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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / 1950 FORD DASH LIGHTS DIM

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Discussion Topic: 1950 FORD DASH LIGHTS DIM -- page: 1 2

tonys1950

12-06-2016 @ 7:21 PM

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ANYBODY FIGURED OUT HOW TO GET BRIGHTER DASH CLUSTER LIGHTS IN A 1950 FORD CAR ? THE PURPLE LENS ARE SO DARK YOU GET LITTLE TO NO LIGHT THROUGH---STILL RUNNING A 6 V SYSTEM. I HAVE LOCATED SOME 6V LEDS SO AM GOING TO TRY THAT NEXT.

nelsb01

12-06-2016 @ 8:34 PM

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Tony;
Don't feel bad, a lot of us can't read by the glow of the dash board lights............
I own a 1949 and have green plastic that the light from the dash lights is suppose to go through to enhance the 'glow' material on the gauges.
I don't think that purple was an original factory item. I know that when I owned my first car, I removed the dash light plastic and tinted it blue to match the rest of the car, so that may have happened to yours somewhere along in its history.

I would suggest that you get some clear plastic to replace the tinted you now have, or just remove the plastic all together.

tonys1950

12-07-2016 @ 10:45 AM

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As to the color not being correct--i know for a fact they had the "purple glow'. a friend has and has had too many of these 50's to count and they are all purple. I have received the 6v leds and tested them in a spare cluster and in pitch black darkness, i can see a faint purple glow, so hoping that will be enough to get by with. I will let you know. In case anybody cares i sourced them at superbrightleds.com. Also, the "lens" is a glass cup, i don't know what they used to tint the glass, but if a led doesn't shine bright through it, its was some very dense stuff, maybe left over from the atomic bomb blast glasses !!!!!

JT Ford

12-07-2016 @ 11:02 AM

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Take two of the colored lens out, paint two bulbs blue or green or what ever and snap them into the holes. You should remove the speedmeter head first to ease getting the lens out.

TomO

12-10-2016 @ 10:25 AM

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There have been many posts on this subject. here is a link to a stream that has a different solution.

http://www.earlyfordv8.org/forum/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=18&Topic=192&keywords=dash%20lights

The bulbs are 7 volt bulbs and the most important thing to fix the problem is to make sure that the bulbs are getting battery voltage about 6.2 volts or more with the parking and dash lights on. You can measure this at the output of the dash light dimmer control or at the bulb connection. To measure at the bulb connection, use a thin probe such as a paper clip to slip into the rubber sleeve of the bullet connector.

LEDs have a focused light and may not provide enough light to the peripheral areas. I believe the original bulb is a 55 bulb and they are available with a blue color.

http://www.bulbtown.com/55B_BLUE_MINIATURE_BULB_BA9S_BASE_p/55b.htm

Tom

12-10-2016 @ 11:27 AM

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Tom,

How were you able to find posts dating back to 2009?

jwitt

12-10-2016 @ 12:22 PM

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This question was just answered a few days ago, with some good information on the problem:

http://www.earlyfordv8.org/forum/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=18&Topic=10330

John

Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed.

TomO

12-11-2016 @ 8:58 AM

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I just did a search using ALL in the PAST box.

Tom

sarahcecelia

07-10-2017 @ 9:47 AM

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I had the same problem on my 1950. I talked to Ray Marner, who was a Ford mechanic in the 50's, and he said that those glass lenses (4) were purple,like mine, and the numbers and other indicators in the instrument cluster had phosphorus paint on them which made them light up like they did in the '50 I had when I was 18yrs. old, and the phosphorus deteriates over the years. Now it is is a banned product. I just took the purple glasses out and popped the bulb and socket back in, and They light up nicely!. Note: You HAVE TO take the instrument cluster assembly out to remove those purple lenses, they are locked in on the speedo side!! If you want a blue light effect, Chris Robbins told me that there was a Mustang lens, in the 60's, that was light blue that worked very nicely. If you want to go that route, Call him at 610-767-0411, after 11 am.

Regards, Steve Lee

sarahcecelia

07-10-2017 @ 10:00 AM

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Tom, Would they have amber park/signal bulbs-6volt for my 1950 ?

Regards, Steve Lee

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