Instrument panel bulbs

[highperf4x4]

Someone with more knowledge than me fill me in.

I ordered a gauge panel from Edd Dial and I had him install some purple bulbs. I thought they would look pretty cool but they turned out to be a little feminine!



I thought I would switch to some blue bulbs so I picked some up some at a local parts store and stuck them in. They are definitely blue but they're not lighting up the gauges worth a flip. I wouldn't think there was alot of difference in light between purple and blue but these won't work. The blue bulbs I got were slightly shorter than the purple ones that Edd put in but other than that, they appeared to be the same. Is there a specific bulb that works better?

[Racinaround]

Heres a Bulb Chart

1972 CHEVROLET All Light Trucks

High & low beam headlamp
H6024
H6024ST Silverstar High Performance Lighting: The Whiter and Brighter Halogen
H6024XV XtraVision Halogen - The Brighter Light
H6024CB Cool Blue Halogen - The Whiter Light

Parking light
1157
1157LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Front turn signal
1157
1157LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Rear turn signal
1157
1157LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Tail light
1157
1157LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Stop light
1157
1157LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

License plate
Assembly

Back up light
1295
1295
199

Front sidemarker
194
194LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Rear sidemarker
97

Step/Courtesy light
211-2
211-2LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Instrument-general
1445
168
168LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp
194
194LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Hi-beam indicator
194
194LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

____________________________________________________

[Orange]

If you want them to be bright and colored, go with LED's.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...ini-wedge.html

DLB

[highperf4x4]

It says on that website that the leds are not brighter than a filamnet bulb.


"Brightness of LED Car Bulbs
LED bulbs are generally not as bright as standard incandescent bulbs, they have many advantages over filament bulbs (longer life, faster on/off times, lower power consumption, more vivid colors) but brightness is not one of them."

It also says that the more leds in the bulb the brighter it will be but it doesn't really specify which ones. Do you have leds in your dash or pics you can show me?

[highperf4x4]

Originally Posted by Racinaround

Heres a Bulb Chart

1972 CHEVROLET All Light Trucks

Instrument-general
1445
168
168LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp
194
194LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp


____________________________________________________

According to that list I have the right bulb but it just isn't bright enough.

[Beatcoaster]

I am running the cool white ones of these...
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...Fwled-whp6.htm



And they are a just little too dim for me, so will be swapping out to these...
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...FWLED-xHP5.htm
..because they have the forward firing driver, which the others do not...The dimmer in the headlight switch does dim them a bit as well...

Anyone who says LED's are not as bright as incandescents is a fool, LED technology over the years has come a long way and soon cars will run them for their primary headlights. I wired 1 watt Luxeon LED's in the trees at my cabin property to run off my solar/battery setup and it casts an awesome glow on the whole place.

My entire truck is LED's...Here are the tails - they are so bright they light up the concrete below them - nice improvement over the stock bulb, and the instant on light helps people stop 10 feet shorter at 60mph than incandescents.
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...1156-x18-T.htm

[spinem]

dude, im likn the purple, idgaf if i look girly. people say something, show them your "feminine" fist.

Is your reflector painted white? if so, paint it black /w/ the purples, that should give ya a little less of a "pink" look

[highperf4x4]

Originally Posted by Beatcoaster

I am running the cool white ones of these...
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...Fwled-whp6.htm



And they are a just little too dim for me, so will be swapping out to these...
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...FWLED-xHP5.htm
..because they have the forward firing driver, which the others do not...The dimmer in the headlight switch does dim them a bit as well...

Anyone who says LED's are not as bright as incandescents is a fool, LED technology over the years has come a long way and soon cars will run them for their primary headlights. I wired 1 watt Luxeon LED's in the trees at my cabin property to run off my solar/battery setup and it casts an awesome glow on the whole place.

My entire truck is LED's...Here are the tails - they are so bright they light up the concrete below them - nice improvement over the stock bulb, and the instant on light helps people stop 10 feet shorter at 60mph than incandescents.
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...1156-x18-T.htm

Thanks for the info!!

Originally Posted by spinem

dude, im likn the purple, idgaf if i look girly. people say something, show them your "feminine" fist.

Is your reflector painted white? if so, paint it black /w/ the purples, that should give ya a little less of a "pink" look

I'm not worried about the feedback. I don't get much grief from people. At least not usually to my face! I was wanting something closer to purple though. I'm not a fan of pink.

Yeah the reflector is painted white also. I'm just curious how the purple leds will look now.

[IndyRich]

So how do those led's fit into the factory bulb socket...or do you have to rewire?

[highperf4x4]

Originally Posted by Orange

If you want them to be bright and colored, go with LED's.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...ini-wedge.html

DLB

I think I understand what you meant now. A colored led bulb puts out alot more light than a filament bulb with painted glass. Not necessarily a clear one. Makes sense.

[johnechi]

I also went with the superbrightleds and they work great! I also painted inside the gauge cluster. Whatever was that mint green colour got painted white and I got green LEDs. Needless to say, what an improvement!

[Orange]

Originally Posted by highperf4x4

I think I understand what you meant now. A colored led bulb puts out alot more light than a filament bulb with painted glass. Not necessarily a clear one. Makes sense.

Right.
The thing with LED's is their glass is clear - so you aren't losing any light due to the coating on it. The colored incandescent's lose a lot of light when you put a coating on the outside of them.

Depending on what LED's you buy, there are plenty that are brighter when compared 1:1 with an incandescent light bulb.

Your best bet would be to go with the kind that Beatcoaster said he was going to trade out to.
For a number comparison - your standard 194 Wedge Base incandescent out out 25 lumens (per Sylvania).
If you take the 15000 mcd and 360° pattern the 5 LED lights put out, that is approximately 185 lumens.

Now, that is just a number. That isn't a pure reflection of what it will look like in your dash.

Sorry, I don't have any pics, but I have made plenty of my own LED circuits and converted vehicle interior's over to full LED.

DLB

[SATownChevy]

I buy my leds from this guy and he warranties his work. I had some go out and he sent new ones as soon as i let him know. I just had to send back the old ones. Real nice guy too.

http://store.garage1217.com/insane-1...edg194168.html

They put out a lot of light. If i was going to keep my instrument panel I would go with these lights but Im going with dakota digital gauges.

Some pics of them in my car.

[tubbedII]

man satown, it looks like the helicopter is shining in your car and on your license plate!

[72BlckButy]

Originally Posted by Racinaround

Heres a Bulb Chart

That's some good info, thanks Rick!

[highperf4x4]

Originally Posted by Orange

Right.
The thing with LED's is their glass is clear - so you aren't losing any light due to the coating on it. The colored incandescent's lose a lot of light when you put a coating on the outside of them.

Depending on what LED's you buy, there are plenty that are brighter when compared 1:1 with an incandescent light bulb.

Your best bet would be to go with the kind that Beatcoaster said he was going to trade out to.
For a number comparison - your standard 194 Wedge Base incandescent out out 25 lumens (per Sylvania).
If you take the 15000 mcd and 360° pattern the 5 LED lights put out, that is approximately 185 lumens.

Now, that is just a number. That isn't a pure reflection of what it will look like in your dash.

Sorry, I don't have any pics, but I have made plenty of my own LED circuits and converted vehicle interior's over to full LED.

DLB

Cool, but I don't have to convert anything to use the led bulbs do I? Can't I just stick them in the socket and go?

Originally Posted by 72BlckButy

That's some good info, thanks Rick!

Right on!

Thanks to everyone for the input and definitely the complete bulb chart!!!

[70c10]

highperf4x4- I used the refractor type LED bulbs I got off ebay. The socket is identical to stock 194 bulbs but these have 5 LED's in each bulb!. Here's some on ebay:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-BLU...item4a9f24fadd

[highperf4x4]

Awesome Thanks!!