donor
It's not a brake indicator is it? I know on my '70 there is a switch on the emergency brake handle that activates if the e-brake in engaged.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 328
Likes: 30
the 80 has one also but is currently working. this thing is on no matter what is used, idle, reverse, driving ect, car just on accessory .. ill have to wait for my AIM manual
Advanced
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 65
Likes: 3
From: Shickshinny PA
A couple of notes
I just replaced the dash lights of my 1978 Pace Car with LEDs. I used the equivalent to a 194 bulb. I bought them from Ebay with the removable sockets.
I wanted to share a few things that might be useful to others.
1. This is a good 3-4 hour job to do the main dash and center gauge lights.
2. You must remove seats, and side panels to remove the center dash and get at the lights.
3. You must remove the side vent duct and loosen the steering wheel to remove the main gauge cluster. However I did not remove the steering wheel. I spent a lot of time and brain power trying to avoid some of this, but in the end, it was necessary and NOT ALL THAT BAD in the end to do.
4. CAUTION! The plastic pieces in and on your dash may be brittle and tightening screws too much may break the piece you're putting on. ALWAYS tighten screws by hand... no power tools!
5. TEST, TEST, TEST! BEFORE you reassemble! Make sure you test the cluster while you have it out of the dash! You may need to turn the bulb 90 degrees in the socket to get the right polarity for it to light. Or in one case, I needed to use a different socket as the original one was worn and not making good contact. Either way test EVERY bulb you can before putting the cluster back in or you will be sorry!
In the end... the bulbs cost me about $30 and I used blue for the gauges (14 of them total) and white for indicators. The end result is very cool and the dash is much brighter!
A cost effective, yet time consuming project, but well worth it! Enjoy!
I wanted to share a few things that might be useful to others.
1. This is a good 3-4 hour job to do the main dash and center gauge lights.
2. You must remove seats, and side panels to remove the center dash and get at the lights.
3. You must remove the side vent duct and loosen the steering wheel to remove the main gauge cluster. However I did not remove the steering wheel. I spent a lot of time and brain power trying to avoid some of this, but in the end, it was necessary and NOT ALL THAT BAD in the end to do.
4. CAUTION! The plastic pieces in and on your dash may be brittle and tightening screws too much may break the piece you're putting on. ALWAYS tighten screws by hand... no power tools!
5. TEST, TEST, TEST! BEFORE you reassemble! Make sure you test the cluster while you have it out of the dash! You may need to turn the bulb 90 degrees in the socket to get the right polarity for it to light. Or in one case, I needed to use a different socket as the original one was worn and not making good contact. Either way test EVERY bulb you can before putting the cluster back in or you will be sorry!
In the end... the bulbs cost me about $30 and I used blue for the gauges (14 of them total) and white for indicators. The end result is very cool and the dash is much brighter!
A cost effective, yet time consuming project, but well worth it! Enjoy!
Last edited by Popeye206; Apr 25, 2020 at 08:30 AM.
