Dash lights

[Guest]

I almost never drive my 60 bird at night, but I took it out last night and noticed how dim the instrument lights are. The rheostat seems to work, but the lights are very dim even on the highest setting. Any ideas what to fix?

[jopizz]

Are they the original bulbs. After 50 years I imagine they can lose a bit of brightness. Maybe try some new ones and see if it makes a difference. I'm not sure if there are brighter lights available to replace the original 57's.

John

[Howard Prout]

Another possible cause is that if you are like me, your eyes don't see as well any more. I replaced all my dash lights with LEDs, they are cheap on eBay and they seem a little brighter. I originally got ones that were too blue (I think they were called bright white) so I changed to ones with more red (warm white?). Also LEDs require much less current. The pix shows the effect of the warm white LEDs.

[Joe Johnston]

With the top off of my 57 I couldn't see the turn signal indicators and replaced the original #57's with #1983 and saw a big improvement. (cleaning the plastic green lens helped too!) 1893's are longer and would still fit in the tube for the indicators, but my not work in all locations. LED's might even be brighter.

[Astrowing]

Even though the rheostat is working, there is probably more voltage drop across it than there was originally. Cleaning up the contacts would probably do wonders, or replace the light switch would signicantly help. The dash lights are pretty dim compared to modern cars, as are mine. I haven't gotten to the Tbird lights yet, but I cleaned up all the bulb sockets and wiring harness connectors in my '61 F100 and replaced the light switch and the lights are plenty bright.

[dgs]

My car's dash lights don't usually work, but persistent giggling og the light switch will usually bring them on for a bit, sometimes an entire trip. When they do come on, they seem to be full brightness and quite bright.

I need to clean or replace the switch, but haven't gotten around to it.

[simplyconnected]

It's common belief that the rheostat burns open. I have yet to see that. In my experience, the porcelain rheostat has a center that patina grows on. This center is made of brass (or is brass plated) and it passes power to the lights.

When I first saw mine, it looked so old that I never thought it was metal at all. I certainly never thought it would be a conductor, but it is.

See that green band around the middle section?

It needs to be cleaned once every ten years or so. Pull the spring back and wiggle the steel 'spider' out, and the rest simply falls out. Nothing here is fragile, in fact it's built like a tank. So, pull a battery cable off, then remove the headlight sw. There is a 'caution' here; start with the handle pushed in.

I understand that this job is much easier if you pull your Gauge out and reach in with your hand. With the Headlight Switch handle in the OFF position (pushed in), reach in and press that button on the Headlight Switch, then the handle will disengage allowing you to pull it out. Unscrew the Dash Bezel, and the switch drops out to work on it.

From the TRL, CLICK HERE to check out the Headlight Switch site. - Dave