Dash lights

[sidewalkman]

Hi Gang, odd question but are there lights in the switch are of the dash?

[jopizz]

None of the switches are individually lit. All the lights are either in the dash or in the instruments.

John

[sidewalkman]

this picture made me wonder, see the lighting around the switches?

[jopizz]

If you look at the back of the dash you will see metal containers where the lights plug into. That concentrates the light so it appears that the switches are individually lit. A neat little trick.

John

[Tbird1044]

There are plastic rings that fit around each one of the switches that reflect the light from the bulbs mounted in the rear as John stated. These rings act very much like fiber optics to capture the light and illuminate the switch area. I'll attach some pics of the back of the dash panel that may help explain things.
Nyles

[sidewalkman]

Thanks guys, I'll have to stick my head under there. Might be easier just to take the gauges and plate off since I have to replace the light switch and get the clock apart as it's the only thing so far not working.

I take it from Nyles pics that they are separate from the bulbs in each of the gauges because they're all lit. As are the 2 for the marker lights. I see a hole in the pic above the ignition switch and between the lighter and the wiper switch, are those the bulb sockets?

[Tbird1044]

You are correct in that the gauge, clock and speedo cluster have their own bulbs in the individual housings. I tried to mark up the back of the instrument cluster picture, and the 2 holes marked "bulb" are the ones that illuminate the switches.
If you need to get to these bulbs, I would just pull the instrument cluster and clock, and then you should have room to access the bulbs. Much easier than pulling the entire instrument panel.
Just as a side note, I have seen bulbs that have been in so long that the tungsten actually coats the inside of the bulb, which really limits the light it emits. Always a good idea to put in a new, name brand bulb, once you have it apart.
Nyles

[sidewalkman]

Thanks Nyles, I'll do that. The arrows are perfect by the way. You know the list just keeps growing for the car that didn't need much work. latest is the secondary's on the holley carb (450 CFM BTW) that came with it get stuck wide open, I'm thinking its probably the float, I have gaskets so I'll be tearing it apart.

I'm in Canada so my dollar is about 60 cents US, I'll wait until it goes up to buy a new carb etc.