Instrument lighting

[Clayton]

In my 1969, the tach lighting is brighter than the speedo. So, I tested a pair of 4W bulbs VS. 2W bulbs. The 4W bulbs on the speedo and 2W bulbs on the tach made the lighting balanced. Question, the 4W bulbs are much hotter, will that cause any damage? Has anyone crossed this bridge?  Signed, man on a island.

[pj]

Hello Clayton.
Anytime anyone mentions lighting in the dashboard, the question inevitably arises: how are you getting back there? It's a devil of thing to work on the dashboard from behind where all the Gewerkens are. Have you got a secret?
I too would like to mess around with changing the lamps and it has been discussed at considerable length here, right down to the part numbers of the various lamp options. But it's just not practical to take out the whole dashboard, swap out one or 2 bulbs, put the thing back together again for a week and then change your mind.

[Cees Klumper]

I would be concerned about the extra heat myself. Also, I would look into why the lighting is so unbalanced, that's not supposed to be. Are you sure you have all the bulbs in place? (Sorry, thought I should ask).
Getting to the instruments I found is fairly easy in my 280 sl. As I recall, the first attempt went without a hitch, in the order of first tach, then center cluster, then speedo although I could mis-remember that now, I'm sure good info is in the tech manual.
In my El Camino world, instrument lighting is greatly improved if the inside of the instrument cluster is freshly painted white. Over the years they get darker on the inside and that absorbs the lighting. Perhaps something similar has been going on inside your speedo, just a thought.

[Clayton]

To set the stage, I am already completely going through the interior of my car. Now at the dash, I have repaired a fried courtesy light wire back to the key switch, restored the rheostat to working order, even got the windshield wipers to operate while replacing both air ducts. As you can see, I am elbow deep. So, the extra time getting the lighting right is a joy compared to the road I just went down. PJ, you are so right about the difficulty. I wish I had smaller hands. If you just capitulate to the concept that it will take 3 times longer than you think, the journey is more enjoyable. Don't forget to put on some music. That helps with the sanity issue. By the way Cees, I got side tracked with my taillights, which I ended up taking apart and cleaning out 45 years of dust. Wow, much brighter. I will try that with the speedo. Thanks!

[mmizesko]

Gents,

there is a great thread on this site about using LED's.  I think Alfred (66andblue?) may have initiated it, but I am replacing my dash bulbs with LED's.  They are inexpensive, last forever, and really brighten the dash.  There are before and after pics on the aforementioned thread, and also shows which bulbs to leave incadescent on the instrument cluster, so you don't mess up the impedence.  My rheostat was shot, so I jumped it, but I would definitely consider the LED rather than the 4w approach.  No heat.

Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH