Bright dash lights???

[Zoom This]

I'm sure that I am in the same boat with all the other Smith gauge equipped Cobra owners here when it comes to dim dash lights. I'd like to BRIGHTEN them up enough so as to easily read them during night time travel. I think that most of the gauge lights are 2 watt bulbs. Has anyone replaced the bulbs or done any mods to bring up the brightness? The panel light dimmer is a joke since it only makes a situation worse when going from high to low. Any ideas that have worked?

[Bryan Wilson]

I had that problem with not being able to see the gauges at night.
I took the gauges appart and painted the inside of the cases with white paint and reassembled them with the same lamps, and now the faces are bright and easily seen at night.
Worked for me.
Cheers,
Bryan

[Unique580hp]

I didn't have a problem with reading my gauges. However, the interior of the car is so dark at night that I couldn't see anything. So I bought a red with chrome stripe "lighted" shift knob at Autozone. (I know, I know, Cobra purists are gagging right now. Don't worry I still have the original Cobra knob.) It is battery operated and glows bright red at night. It is bright enough that I can read a map, see my switches better, etc. I enclose a photo. You can barely see it, but it does help.!

[RallySnake]

Wow, two great solutions to a problem I've lived with for years!
The shift knob idea is neat because you can change gear to light up a different area.

Thanks guys,
Paul

[MidOHasp]

On a different note...

Any Superformance owners (recent for sure, old maybe) notice your Hi-Beam light is probably brighter than the hi-beams themselves? I mean, kudos on the headlamps, they're better than I expected, but whatever the brights do in terms of additional illumination is negated by the fact that the blue hi-beam indicator is blinding. I was thinking of taking the lens out and painting it darker blue or putting a blue light inside behind the light blue lens.

So painting the insides of the cans of the gauges white really helped, huh? Makes sense. Anyone ever try to seal the gauges better to keep the gauges from fogging up on a cold night?

JP

[Zoom This]

Yeah...let's talk about those extra-bright high beam and turn signal indicator lamps while we're at it! 'Guess I need to pull the bulbs to see what the wattage is and swap out for a lesser watt bulb, or put some paint on it to dim it down a little??

I called Superformance in Ohio and Mark in parts did concur that the lights were dim in the dash. They have tried a Sylvania bulb that is part number 194LL with positive results. He couldn't say how much of an increase the new lamp provided however. I'm off to Kragen tonight to pick up one bulb and see if it is worth buying half a dozen at $3.29 ea. I'm stickin to this dim bulb thing until I get it right.

[MidOHasp]

Maybe we could switch the hi-beam bulb and the bulbs in the speedo and tach, etc....haha

Any luck w/ those bulbs, Zoom?

JP

[Unique580hp]

The trouble I have with the turn signals is that I can't hear the relay clicking above the roar of the engine. I keep forgetting to turn them off.

I even installed an extra loud relay with no luck.

I might install a loud motorcycle turn signal alarm to it. I have those on my motorcycles and they are really loud.

Anyone else tried this???


(my signals do not cancel themselves out)

[RallySnake]

Unique,

Sometimes my turn signals don't cancel, but my indicators are so bright I notice them pretty quick. I put mine at the top of the dash so they are very visable. The high beam indicator is hiding under the rim of the steering wheel so it doesn't bother me. I can shift my head a little if there is any doubt that it's on.

Paul

[wyocobra]

Speedway now offers a couple sizes of LED indicator lights. I haven't installed mine yet but a high quality battery charger bench test says they're a whole bunch brighter than the bulb style that came with my LS kit. They even offer some different colors if green or blue don't match your color scheme. They're pretty cool looking too.

[excelguru]

Unique... You might wanna see THIS THREAD regarding a fix for those annoying blinkers. I did this last winter and it was EASY. So far, they've worked great!

I'm planning to paint my hi-beam bulb or something. It is downright ridiculous.

[Michael C Henry]

Anything can be a double edged sword. I remember driving my AC from LA to DesMoines in 71. The glare on the windshield made me think a was always about to go under an overpass or bridge.
I think a little adjustability would be preferable.

[Zoom This]

So this is where I am with dim bulbs. I bought some bulbs from Holden in England, http://www.holden.co.uk/. The part number was LLB501. It's a 5 watt bulb compared to the 2.75 watts from Sylvania installed from Superformance. I have been able to swap out the oil temp, water temp, speedometer and oil pressure lamps without too much fuss. I found the amp gauge and gas gauge bulb to be impossible to access using my hands and fingers up under the dash. The gauges that do have new bulbs are just fine and very readable at night.

The tach light bulb is an oddity that I can find no bigger wattage replacement for, anywhere. Anyone have any idea? Unless someone has a good layed out plan for increasing the wattage to ALL the gauges thru some rewiring of the panel dimmer, I think I've gone as far as I can.

[SFfiredog]

the 194LL bulbs work well

the tach has it's own weird bulb and I haven't been able to find a brighter replacement

the turn signal and high beam indicator light bezels are GLUED into the dash (with huge globs of glue) on a Superformance. Good luck getting them out!

I have designed a bracket that mounts in front of each gauge and holds a small candle. It looks very British and works quite well as long as the wind doesn't kick up.
One minor annoyance is the hot candle wax dripping on your legs if you tend to drive with shorts. If you are into BDSM, so much the better

--Mike

[Chaplin]

You could switch to Autometer gauges. I have them in my car and they are very bright- no problem at all. In fact, I have them dimmed quite a bit.

Alternatively, you could find out what bulbs autometer uses in their gauges and see if they will work in the Smith's.

Actually, I may have an extra bulb somewhere. Let me take a look and I will post the info I have it . . . .

[Zoom This]

Mike...I tried the 194LL's and they were no brighter, being a 2.75 watt bulb. The bulbs I bought from Holden are the only ones I have found that give me acceptable gauge lighting at 5 watts. Maybe Chaplin has a replacement bulb that will work from the Autometer gauges. Any luck Chaplin?

[slithering]

A word of wisdom to all who are using LED illumination. Light- Emitting Diodes are intense and can disrupt your vision. If stared at for any length of time, can cause one blurred or "wavy" vision. We use many of them in the electrical trade as switching indicators in motor control circuits and are often warned of the hazard by our safety directors. Be careful. Vision at 160 mph is blury enough .

Chris,
slithering

[tyfaim]

A friend painted the back side of the lenses on the high beam and turn signal dash idiot lights. I think he used scale model paint, yellow and blue, worked very well. No more holding your hand over the blue glare coming from that thing!

[scootter]

I changed all of my bulbs from the 194 to the 168 which is the same style but about 3.5 watts. They made a big difference. I bought them at a truck shop for about .60. I also bought some LED lights that cost $14 for two and they were no brighter than the stock ones. The only one that I have not changed yet is the tach, because it is a diferent style. You can change all of them without taking out the gauges.