65 heater control lighting

[Harry S.]

Re: 65 heater control lighting

Agree, I have a tiny LED flashlight and can see into the future, it's so bright.

[Gary B.]

[Michael G.]

[Gary B.]

Re: 65 heater control lighting

I don’t believe there is a good photo in the archives of the installed light fixture which illuminates the heater controls on a non-AC C2. Here’s the original light fixture on my ‘66. The bulb is encased in the metal torpedo, which clips to the 6 o’clock position on the housing that the clock attaches to. You can see the green diffuser cover that covers the tip of the torpedo, and you can see one of several rectangular windows through the green cover in the tip of the torpedo through which scant light passes. The ground path for the bulb is from the clock body, to the housing surrounding the clock, thru the torpedo connector, to the bulb socket.


Gary

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[Brian K.]

Re: 65 heater control lighting

I switched to all led's and it's awesome...I put in a green one for the radio and this one discussed here. They dim very slightly but you don't really need to as they aren't so bright but a DRAMATIC improvement. I realize judging would be an issue here but I don't go that road.

[Michael G.]

Re: 65 heater control lighting

I’ve installed the LED in the heater control socket, see pic below. Now, does anyone know the path to ground for the cluster lights? I know they are all grounded to the cluster, but what is its ground path?

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[Gary B.]

[Michael G.]

Re: 65 heater control lighting

Yeah, us old guys need that

I'm thinking that if there isn't a clean ground to the frame (other than the phosphate-coated bolts and nuts that hold the cluster on), I'll install a jumper to improve the current flow, a flow that may be questionable after all these years. Cleaning the ground made such a huge different on the headlight rotator switch, that I may be on a roll here...

[Michael G.]

Re: 65 heater control lighting

I know that on my car (at least) the green restoration coating on the body hinge brace is not the original zinc chromate (shhhhh!). As such, I doubt very much that any other paint is that conductive. If we're counting on a lot of current flowing through the contact between it and the zinc plated cluster, or through the phosphate-coated bolts that attach it, we might be making a mistake. The same goes for the insulating corrosion and dirt between the cluster and the tie bar. Maybe that has something to do with the dim cluster lights on both old and restored cars. In any case, a clean ground of a bare spot on the cluster to a bare spot on the tie bar, with a zinc-coated fastener is probably a good idea.

[Gary J.]

Re: 65 heater control lighting

Michael, what are the part # of the LED bulbs, and where did you purchase them, also are they dimmable?

[Michael G.]

[Michael G.]

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[James W.]

[Michael G.]

Re: 65 heater control lighting

[Michael G.]

Re: 65 heater control lighting

Here's the standard incandescent bulb car:

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Here's the LED. Though these appear different in the photos , it could be the camera's reaction to the two different types of light - I don't see much difference in person
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