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I have a sweet 1980 coupe that I've completely restored - the one thing I'm still not thrilled about is the brightness level of the dash lights.
Does anyone know if there's a conversion kit or LED bulbs that can replace all of the dash bulbs to get a lot brighter dash look?
SUPER BRIGHT LED's And your bulbs are originally a 194....but I would not do the turn signal indicators....leave them alone....just worry about your gauge lights.
All the center console lights in my 68 are LED's, also all the lights in the shift console are LED's. The lamps in the speedo and tach are still incandescent. This means I can dim the speedo and tach lights with the headlight switch reostat. The main reason for using LED's was to reduce current flow through the headlight switch reostat and prevent it from overheating and destroying itself, as the stock reostat did. Installing them in myy 70. My 08 has a lot of interior and external LED's.
All the center console lights in my 68 are LED's, also all the lights in the shift console are LED's. The lamps in the speedo and tach are still incandescent. This means I can dim the speedo and tach lights with the headlight switch reostat. The main reason for using LED's was to reduce current flow through the headlight switch reostat and prevent it from overheating and destroying itself, as the stock reostat did. Installing them in myy 70. My 08 has a lot of interior and external LED's.
The next one I do...I am going to 'play around' with the thought I have had on using red LED light bulbs. This way...when I test it out in my shop when it is totally dark...like at night time...will it aid in not effecting a persons night vision....because many of the Corvettes I have done with the white LEDs...are DEFINITELY brighter...and ALMOST bordering on a bit too bright for my personal taste. YES...I know they can be modified to be dimmed.
I have some old gauges and I might actually paint the light blue parts of the gauge to a red and see what that does...so I can still use the white LED's. Like I wrote...something I have had 'bouncing around' in my head for some time now. If I get it 'figured out'....I actually was thinking that when I restore/repaint a Corvette ....DEPENDING on the COLOR of the exterior/interior...I would modify the gauges to the back lighting matches the car in some way. Just so it has that 'custom touch' and not be too gaudy. Because many of the Corvettes I do....the owners are NOT worried about being factory PURE.
but do not replace any of the bulbs that are for warning lights like seat belt, high beam ect. I noticed with the batter / alternator light that with a SMD installed it would not complete the circuit and the battery would not charge... was strange.. put in old bulb and it was fine again. So just replace the illumination lights.
that light website is good but so $$ and i found a good quality bulb from these guys
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251370483066?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
YITA Motor
Reverse lights
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251539164107?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Lessons learnt.
dont use SMDs for indicators as they dont flash and you will need flasher box and they were not that much brighter than stock
dont use SMDs for battery light
I havnt dont the speedo yet but the centre dash is 100 % better and dims
They are bright enough in my opinion....and they are not on like dash lights....so WHY spend the money on them...and I have not installed them ad see if they effect the flashing of the turn signals themselves.
I did it the other way-around. Left the incadescent bulbs in for the insturments as i like to use the dash dimmer feature and changed all other bulbs to LED.
Changing the turn signal indicators to LED was part of changing the entire signal system to LED including front side running lights.
be mentally prepared for corvette zen... those wimpy little dash bulb sockets are a pain in the asz to deal with.
Originally Posted by DUB
SUPER BRIGHT LED's And your bulbs are originally a 194....but I would not do the turn signal indicators....leave them alone....just worry about your gauge lights.
Thanks TX! That pic has been an inspiration to many of us! (And I`ve re-posted it a few times!)
DUB, I want to see some pics of the red.... that may be a very interesting option to explore!
Glad to know that helped a few folks out. As for the turn signal indicators, I have LED in mine and they work fine and I have not installed an funky resistors are anything anywhere. The only standard bulb in my dash is the seatbelt indicator and only because it is a different bulb and I didn't have one when I had it apart.
I thought about red as well but many of the LEDs have an orange hue, so I opted for the more original look. I have a heavy duty flasher and I do get a little flicker when the door open buzzer is on which is not a problem for me, I just wanted to see the gauges :-)
BTW, I think I spent around $20 for all of the LEDs and they have been for over a year now.
How many 194s would I need to just change the bulbs behind the Speedometer and Tachometer areas? I just want to be able to see how fast im going at night. Does anyone have a diagram of this or a good picture?
How many 194s would I need to just change the bulbs behind the Speedometer and Tachometer areas? I just want to be able to see how fast im going at night. Does anyone have a diagram of this or a good picture?
I'm pretty sure there are a total of 8 bulbs for the speedo/tach backlight.
Last edited by DB Cooper; May 22, 2018 at 03:51 PM.
The next one I do...I am going to 'play around' with the thought I have had on using red LED light bulbs. This way...when I test it out in my shop when it is totally dark...like at night time...will it aid in not effecting a persons night vision....because many of the Corvettes I have done with the white LEDs...are DEFINITELY brighter...and ALMOST bordering on a bit too bright for my personal taste. YES...I know they can be modified to be dimmed.
I have some old gauges and I might actually paint the light blue parts of the gauge to a red and see what that does...so I can still use the white LED's. Like I wrote...something I have had 'bouncing around' in my head for some time now. If I get it 'figured out'....I actually was thinking that when I restore/repaint a Corvette ....DEPENDING on the COLOR of the exterior/interior...I would modify the gauges to the back lighting matches the car in some way. Just so it has that 'custom touch' and not be too gaudy. Because many of the Corvettes I do....the owners are NOT worried about being factory PURE.
DUB
I painted the light blue reflecting surfaces on the speedo, tach and center cluster on my 69 and love it.
Did the same thing on the gauges of my W-30 years ago.
I prefer the red glow over the white and it’s much easier on the eyes.
I kept the incandescent bulbs though as they are plenty bright for me.
Now my dash looks like my BMW’s at night.
Dash Light Bulbs
Thanks TX! That pic has been an inspiration to many of us! (And I`ve re-posted it a few times!)
