Dash lights question

[BobT-47P15]

Hello all.   What designation or bulb number are you all using in the back of the speedometer in a 47 Plymouth P15?     Since those two bulbs illuminate

the gauges as well as the speedometer they need to be fairly bright.     Mine work but are not real bright.   Tried putting some stray bulbs I have in tonight

and some of them essentially did nothing to help.     I think the bulbs I have in there now may be the microscope bulbs sold by a fellow on ebay as extra 

bright.   Any thoughts appreciated.   Bob    

Edited August 24, 2020 by BobT-47P15
wording

[desoto1939]

Bob:  Hope all is well with yu and the family;

 

Here is what I found in one of my manuals:

 

Miniture lamps:

Ply 42-46-47:

Parking  #63

direction signal: Front 1158  rear 1158

License plate 63

instrument 81

indicator i think this is h/l beam 51

dome 88

headlights 4030

rea 63

stop 1129

 

 

Hope this helps you get the bright light that you need.

 

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

[Ernie Baily]

Hello,

I had the same problem as you with my 48 Plymouth. I ordered some LED bulbs thru Hirsch Automotive, 396 Littleton Ave., Newwark NJ 07103. I spoke to Eric at 201-910-6161. The bulbs work great, but I had to very slightly grind the center of the bulb to fit throught the hole where they go. The cost was about $45.00.

The bulb spec is:  6-24v Ba15s 13smd LED in warm white.

 

Good luck!

Ernie Baily 

[Sam Buchanan]

On 8/23/2020 at 10:21 PM, BobT-47P15 said:

Hello all.   What designation or bulb number are you all using in the back of the speedometer in a 47 Plymouth P15?     Since those two bulbs illuminate

the gauges as well as the speedometer they need to be fairly bright.     Mine work but are not real bright.   Tried putting some stray bulbs I have in tonight

and some of them essentially did nothing to help.     I think the bulbs I have in there now may be the microscope bulbs sold by a fellow on ebay as extra 

bright.   Any thoughts appreciated.   Bob    

 

I found the microscope bulbs to be a big improvement over the standard bulbs. Might be a good idea to verify you have good grounds at the bulbs.

 

[Eneto-55]

I have my speedometer all dismantled right now, so this thread has me wondering if I should add some more lights in there.  Where would you put them if you were to do that?  I haven't looked at the speedometer with this in mind yet.  I did wonder how well the two bulbs would do in lighting the whole instrument panel.  I've also been thinking of adding some small bulbs below the 0 and the 100 for turn signal indicator lamps. 

 

There is some reflective paint around the edges inside the outer shell, and some of it has flaked off on mine.  That might also be some of the reason that it seems dim.  Does anyone know of a good reflective paint to redo it with?  (It is a sort of green color.) 

[greg g]

Hey Sam, mine isn't that bright in the daytime... I looked at some of the leds on the net but my concern is that incandescent bulbs put out a warm light in 360 degrees.  LED light seems directional and to my eyes cold.  It looks like the LEDs shown for instrument lighting the light will mainly be coming straight out from the lamp and illuminating only what is directly in front of the !ight with little light to be reflected towards the instruments them selves.  Wh.en you say microscope boobs what are you referring to do you have a bulb number and supplier?

[Eneto-55]

Here are some photos of the dismantled instrument cluster.

# 01 is the front pieces, and then proceeding to the back.  Notice the reflective pain in some areas around the outside edges of the main back panel (#03), and around the bulbs in the center back case (#04).  

Greg's point is well taken, because it is obvious that the purpose of painting the last piece is to reflect the light back towards the instruments.  

But I wonder if it might help to paint more of the outer inside rim, and possibly the back of the piece at the top of photo #02.  (I also have a photo of the back of that panel, but probably not necessary to post it.  It is also painted black.  (Appears to be flat black now, but it might have dulled over the years in the Oklahoma sun.)

 

[Sam Buchanan]

2 hours ago, greg g said:

Hey Sam, mine isn't that bright in the daytime... I looked at some of the leds on the net but my concern is that incandescent bulbs put out a warm light in 360 degrees.  LED light seems directional and to my eyes cold.  It looks like the LEDs shown for instrument lighting the light will mainly be coming straight out from the lamp and illuminating only what is directly in front of the !ight with little light to be reflected towards the instruments them selves.  Wh.en you say microscope boobs what are you referring to do you have a bulb number and supplier?

 

The microscope boobs....er....bulbs are these:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Plymouth-1946-1947-1948-extra-bright-tail-light-bulb-63-replacement-6-volt-63/161410757417?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

Edited August 26, 2020 by Sam Buchanan

[greg g]

Thanks, I have forgotten does it take 2 or 4 to relamp?  Found these at 63 cents per.

 

https://www.bulbtown.com/mobile/product.aspx?ProductCode=b63&404;http://www.bulbtown.com:80/63_Miniature_Bulb_Ba15S_Base_p/b63.htm=

Edited August 26, 2020 by greg g

[Sam Buchanan]

1 hour ago, greg g said:

Thanks, I have forgotten does it take 2 or 4 to relamp?  Found these at 63 cents per.

 

https://www.bulbtown.com/mobile/product.aspx?ProductCode=b63&404;http://www.bulbtown.com:80/63_Miniature_Bulb_Ba15S_Base_p/b63.htm=

 

The ones you referenced are the standard bulbs and have less than half the candlepower (3 candlepower) as the microscope bulbs (7 candlepower). That is why the microscope bulbs are the hot setup. You need two bulbs.

 

Buy the microscope bulbs and only do this job once. 

Edited August 26, 2020 by Sam Buchanan

[BobT-47P15]

Quote

 

Hey.......thanks for the replies on the dash lights.   I have begun looking under the dash and checking my connections to see if anything is loose

or dirty.  I have more wires under there now than there were at first.....having added turn signals, an underdash courtesy light,  horn buttons and wiring for my

oogah horn, siren and another old horn I have under the hood.  Have removed the hood ornament light for the time being.....have purchased a small led strip light to use for that.                         I need to trace all those wires under the dash  and make sure they are all joined together good.  Seems like my dash lights used to be brighter.   Rewired the headlights a

while back with 12 and 14 gauge wire per the book.  Had to look at the wiring diagrams for next models after P15 to find wire gauges.  Always a project........

[Eneto-55]

13 hours ago, BobT-47P15 said:

Hey.......thanks for the replies on the dash lights.   I have begun looking under the dash and checking my connections to see if anything is loose

or dirty.  I have more wires under there now than there were at first.....having added turn signals, an underdash courtesy light,  horn buttons and wiring for my

oogah horn, siren and another old horn I have under the hood.  Have removed the hood ornament light for the time being.....have purchased a small led strip light to use for that.                         I need to trace all those wires under the dash  and make sure they are all joined together good.  Seems like my dash lights used to be brighter.   Rewired the headlights a

while back with 12 and 14 gauge wire per the book.  Had to look at the wiring diagrams for next models after P15 to find wire gauges.  Always a project........

 

Here's some gauge info posted some years back by Ed (OldMopar) about how to determine the wire gauge.  I think I've read the same thing someplace else, because I had it in my notes as follows:

GAUGE    # TRACERS

18                    NONE
16                        1
14                        2
12                        3
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

10                    NONE
8                         1

 

I have noted some discrepancies in respect to the headlight harness wire gauges, and would be interested to hear anything you might have been able to determine regarding the # of tracers (and general size) of those wires.

 

Regarding the instrument panel lighting - I apologize for intruding on the discussion.  I sometimes forget that not everyone is wanting to go as deep in this as to dismantle the instrument cluster.  But I would very much appreciate any feed-back anyone can offer regarding a reflective paint that they have used, and also especially as to how it held up to the heat generated by the bulbs.  (I do know that LEDs don't make much heat, but like one of the previous posters, I don't care for the sharpness of the light they produce.)