Smith’s Gauges Lighting Upgrade:
 

I am about two weeks behind in getting this offer out; but I wanted to wait for a couple of the people that supplied me broken gauges to perform the procedure before releasing it to the general public.

Let me start off by first saying that this is not an “Upgrade Kit” being offered. It is more of the procedure on “how” to upgrade your dash lighting and “where” to get the proper bulbs. The reason for this is I found it impossible to purchase the bulbs in any quantity at a reasonable price. The LED’s are sourced from various sellers in Hong Kong via eBay. They sell the same bulbs for a wide range of prices, but use the postage as a price fixing element ranging from free shipping with expensive bulbs to cheap bulbs with expensive shipping. They all refused to deal in any quantity with reduced pricing.

Those of you who have looked into upgrading the Smiths gauge lighting know that all the instruments are an easy upgrade except for the Tachometer; and there are 3 versions of the tachometer in use. So that’s what I have developed - a fix for the Tachometer lighting along with supplying information on upgrading all the lighting in all the instruments…

What you will receive is an 11 page instruction manual. “Eleven pages !!!” Fear not, the document contains step by step instructions with lots of photographs taking up a lot of space on each page. And it also has 4 pages of information not related to the actual upgrade procedure; for example: a full page of bulb source information, a page explaining why the gauges are so dim. And a page outlining the dimmer switch removal, I have a lot of development costs into this project not to mention time. And you should know that everyone who supplied me a broken gauge, etc. has received a complimentary copy of the upgrade procedure too. The best thing is that this procedure is valid for any manufacturer’s chassis (Cobra Replica & GT40) with Smiths gauges. My goal was to use “White” colored bulbs to replace the yellowish incandescent bulbs standard with the gauges. Being “white light” and not the yellowish tinted light in itself makes a big difference. Various colors (untested) are also available if you prefer.

What I propose to do is to only cover my development costs for this project (~$100). Postage, test LED’s and misc. pieces and parts. So I’m offering the procedure to everyone, delivered in electronic format (a PDF file) for a $5 contribution or $5.25 with payment through Paypal. ALL PROCEEDS BEYOND MY DEVELOPMENT COSTS WILL BE DONATED TO THE LONDON COBRA SHOWS CHARITY.

Some photos of the final results are posted in my Club Cobra Gallery. Please note: The tachometer used in the example photos has a rusty face because it was underwater in hurricane Katrina. A tachometer in good condition will look more even in its light pattern from top to bottom. Updated photos will be posted with a new tachometer mounted in its place. Tachometer and speedometer pictured are using the standard upgrade bulb with the optional bulb being even brighter. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
(My Contact info is below - same email address for Paypal)

www.clubcobra.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/71192/ppuser/15212

Blas - thanks for e-mailing your instructions. As with the SPF wiring diagram, these are very thorough. The PayPal purchase was easy and cheap; now the hard part will be tearing apart the dash to install the new bulbs. Thank goodness it is still winter. I will re-read the instructions several times, but between the photos and detailed instructions, I don't expect any problems.

Thanks again - Tom

Can't go wrong with Blas...
 

My paypal is on the way Blas. If this is even 1/10 as good as your wiring diagrams it's money very well spent!!

-Tim

Tom,
It's really not necessary to "tear the dash apart". By just removing the Speedometer and the Tachometer, this should give you full access to the smaller gauge lighting fixtures above them thru their two openings in the dash. The bulb holders just pull out with the bulbs attached. Except for the Tach's unless you have an early style Tach. Then the upgrade is really simple.
Blas

Good stuff here...
 

Got it Blas!! Looks great. Easy to follow, thoroughly documented with great pictures and parts specifications and sources --- what's not to like? Clearly up to your normally high standards for doing this kind of stuff. My weekend project list just got fuller!

Blas,
Received your dash lighting upgrade info. Like your SPF wiring diagrams and your master curcuit breaker for earlier SPF cars the high quality of your work is greatly appreciated. Keep up the good work!

Hey Blas-

I got the instructions downloaded last night. Thhey look really good: complete and very detailed. It looks like it will be an easy upgrade - esspecially since I haven't installed the dash yet!

I'll let you know if I have questions.

Harold

Just sent a PayPal.
Thanks,

Hi Blas, just sent payment via Paypal.

Thanks,

Arthur

I received these instructions from BLAS a couple of weeks ago and was very impressed. Very detailed and well illustrated. I wouldn't try it without!!:eek:

Got the PDF, Looks thorough. I'll spend some time over the next day looking at your creation. And I look forward to making my conversions.

This looks like a really great upgrade.

Thanks,

Arthur

Is the product you are offering available for the AC MKIV's?

The smiths repros use a different bulb style than the original smiths.

--but I think Blas's plan is a good starting point.

Steve

Send me a photo of the back of any instruments you can see, maybe I can help you out...Some of the realy old Smiths had a metal 1 wire bulb socket with a #1446 or #1449 screw-in bulb. The speedo and tach were 2 wire sockets. A couple photos will help me determine what you have. I actually have a set of those sockets too in my collection... (I'll need a bigger garage soon)
Blas

Just a quick update:
As outlined in the original email below, I was offering any profits from the sale of the direction sets related to the upgrading of the stock lighting that is supplied with Smith’s Instruments. To date, I have had 12 people purchase the upgrade info. In addition, I awarded 2 people free copies for the submissions to the “What Little Custom Touches…” thread here on CC. And 4 or 5 others received free copies for sending me broken instruments to experiment with during development of the upgrade procedure. My total costs for the lighting upgrade development were $114.13. Direction Set sales totaled (after PayPal fees) $87.10 (Which included an additional $5 donation from “Mel K.” for his copy). Leaving a total deficit of $27.03. So... I will hand carry 5 copies to the LCS for people to bid on later this week…(They are doing the silent bid tent again right?) Hopefully, a few people will make a bids to give to the LCS charity…

I believe all 5 printed copies in the silent auction at LCS were bid on sucessfully...thanks for your support of a great cause. The offer continues for the 2011 LCS charity. Those who won the 5 auctions can contact me for a pdf file version for their electronic records if they want too...

Hey Blas,
Just sent payment your way. Thanks for putting this all together and thanks for donating the proceeds!!!

John

Thanks,
I'll prepare your copy of the procedure and get it emailed to you by tomorrow evening. Feel free to send me any comments or clairifications you think would be helpfull with the procedure. as usual, I'll update the document if it's a usefull suggestion.

Hey Blas,
I wired my gauges up in 2010, but didn't get my Cobra on the road until July 2011. I just wanted to say that the instructions you provided were excellent and complete! I don't think I would have tried this modification without them!

Although I never drove my car without the LED lighting, I can imagine that the lighting would have been practically nonexistent with the original incandescents, knowing British electrical engineering of that period!

Thanks for your efforts!

Hal

Well thank you very much...Everyone who has done this modification is quite happy with it... The price of the LED's has come down since I first came up with this modification. I'd love to see a photo sometime...I'll add it to my satisfied customer collection...Did you go with white or a colored bulb?
BTW: Looking at your gallery photos, your wiring skills look to be some of the best I’ve seen…