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Thanks for the post.
Great thread.
Dorman 85814 socket
Sylvania 194 Lamp (I will look for an LED lamp later)
Originally Posted by Greg
Eddy,
Yes, I should have mentioned the part number in my post. While these sockets are available from many different sources, by many manufacturers, I used the Dorman Part Number 85814.
If your local supplier does not carry this brand, any of the others would work just as well.
Greg
Last edited by carriljc; Jan 17, 2024 at 10:17 PM.
Big huge thank you for this write up! I was waffling on whether to attempt to fix old brittle sockets or swap to these Dorman 85814 for all the gauge and console lights. This post sealed the deal, I'm converting to the new sockets. Thank you @Greg (yes, two years later!)
I upgraded to autometer gauges too, and these dorman 85814 sockets are better (tighter) than the sockets that come with the Autometer gauges.
One question: did anyone upgrade the turn signal and brights sockets in the speedo and tach? I'll go ahead and order/do the upgrade for those but was curious if any issues with ground. (Probably not, but wanted to ask)
Last edited by Cool bean; Apr 26, 2020 at 11:39 AM.
One question: did anyone upgrade the turn signal and brights sockets in the speedo and tach? I'll go ahead and order/do the upgrade for those but was curious if any issues with ground. (Probably not, but wanted to ask)
I added some rope LED lighting inside the tach/speedo too
73sbvert
If you're going in there, then i would also suggest going to LED strip lighting. I did something similar to richard454..... It is quite tidy with really only 1 lead coming out of the back of the instrument. Relatively inexpensive ....You can see pictures here: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-and-tach.html
Originally Posted by Cool bean
Big huge thank you for this write up! I was waffling on whether to attempt to fix old brittle sockets or swap to these Dorman 85814 for all the gauge and console lights. This post sealed the deal, I'm converting to the new sockets. Thank you @Greg (yes, two years later!)
I upgraded to autometer gauges too, and these dorman 85814 sockets are better (tighter) than the sockets that come with the Autometer gauges.
One question: did anyone upgrade the turn signal and brights sockets in the speedo and tach? I'll go ahead and order/do the upgrade for those but was curious if any issues with ground. (Probably not, but wanted to ask)
Last edited by carriljc; Apr 26, 2020 at 12:24 PM.
Big huge thank you for this write up! I was waffling on whether to attempt to fix old brittle sockets or swap to these Dorman 85814 for all the gauge and console lights. This post sealed the deal, I'm converting to the new sockets. Thank you @Greg (yes, two years later!)
I upgraded to autometer gauges too, and these dorman 85814 sockets are better (tighter) than the sockets that come with the Autometer gauges.
One question: did anyone upgrade the turn signal and brights sockets in the speedo and tach? I'll go ahead and order/do the upgrade for those but was curious if any issues with ground. (Probably not, but wanted to ask)
Cool bean,
Glad it worked out for you brother. Those old original sockets just don't stand the test of time.
Greg
I added some rope LED lighting inside the tach/speedo too
Richard,
This is an interesting upgrade as well. If you use just the LED strip lighting, I like the idea of only two wires to hook up and eliminating a lot of extra wiring behind that cluster. I'm anxious to see how it looks when you're finished. Please share a couple pics when you can.
Cheers!
I too will one day do the upgrade,, but for now, all my original bulbs are still functioning, although a bit dim,,[[ now that I said this, they'll likely start dropping off ,,, well future project ]] ,,,,,,,,,,,,teddy,,,,,,,,,,
I experimented with those led strips in a couple of vehicles, at first they were awesome but within a year they were half as bright and a bunch of LEDs had gone out. Took them out after that.
That and they had a tendency to flicker on occasion where other LEDs didn't.
Just my experiences with them.
I came across this thread when I first started thinking about my LED project but I thought surely there is something easier now and available where I don't have to modify the base sockets with a razer blade. 1 month later, I'm taking everything back apart and going to go ahead and take this approach. Turns out there are still no effective bulb sockets to use in the '73 besides these that you have found. The old sockets were epoxied like some reference above but it was jankity and caused some of the sockets to not get sufficient ground.
I am not confident in how these sit in the hole after trimming off two of the tabs though?
They fit nice and snug weho. I think you'll find this a pretty simple upgrade once you get rolling on it. Nice thing is, the 194 bulbs seem to have a much longer life span than the original 1895 bulbs, and they are readily available. Also, with the relocated ground and gang-joined hot leads, this makes it much easier to remove the center gauge panel without having the bulbs pull out of their holes as soon as you start to tip it forward. Please keep us updated on your progress. Cheers, Greg
They fit nice and snug weho. I think you'll find this a pretty simple upgrade once you get rolling on it. Nice thing is, the 194 bulbs seem to have a much longer life span than the original 1895 bulbs, and they are readily available. Also, with the relocated ground and gang-joined hot leads, this makes it much easier to remove the center gauge panel without having the bulbs pull out of their holes as soon as you start to tip it forward. Please keep us updated on your progress. Cheers, Greg
Gauge cluster back out (again) 😂
I've got my 6 gray wires ready for butts (with heat shrink wrap) but when I crimp them on, they fall right off. These butts are labeled as 22-16 AWG. Do you happen to know what gauge these gray wires are? My guess must have been wrong!
I've got 194 LED's. Really hoping they provide better lighting than the 1895 LED bulbs I tried the first round.
PS Do you happen to be around SoCal? I am willing to pay at this point. 🤣
Hmmm? Those should work. I used a typical red butt connector:
It looks like you've got it under control, wires are nice and accessible. Are you using a good quality crimper and not one of these, "guaranteed to fail" types:
I am in SoCal. Palm Springs to be exact and I'm usually happy to help a Corvette brother out. Unfortunately my garage is currently plugged with a C2 and a C3 that are both behind schedule.
Hmmm? Those should work. I used a typical red butt connector:
It looks like you've got it under control, wires are nice and accessible. Are you using a good quality crimper and not one of these, "guaranteed to fail" types:
I am in SoCal. Palm Springs to be exact and I'm usually happy to help a Corvette brother out. Unfortunately my garage is currently plugged with a C2 and a C3 that are both behind schedule.
Wow you have 2 cars you're working on. Nice!!!
I am with you, I can't use cheap tools.
I think I'm covered with these!
Did you do the same config with the 4 back lights to the speedometer and the 4 to the tachometer? Contemplating on redoing those sockets as well and I think the additional grounding might be nice.
Hay guys, once I got these connectors I've NEVER used a crimp connector. No issues for me anyway,,,👍😉.
My expensive crimping tools are now rusty&dusty.
That looks like it might be almost too bright!
Dorman 85814 socket and Sylvania 194 Lamp
