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Old May 29, 2023 | 07:57 PM
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Default Factory Lights

I have been going back and forth on sticking to factory incandescent lighting in the gauges and led strip lights. I like the look of the incandescent bulbs but do not like the grounding issues and dependability of the light bulb sockets.

I think I have finally decided to go with the incandescent bulbs but do not want to put dash back in and them not work. I had a bad headlight switch which has been replaced. Is there a way to test all of the bulbs with the dash out to make sure all of the lights are working?

As always, I appreciate any and all assistance with this.
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Old May 29, 2023 | 08:39 PM
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Well, using a separate ground wire with a alligator clip on one end to connect to a good ground. And just a tip of bare wire on the other. You could test every socket one by one.
when I redid mine I replaced every socket with about 6 inches of wire, yet cut the old ones out at about 2 inches, making every lead about 4 inches longer. Makes install a heap easier. Also I found the original bulbs are rated at 3.8 W. I found bulbs in the local auto parts store rated at 4W. They have a slightly smaller glass globe but that doesn't matter. This increased the light output a great deal and my dimmer still functions as it should. Now I keep it about halfway as full brightness is too bright.
LED's need to be grounded as well. So switching to LED's certainly wouldn't solve anything in that regard.
but dimmable LED's not only cost heaps more but they tend to flicker when dimmed.
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Old May 30, 2023 | 01:16 AM
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Here you go- the best solution by far-

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...t-upgrade.html





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Old May 30, 2023 | 08:30 AM
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Thank you Richard454!! Just ordered the sockets from the auto parts store and picking them up in an hour!!

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Old May 30, 2023 | 11:40 AM
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If you want em even brighter, try these
https://ceclighting.com/products/min...ntPartNum=3652

or these
https://ceclighting.com/products/min...artNum=1250X-1

I don't recommend going any brighter with incandescent bulbs. I tried 1211X bulbs in a 2003 Cobra I used to have and manged to melt the interior light and license plate light sockets bc they're plastic. Wasn't an issue on the '66 C2 bc the dash light sockets and license plate light are all metal.
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