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Light for BJ8 Center Dash Panel

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Legal Bill

Jedi Knight
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So driving along at night I get aggravated that the center panel of the dash, where all the switches are located, has no illumination. I'm wondering if there is some assembly that I am missing. Maybe something that fits up under the dash top beneath the rear view mirror and shines down? Seems like there is room for something there. But if this is the way they came, has anyone developed a light fixture to illuminate the switches and heater controls?

Thanks in advance.

Bill
 
I have seen guys using a thin strip LED light as a high level brake light using magnets to attach it to the trunk .
Maybe theres a version available with a white/clear lens .
You could tuck it under the lip of the dash and it would hardly be noticeable .
I would check at a local auto store or truck/ trailer supply place .
 
Thanks Rick. I happen to have 2/3s of one of those lights and held it in the area to see how it looks. A bit too visible, I think. Maybe a Midget console map light? They are low profile.

HN, I did look around the internet for an LED stick on. Going to the parts store is a good idea. But I see in the Moss catalogue that the LED bulbs they sell are polarity sensitive.
 
Maybe a headband lamp? This one has an MP3 player with speakers, so no need for a radio! image.jpg
 
I was just looking for a pic of my interior to see what I might find even though I have not installed a light as you are looking for. I did install a light similar to the MGA interior light on a homemade bracket behind the dash just above the shelf for a somewhat map/convenience light. As I was looking at this pic of my dash i thought maybe a light such as a small license plate light could be installed in the area just to the right of my toggle switches. The right light might just have the lens pointing to the left thereby illuminating the toggle switches and the fan/heater controls. Coincidentally I was thinking of just the same need as I was driving home from dinner last night and I intended to turn on my driving lights but accidentally turned off the fuel pump. In less than 30 seconds I realized what I had done and was trying to get the fuel back on while driving down the road at 60 mph. That area is indeed quite dark.
 

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I got some pics mixed up by I think you can see what I mean.
 

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I had the same thoughts when I got my '67, and after some research I bought an LED light strip from Superbright LED's. If I remember correctly, it was about 3-feet long with wiring connections at one end. The strip is made to "cut to size" so I cut off all but 3 of the lights. It came with a sticky backing so I stuck it up under the center of my dash and wired it to my parking/headlight switch so that it comes on whenever I turn my lights on. You really have to look to even see where the light is coming from and it is just enough light to be able to see all the switches and whatever else you might have mounted in the center section. I suppose you could wire it to the switch that turns the gauge lights on and off so that if in twilight or right after the sun comes up if you don't need or want the gauge and dash lights to be on you can turn it off that way.
 
.Hi Bill,

Early on when I first purchased the Healey, I mounted a light just below the dash pad above heater control and vertical dash. It proved to be of major benefit during my RT66 cross country odyssey. As I remember, it was purchased at a local Pep Boys or someplace of the type back in the '60,




IMG_0183 (3).jpg

Since I am not driving at night anymore, I haven't gotten around to remount the light.

All the best,
Ray(64BJ8P1)
 
John Turney said:
You need different kinds of switches so you can feel them in the dark.
Click to expand...

I would probably still do it. I should be able to still do it by counting from one end or the other, but still got the wrong one. You would think throwing the switch up would turn something on but in this case it turned the fuel pump off. I have the two pumps electrically interlocked so that they can’t both come on at the same time. So when I turned on the second pump by accident while the 1st was still on it in effect turned both pumps off. I really do need a light.
 
Bill, that could work, of coarse without dimensions it's hard to tell. Kind of like if it suits ya use it. i did want to tell you that in my last pic i noticed that you can see the small light that I have been using for an interior/courtesy light. It is a small half round lens which I have mounted on a homemade bracket just under the right side heater control knob. You can just barely make it out in my last pic. Half the globe/lens is shielded with a chrome cover making the light kind of directional. I'm kind of partial to something like this mounted on the surface of the dash panel like maybe just above the right side heater switch. It is small and the wires feed out the back of it.
 
I bought this years ago at AutoZone. Two wires, ground and hot. Wired it to a push button for on/off.
007 Healey 014_2.jpg
 
A genuine rally car map light.
 

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