LED console lamps

[elacruze]

Attending to a couple details. Oddly though I had both a 4-speed and auto console neither had the wiring harness or lamp sockets. The harnesses seem to go for about $100 on ebay so I bought one listed for a '65 Fury, Belvedere or Savoy. It looked right, and it was perfect. Plugged it in and everything was in the right place tho I have no use for the auto indicator lamp.

I want LED lamps throughout, particularly in the interior to reduce heat, increase light and reduce electrical load. I found these LEDs at www.superbrightleds.com for $6.99 each and $2.99 postage. The stock T90 bulbs that came in the harness worked but are very hot. Superbrightleds had a replacement LED lamp that fit dimensionally, the 1142-W15. The light is awesome, very hard to get a subjective view in a photo but I love it. Very bright, no heat to worry about.

Pics.

[elacruze]

Final.

[b5blue]

Looks nice! 

[Fred]

Yeah, they're a great idea aren't they. Already on my list

[Charger_Dart]

Looks good, something I just added to my to-do list.... 

[ODZKing]

In a small area like that, they look like they work great.

[resq302]

One thing I have found with LED lights is that they give great straight light focussing and not so much light off to the sides.  In this instance it would work great!  For area such as in the instrument cluster, I have not seen that much of an improvement since the light in the instrument cluster is meant to have more of a surround light instead of a direct light situation.  However, this will also be something that I will be adding as I am sure it will greatly reduce the chances of the lens for the console light burning the center of the lens or making it yellow.  Great find!   

[elacruze]

One thing I have found with LED lights is that they give great straight light focussing and not so much light off to the sides.  In this instance it would work great!  For area such as in the instrument cluster, I have not seen that much of an improvement since the light in the instrument cluster is meant to have more of a surround light instead of a direct light situation.  However, this will also be something that I will be adding as I am sure it will greatly reduce the chances of the lens for the console light burning the center of the lens or making it yellow.  Great find!   

I put all LEDs in my instrument panel and they work great. I looked at all the different lamps available and targeted their brightness and viewing angles to their intended uses. For instance in the turn signal and brake system positions I used 4-LED bulbs all facing forward with a 90 (iirc) viewing angle. For the instrument illumination I used single LED bulbs with 180* lenses to distribute the light as a regular bulb would. The lamps in my console actually have 5 facing forward and 4 or 5 facing outward from center beneath the main forward bank. I used a 19 LED tower bulb in the overhead dome. I haven't used any yet that I don't think are an improvement over regular bulbs. I will say though that in my '68 Dodge pickup the LEDs leave some darker areas in the instrument panel, but I think that's because the back of the panel is black and has no reflection. I'm going to paint it white and see if that improves it-but in any case it's well-lit, just not as even as with regular bulbs.

[resq302]

Instead of white, I would try painting the back of it a chrome type of silver.  Probably have more reflective quality than the white paint would.

[Ghoste]

Looks a helluva lot brighter than stock in the photo.

[36 Dodge Brothers]

Last Sunday I noticed that the passenger side bulb was out so I was going to change it this weekend with a regular bulb until I seen your post. I just ordered a set and I hope I am as satisfied as you, if not it wasn't a big expense so I will just go back to the original style.

Thanks,
Marco

[A383Wing]

One thing I have found with LED lights is that they give great straight light focussing and not so much light off to the sides.  

yea...my thought as well..I have found some LED lights that have the LED's in front and a row or 2 around the outside edges....like below pic

Bryan

[AKcharger]

thanks for posting, i'll do this next month

[74bluecharger440]

you can get them from year one and in different colours to.

[Dino]

That's pretty sweet!  I actually like the yellow glow I get from the console and underdash light but if I keep my yellowed lenses then the led bulbs shouldn't change that, only make it brighter.  The console lights do get pretty hot!

I am contemplating led's for the instrument cluster as the stock lighting is a joke.  I do want to keep the dimming feature but I hear there's leds for that as well.

[bull]

Nice. That would be good for the console lights as the incandescent bulbs like to melt the lenses. LEDs are kind of spendy though.

[elacruze]

That's pretty sweet!  I actually like the yellow glow I get from the console and underdash light but if I keep my yellowed lenses then the led bulbs shouldn't change that, only make it brighter.  The console lights do get pretty hot!

I am contemplating led's for the instrument cluster as the stock lighting is a joke.  I do want to keep the dimming feature but I hear there's leds for that as well.

You can choose LED colors, I think yellow is an option. I have them for my front turn signals.

[36 Dodge Brothers]

That's pretty sweet!  I actually like the yellow glow I get from the console and underdash light but if I keep my yellowed lenses then the led bulbs shouldn't change that, only make it brighter.  The console lights do get pretty hot!

I am contemplating led's for the instrument cluster as the stock lighting is a joke.  I do want to keep the dimming feature but I hear there's leds for that as well.

I just replaced the bulbs to LEDs and actually I did loose the yellow glow with the LEDs. I will say one thing, the brilliant white light that I am getting looks great, I like it. One other thing, my doom light still gives off that yellow light.

[elacruze]

The first LED I installed was my dome light. It's brilliant and cool white.

[ODZKing]

I wonder if they make an LED replacement for the "Map Light" that normally gets to be about the tempurature of the sun!!!!  I believe it is a 562   

[Charger_Dart]

I have them in my taillights and love them. IMHO its a nice look that most can't tell they are LED's except how fast they turn on / off.