Original appearing LED dash lights

[machm1970 180]

I replaced my dash bulbs with blue LEDs and I hate the look. LEDs aren't expensive, but I think the vendors have a huge markup. I don't want to spend the $60 for what the vendors advertise for "original looking". Is there an alternative? White LEDs with the blue diffusers? Green LEDs without diffusers?

Thanks,

Matt

[Shep69 149]

I purchased a kit from HiPo parts on eBay a few years back. They still sell them claim to be 5x brighter. I used the diffusers as well .Looks original but a lot brighter.

[69RavenConv 286]

I replaced my dash bulbs with blue LEDs and I hate the look. LEDs aren't expensive, but I think the vendors have a huge markup. I don't want to spend the $60 for what the vendors advertise for "original looking". Is there an alternative? White LEDs with the blue diffusers? Green LEDs without diffusers?

Thanks,

Matt

 

I went through the same exercise and ended up using white LEDs with the original diffusers. You want an omni-directional bulb so the light is thrown out in all directions - a single LED is very directional and won't illuminate the gauges. I ended up  using something similar to the picture below I got on eBay.

 

Colored LEDs without the diffusers will also work (blue, green, red) but I wanted close to the original color and pure blue was too much for my tastes. Of course you can always pay the money and buy the Mustang kits out there but I liked the hunt for a cheaper alternative. I did a lot of trial and error, though, so I don't know how much I really saved, LOL

[Raven R code 281]

I can't remember.....are the dash bulbs the 194 sockets?

[69RavenConv 286]

I can't remember.....are the dash bulbs the 194 sockets?

 

Yes, also called T10's these days.

[machm1970 180]

Thanks guys, the white ones on e-bay are $10 or less, the kits have turn signals and high beam bulbs too, but they're on momentarily and I don't care about those so much. 69RavenConv, any chance you could post a pic? I may look for a single for behind the climate controls too, that's very dim as well.

 

Thanks,

 

Matt     

[Raven R code 281]

Ok.....what socket type is needed for the climate control and radio for that matter? I've been also having problems finding the correct brightness bulb for the courtesy light in the deluxe door panels.

[Mach1 Driver 560]

I've been researching lights also and am a little reluctant to share this but the attached Word.doc is what I've found so far. I'm not recommending anything here, just collecting information.

 

You asked about the heater, it's a 1895 bulb. I didn't record the radio bulb because my original 8 track/radio gave up the ghost many many years ago. The spreadsheet should have just about everything else. BTW, I've only found one LED tail light that is street legal.

 

For headlights go to danielsternlighting.com and see his polarmetric polar diagrams. We could do a whole topic on headlights. For the 69s, instead of the stock system with 6 headlight filaments he recommends bulbs using only 4. If anyone is interested we could start a new topic for headlights- I have pages of emailed information from Daniel, and I haven't had time to add it to the spreadsheet yet.

Mustang Lights.doc

[69RavenConv 286]

69RavenConv, any chance you could post a pic? I may look for a single for behind the climate controls too, that's very dim as well.

 

Sorry for the crappy photos - I have a cheap camera and I'm not good at working it... The last photo (sorry it's out of focus) shows a blue LED in my radio compared to the white+diffuser in the heater control. I like the blue-green of the diffuser better, although the blue LEDs are a rich blue color.

[69RavenConv 286]

I've been researching lights also and am a little reluctant to share this but the attached Word.doc is what I've found so far. I'm not recommending anything here, just collecting information.

 

That's a great document.

[machm1970 180]

Thanks for posting pics, very helpful! The white LEDs with diffusers looks very close to original, way better than the blue ones I installed.

Thanks,

Matt

[Raven R code 281]

Great document! Thanks for posting.

[machm1970 180]

The document is very helpful too, I'm going get ones for my radio and climate control too.

 

Thanks,

 

Matt

[Mach1 Driver 560]

Thanks, the document is a work in progress. I've read that the diffusers get discolored or burnt from the hot bulbs over time. Apparently its a plastic cap that fits over the bulbs and I think I've found them in blue, yellow and red, but ours appear to be green- whats the deal? Is this what they look like?

 https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRUuz4u0_YzhyqPotWnomk1JMvy1yuYdHGOqWjvZObVSMMTlNy_

[larryc94 38]

The reason the stocks bulbs look green is the light they emit is yellow, yellow+blue diffusers=green!

 

Larry

[Mach1 Driver 560]

That makes sense, incandescent bulbs do operate in the yellow spectrum. by the way, most people say the dimmer will not work after installing LEDs. One post said his did but most say no. An advertisement from a vendor seemed to indicate that you could still dim if you left some of the bulbs in the same circuit as incandescents. I'm guessing this has to do with the higher amperage of the bulbs vrs the LEDs, and the voltage drop across the LED/dimmer combination. Another way to solve this is to use a pulse width modulation dimmer. It hooks to the headlight switch dimmer output and turns the LEDs on and off quickly enough to make the eye see them as dimmer. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Auto-Meter-9114-LED-Lighting-Dimmer-Module,115233.html?sku=1829114&utm_medium=CSEGoogle&utm_source=CSE&utm_campaign=CSEGOOGLE&gclid=CjwKEAjwltC9BRDRvMfD2N66nlISJACq8591yAxx2Qcalns6a42xySKvGsXC2dfZHfOBwQ1UrI_4BhoCkVnw_wcB 

[larryc94 38]

Mine dimmed until I changed the radio.  I guess the bulb in the new radio is a lower wattage. I also left the stock 1856 in the heater control

I think if you measured the resistance of a 194 bulb and put a resistor of that value in the circuit they will dim, or add another 194 bulb in the circuit.

 

I think you need at least 2 194 bulbs to load the circuit or a resistor that equaled 2 bulbs.

 

Larry

[Alan_Mac 48]

I replaced all my Mach1 interior lights from Mustang Project. My gauge lights are green LED's without the diffusers.  They look the correct color and are dim able.  I have had them for many years.       

http://www.mustangproject.com/ProductDisplay.aspx?ID=fe2cac2a-eb7e-4800-8ce8-39518faa39d1

[machm1970 180]

I bought white and green LEDs on eBay for a total of $14. I tried green for the background lighting, but they were too green for my liking. I went with white for the background and green for the turn signals. Thanks for the help guys!

Matt

[Mach1 Driver 560]

I bought white and green LEDs on eBay for a total of $14. I tried green for the background lighting, but they were too green for my liking. I went with white for the background and green for the turn signals. Thanks for the help guys!

Matt 

I like the look- very visible. Did you leave the diffusers on the back lighting?

[machm1970 180]

Yes, I left them in.

 

Matt

[buening 63]

Just an FYI when looking at LEDs, the chip type can have a huge effect on brightness.  For example the more common 3528 chip gives 6-8 lumen per chip, whereas the larger 5630 chip gives 45-50 lumens per chip. If the seller doesn't mention the chip type, most likely its the 3528.  You pay more for the 5630 or 5050 chips, but they are much brighter.  The biggest challenge with these cars is the shallow depths allowed for bulbs, whether it be the dash diffusers or the turn signal housings on the fender/quarter.  Obviously the more LEDs the brighter the bulb, and LEDs are directional so you don't want a single LED on the end of the bulb for a dash bulb (since it will just shine against the housing instead of filling the area around the gauge. Finding a multi-LED bulb to fit is a trial and error, something I've been experimenting with since they are cheap enough (non-dash bulbs that is).

[copb8 97]

Resurrecting this from the dead.......

I need clarification on whether the diffusers would need to be removed to use these specific bulbs?

                     194-NWHP5 Bulbs

I'd prefer the whiter look for the gauges and was thinking if the these fit with the diffusers then I'd simply install all white bulbs. If the diffusers need to be removed then I guess I'll need to get color specific lights for the high-beam and turn-signals.

Is removing the diffusers a big pain that will lead to other things breaking? 

Are there diffusers for all the lights, or just the turn signal and high beam lights? If the latter I may just change out the dash lights and leave those.

Thanks

 

[copb8 97]

Well of course the moment I post my question(s) and go back to googling I find some of the answers that I couldn't find for 2 hours before. 

So I found an installation instruction document on CJP and it appears that every light has a diffuser and that the process to replace or remove those isn't all that big a deal. (correct me if I'm wrong).

That said, I'd still prefer to find an LED light bulb that'll just fit in the existing diffusers without having to open up the cluster and remove them.

 

[69RavenConv 286]

The only trick is finding a form factor that fits inside the diffuser - something close to the original 194 bulb dimensions. The problem with some of those tower types like the one you linked is they can be very tall. LED's produce next to no heat so as long as they physically fit the application they will be ok.

As I posted above, I like white LEDs inside the original diffusers. YMMV

[edit] Upon revisiting your link, those bulbs look good to me - standard 194 form factor..