Replace Old Bulbs?

[acbrock]

Hi, so I have taken the Instruments out of my car to clean and repair.   They are all looking awesome, just waiting on a repair to the speedo.  I was looking everything over and thought I would post this question to the forum.  So before tearing it all down all the light worked fine.  I can review them all now and make sure they are still ok.  But my question is should I replace them all even though they work?  I would have to bet 100% that this is the first time these instruments have been out of the car since it was built in 66.  I would hate to put it all back together and lose a bulb down the road?  or are these old bulbs better that anything I can get today?  I have read that some people have gone to LEDs since they should last a long time?

Any thoughts...
Aaron

[rwmastel]

Do you do enough night driving for it to matter?  Many people strictly avoid night driving for a variety of reasons.

My car hasn't run in a while, but when I drove at night I didn't mind the soft dim light of traditional bulbs.  I'll be replacing bulbs with stock bulbs when my instruments come out.

If you drive a lot at night, maybe the LEDs are for you.  That's a personal choice.

The light dimmer control works on a rheostat - an arm sweeps across a spring to vary the voltage (or something like that, I'm not an electrician).  Often corrosion builds up on that spring, so clean that if you can.

[lreppond]

While you have everything out and the bulbs are easily accessible, I’d change all of them. It’s what I did when I had the dash apart. I also carefully cleaned and polished all the glass and chrome on the dash and replaced all gaskets.  I did not, however, change to LED bulbs but many here have.  If you like brighter lighting, you might want to consider them. 

[Cees Klumper]

I replaced all the dash lights on my Lancia Fulvia when I restored it with small NOS bulbs since access was excellent then. Cost maybe $6 for the lot of 14 or so bulbs. I prefer not to convert to LED on classic cars.

[acbrock]

Cool thanks everyone!  I will replace them and NOT do LEDs.
Aaron

[rwmastel]

Don't forget to clean your dimmer.

[Benz Dr.]

The alternator or charging light should only be replaced with a standard incandescent light bulb - I'm told LED won't work. Has something to do with resistance in the system, I guess.