I have been putting my 75 interior back in a noticed that the lights are not near as bright as I am now used to thanks to newer tech in modern cars. Is there a upgraded bulb you can buy say LED to make things a little brighter behind the gauges ?

 

If the dash is apart replacing the bulbs is a good idea. I guess LED's and SMD's are available but I'm reluctant to put them in the car.

Dim dash lights can sometimes be improved by replacing the headlight switch. With the headlight switch pulled and the dash set to all the way dim, is the headlight switch really hot? If so, you might try replacing the headlight switch if the replacement bulbs don't solve the problem.

 

The lights were plenty bright when new. Reasons for dim lighting are: old bulbs, wear in the adjustment rheostat in the light switch, poor grounding points that are connected for the lighting. IMO, if the brightness adjustment works smoothly and throughout its adjustment range, your problem is 'dirty' ground connections (which limit current flow).

 

If you decide to use led's go with clear. The colored ones only lighty the background and not the lettering/numbers on the guages. Also you cannot adjust the brightness with the light switch. Replacment bulbs are the way to go. I found this out the hard way.

 

Hi All is the only issue with the LEDs t(other than using clear) the fact you cannot dim them or are there other issues as well?

I am in the process of replacing the bulbs and I am wondering if LEDs for the interior might be a better option.

What about LEDs for exterior bulb replacement? Any experiences?

Cheers

 

Here's a paper I started a while back, but I got a bad response from this forum...read if you want.

Tech Paper on Lighting by Young69Owner
1) LEDs

Over the past year, I went light crazy. In this paper I will cover various LEDs and the only headlights I tried. The first thing you may want to do is thoroughly clean out your lenses or replace them. This makes a monumental difference.

My first LED stop was SuperBrightLEDs.com. Specifically, this url http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...t=CAR#1157-x12
My 1969 Corvette used dual circuit 1157 bulbs for the brake lights and turn signals. When the parking lights were on, they used 4 Watts, when the brighter turn signal was illuminated, they used 27 Watts. So, I found two amber 5 Watt Luxeon bulbs and two red 5 Watt Luxeon bulbs BA15 5Watt LED bulb ($24.95 each). They are brighter (Luxeon is the brightest LED technology on the marker, but only available for a few applications) and use 5 Watts on their bright setting (and 3 Watts on their dim setting vs. 4 Watts), which robs the engine/alternator of slightly less power than 27 Watts. Also, if you use LEDs correctly, they will outlive their bulb counterparts. The range seems to be 10,000 hours to 100,000 hours, with most of them in the 50,000 hour range. If you could lower the voltage slightly, (dimming the LED) that number with go up exponentially. There is no need to do this since 50,000 hours is 5.7 years on continuous on. Luxeon LEDs do get hotter than other LEDs, which is why they have heat sinks. If they were left on the high setting for a very long period of time, they actually have smart circuitry to dim. I was told I could safely use mine as DRLs. Another reason for LEDs (especially in brake lights is the instant on effect (10 ns vs 200 ms for conventional bulbs).

The blinker module behind the map pocket and connected to two very long wires must also be addressed. I got an EF-32 (written on the unit, not the package!) from AutoZone that has two leads at right angles from each other. This same unit should also work for the four-way flasher module right above the fuse box under the steering column (so get 2 at $10 each). This unit makes the clicking noise while others do not. Do not use load resistors as you will spend more money, waste more time, and waste energy creating unwanted heat every time you power the blinkers.

My backup lights were 1156 bulbs which used 50 Watts each! The very same spot that has the 1157s has a dropdown menu that contains the super white 1156 BA15 5Watt LED bulb (single circuit bulbs) that use 5 Watts and cost $24.95. I get the most compliments on these. You can get two more of these for your front courtesy lights (this is a single pin, so an 1156 LED will work). It is fun to open the doors at night and see this very bright white light. I currently have a 68 SMT LED (this is a dual pin connection, so an 1157 LED will work and I have no idea why it needed to be, that’s Chevy for you) as my rear courtesy light that doubles as an overhead light and can be used for signaling UFOs if necessary. It will blink after a few minutes after it gets hot, but is completely safe.

If you decide to wire up blinking side markers, you can also get two amber 194s from this page. The 921-x12 Wedge Base LED bulb are the best because they are not polarity intensive. I will explain this in the next paragraph. They will fit in the lens, but be right up on the lens. You may want the socket to be right up on the back on the lens holder and epoxy it in place (that’s what I ended up doing). I do not believe there is anything brighter (short of building your own) that will work both with the parking lights on and off.

SMDs, SMTs, and Luxeons are all polarity sensitive. If you plug them into a slot for blinking side markers, they will either only blink with the parking lights on or with them off. Standard “pin-shaped” LEDs in epoxy are the only LEDs that can handle this task.

With this wiring configuration, the side markers get power with the front turn signals when the parking lights are not on. The magic happens when the parking lights are on. This same wiring configuration interrupts the ground of the side markers making them blink opposite the front turn signals.

If you want a nice-looking LED that fits in you license plate bulb lens, you can get the 67-x15 LED bulb. The license plate uses a 67 bulb. This one costs you $4.95 for that cool white look. I ended getting a 24-LED bulb designed for BMWs that lights up the ground below the back of my car, but had to redo the whole thing in the back. It isn’t worth it. I now have a 48 SMT LED that may or may not fit in the original housing.

That is almost all the exterior LEDs. Next we have gauge lights. Go to http://www.ledlight.com/ba9s-miniatu...ed-lights.aspx Your first hit is 5 Ultra Bright S.M.T. BA9S LED Lamp. These are the 1895 bulbs for your gauges and cost $8.99 a piece. This is where you can get creative. I originally got something similar to the 4 LED BA9S L.E.D. Lamp which required me to aim 20 (5 units times 4 LEDs per unit) blue LEDs individually in my center console. Aiming them in my tachometer and speedometer seemed to help very little with evening out the lighting. Anyways, just trust me and save yourself the headache of going into your gauges more than once. There are 4 lighting 1895s/BA9S in the speedometer, 4 in the tachometer, 5 in the center console, and 1 for the climate control. My recommendation is just get the 14 and call it a day. I found the 7 indicator bulbs (2 on tach, 2 on speedo, 3 on center console) more difficult to change out, you won’t really get any benefit from it, and my turn signals actually glowed a little when they were off, but the parking lights were on (they must get a very small voltage from the other lights), so you can leave them as tungsten filament bulbs.

If you go to http://autolumination.com/otherleds.htm you can find the Wide-Angle 180 degrees High-Powered 3 Watt Luxeon Led which will fit the rear storage courtesy light and possibly the license plate lighting socket, but that would be pretty bright. It’ll run you $19.99 each.

These people also have quite a selection of 194 bulbs – remember how I only had you get 2 sidemarker LEDs earlier? Go to http://autolumination.com/194.htm and check out the Super Nova Matrix 5X. Two red ones should brighten up your rear side markers immensely. You couldn’t put these up front if you were going for blinking side markers, but if you weren’t get 2 amber ones as well. They are $7.99 a piece.

A good deal of money and time was spent trying to find the brightest LEDs that fit in a given spot. These are what worked for me, but I only know the clearances on my 1969 Corvette. I do not want to guarantee anything for anyone else.

LED Pros:
1) A mean of 50,000 hour-long life
2) Instant on effect (10 nanoseconds; more reaction time for brakes)
3) Produces exact color you want; almost no light is filtered out with lenses; bulbs lose 2/3 of their light when run through the typical light filters (lens) found in these cars; lens optics (the carvings on the lenses actually direct light) help make this reduction look less severe
4) Generally far less heat (Luxeons get fairly hot)
5) Far less current draw

LED Cons:
1) Very sensitive to electricity – a surge can burn them out
2) Some people do not like instant on/off of blinkers
3) Harder to get as bright as bulbs, but some are brighter (Luxeon)
4) Harder to get full light coverage, because LED light travels in flat plane from metallic core, but some do just fine
5) If put too close to headlights (in same enclosure), heat will destroy LED(s)

2) Headlights

I consulted Daniel Stern on all my headlighting decisions and he taught me much of what I now know. My headlights are Cibie CSR lenses that have built in city lights. If you ground the city lights and connect them to the parking light feed (since the LEDs actually reduced the load on these wires), they will light up when the parking lights are on. I had to remove my headlight blinders for this to work and now my car looks like a ’68 from the front. I have no problem with that. The Cibie CSR lenses are the latest and greatest in the headlighting world and are designed for C3s. Go to http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/csr.html The cost is $111 a piece.

I have upgraded the H1 and W5W bulbs in these units. It is not necessary, but certainly fun. http://store.candlepower.com/h1bulbs1.html is the site to visit. This is also owned by Daniel Stern. My bulbs are the Osram Night Breaker® +90 Ultra High Output 55w H1 Bulb . These will use 65 Watts when the car is on. The 100 Watt bulbs are illegal for street use, so this is as bright as you can go. The life of these bulbs is 300 hours verses 500 hours. The cost is $22.18 a piece. Do not put LEDs here as you will not get a full beam – very dangerous.

The W5W bulbs are basically 194s (like your side markers, but a use a greater current and create more life). Go to http://store.candlepower.com/pamalidolitr.html to upgrade your city bulbs. Mini wedge base upgrade bulb - stage 2 priced at $4.20 are the best and use 6 Watts. Do not put LEDs here as your headlights will burn them out.

 

Actually the LEDs will work with the dimmer. I tried the red ones and Oldguard7 is right, they don't do much to make things brighter, but the background was red! I went back to the oringinal style bulbs and learned those things come in different wattages. I forget the actual numbers, but do recall you can get them at the local auto parts store, they aren't expensive (the LEDs are comparitively) and the wattages are on the packages.

 

Thanks for the replies most informative

Cheers

 

I used blue LED's that plugged right into the stock sockets and I have never been happier. My old ones (stock) hardly put out any light and these changed the entire background to blue and got rid of the dated clear look just as I hoped they would. They draw less current than stock and have a much longer life but cost a little more. I have noticed that they are so bright that the light in some instances is localized (gear indicator) but in the main gauge cluster and gauge bezel they look great. I have a plan to fix the gear selector light this winter when I have some time. Also, I replaced the interior courtesy lights with blue as well, very cool look when the door opens. I can not dim them, but I never dimmed my stock ones and in fact was generally looking for more power out of them.

Best upgrade I've made in some time.

 

Forgot, I used the 5 way bulbs, they shine in 5 directions - sideways (4 directions) and forward

 

if anyone can post pic of their set ups that would be great

 

Dantana

Where did you source your 5 way leds from?

Cheers