Gauge lights

[Skip & Lynne]

Well now that the wiring harness works does anyone have a problem with the fuel and oil pressure /temp gauge lights. My speedo and tach are lighted well but the smaller gauges are really dark. The lights for the gauges work but for some reason the smaller gauges don`t illuminate well at all. Thanks Skip

 

[CDK]

I fixed mine up last year with a newer generic version socket and bulb and they are brighter then they were but it is far from overwhelming. Side note, my feet are very well lit now. Yes, I did adjust the ring inside the gauge and even tried different locations
CDK

 

[Keoke]

Hi Skip, I think that is par for the case.It is typical in british cars for the smaller guages to be poorly illuminated.However, it is possible that the white reflective coating inside the guage case can have faded and a new coat of paint will brighten them up a bit.-FWIW---Keoke

 

[trrdster2000]

Skip, try to get a better ground, if you already have a ground wire that goes between the guages, undo them and sand paper the ring that fits on the treaded part of the guage, use a small star washer when putting it back on. This did wonders for a couple of British cars that had this problem. Wayne

 

[John Loftus]

Skip,

I recall that the Little British Car Company <https://www.lbcarco.com/> sells halogen bulbs for the headlamps, tail lights and instrument lights. Never tried them myself but may be worth a call to see if they have the right size to fit the smith guages.

Cheers,
John

 

[Dave Russell]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi Skip, I think that is par for the case.-Keoke

[/ QUOTE ]
The problem is that while the large gages have the light inside where it should be, the small gages rely on an external lamp showing thru a strip of cloudy plastic to illuminate the inside. As you know, most of the light goes on your feet. The fuel gage only has markings on the bottom, so bottom positioning of the lamp works pretty well. You can position the other bracket to favor the oil pressure or the temp. if that's any help.

I think that a brighter bulb would mostly light your feet better.
D

 

[Keoke]

Never gave the Healey guage lighting much thought.However on the Daimler the little plastic hoods are green Wow, here I had the room and shortened the barrels that fit the bulbs which allows the bulb to penetrate further inside the guage.That did make some improvement but it won't blind you by any means,plus they have a dimmer.Maybe white leds effectively positioned in the case would improve the illumination-Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif PS here is a thought small lamps could be fit up under the dash pad that would illuminate the dash guages which could be switched on when required ?.

 

[Skip & Lynne]

Thanks guys I was considering removing the colored plastic ring inside the gauge but if this is a common thing I will get the wife a new flashlight for our evening drives, besides my feet are really ugly so I tend to look at them as little as possible. Drove the car this weekend with the outer body off for a shakedown it runs great with no glitches. Skip

 

[Dave Russell]

I think that I just figured out what the dash light off-on switch is for. So you can't see your feet at night?
D

 

[Patton]

Check out

https://www.classicandvintagebulbs.com/index.html

Thier site says they are the source for LBCarCo's bulbs.

 

[Johnny]

I did put the LBCCO halogen bulbs in the speedo and tach on my car. They are extremely bright. So bright in fact you could read a map by them at night. Others have said they can see the smile on my face even when it's pitch dark outside. Thinking of replacing them. The other safety lights are hopelessly dim in comparison, in fact can't even read them at night even with the halogen bulbs. However, I can readily see what type of footwear I'm wearing.