[WINGNUT]

I am looking for some brighter instrument panel bulbs for my '72 GTO. The standard bulb is the 194 wedge style bulb, which I think is 4.6 watts. A 2825 bulb will fit the same socket and puts out 5 watts so I think they will be brighter. Are these bulbs safe to use in the instrument panel? Or do they operate at a higher temperature than the 194 does?

[Rocky Racoon]

Trade No. Volts Watts Amps Avg. CP Life
161 14.0 2.66 0.19 1 4000
158 14.0 3.36 0.24 2 3000
194 14.0 3.78 0.27 2 2500
192 14.0 4.62 0.33 3 2000
168 14.0 4.90 0.35 3 1500

[bsblguy]

paint the inside of the cluster gloss white then your 194 bulbs will be bright enough that you'll need the dimmer switch to dim them.

[Mister Pontiac]

Originally Posted by bsblguy

paint the inside of the cluster gloss white then your 194 bulbs will be bright enough that you'll need the dimmer switch to dim them.

X2.

[Don 79 TA]

do what i did
get the silver star 164's
they are somewhat blue in color
i put them in place of all the standard 164's on my TA (dash, side markers, rear tails, etc)
nice addition
not super brite, but much better than the standards
they're not exactly cheap either, but seem well worth it to me

i thought about the LED's, but i'm not really a fan of LEDs in older cars

[Tim john]

Look at what www.ronfranciswiring.com has to offer in their line of "Brite Bulbs" as direct replacements for the factory items.

Tim john---

[1967Tempest]

Originally Posted by Don 79 TA

do what i did
get the silver star 164's
they are somewhat blue in color
i put them in place of all the standard 164's on my TA (dash, side markers, rear tails, etc)
nice addition
not super brite, but much better than the standards
they're not exactly cheap either, but seem well worth it to me

i thought about the LED's, but i'm not really a fan of LEDs in older cars

I put LED's in the instrument panel. I am not happy with the outcome. I have LED's in the ceiling light, license plate light, etc.. and they work great. I got the brightest LED's I could get in a BA9. They dim fine, but they are not bright. Not sure if it is the angle etc.. I am going to try the $10.00 led and see if the intensity is brighter..


That said, I have blue and white LED's in Autometer gauges my other 67 Tempest. They are stupid bright and easy to read. I think the difference is that I am lighting 2" instead of the entire gauge cluster.

$0.02

HTH,

Dave