New dash lights!
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 189
Likes: 0
From: Lake Havasu, AZ
Since my Truck is at the stage of installing a new Cluster, I would be up for it 78 F250 4x4. Plus then he could see how good they would hold up to out 120+ degree summers in the Arizona Desert.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,133
Likes: 3
From: Dracut, Massachusetts
I thought about the foil trick too, but went ahead without it first to see and they are plenty bright for me. The transluscent dome is really a huge filter, and just removing them makes a big improvement - then you can basically go any color you want. I chose to stay green, with incandescent, because of earlier experience on changing to blue led on my camaro (sorry) and, at least on it, it was way too dim (probably just bulb location in the camaro, because the above truck pics look good).
The metal bulb holder for the light/wiper was modified by sawing (dremeling, grinding, whatever you choose) the tip of it off so that nearly the whole dome of the bulb is exposed - huge improvement. I also replaced the lamp in the heater control with colored and it also brightened up some. Ashtray was changed to green by using one of my spare green filters from the turn signal indicator and gluing it over the hole in the ashtray mount. I really like the way it all turned out, especially since my cd player is sort of old school (by today's standards) and is all iluminated in green.
I'm game, however, for a '77 full instrument w/100 mph speedo test!!
The metal bulb holder for the light/wiper was modified by sawing (dremeling, grinding, whatever you choose) the tip of it off so that nearly the whole dome of the bulb is exposed - huge improvement. I also replaced the lamp in the heater control with colored and it also brightened up some. Ashtray was changed to green by using one of my spare green filters from the turn signal indicator and gluing it over the hole in the ashtray mount. I really like the way it all turned out, especially since my cd player is sort of old school (by today's standards) and is all iluminated in green.
I'm game, however, for a '77 full instrument w/100 mph speedo test!!
New User
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 0
Likes: 24
Ok Guys this just in from Bill at Hipoparts
I don't how many prototypes will be available for Gratis but I have already picked the
1976 recipient.
Here is the announcement to you all from Bill.
Hello FTE'ers
We are only about a week away form having LED kits for 73-79 Ford
Trucks for sale on our site and probably on e-bay as well. Our kits
will include all of the bulbs for the entire gauge cluster as well as
detailed instructions that show the proper orientation of each bulb in
the cluster. The bulbs used in this cluster are polarized, so you
need to install them properly to get them to light. If you put one in
backwards, you have to pull the cluster to turn the bulb around to get
it to work. This can be a frustrating way of installing a few light
bulbs, that is why we put so much time and effort into clear and
concise instructions for our products. We have also tested a number
of different bulbs designs to determine the optimum bulb for each
location in the gauge cluster. Different bulbs create different
results, so we wanted to be sure our kits provided the best lighting
results possible given the cluster we are trying to light. Our
detailed instructions also show how to prepare the cluster for optimum
results.
Some of our bulbs are similar in design to the ones your
fellow enthusiasts shows in his photos and will be one of the types
used in the basic kit for 73-79 Ford Trucks. In about two weeks we
will also have a kit that uses a special bulbs custom manufactured LED
bulbs for the illumination that have 5 LEDs each. This will increase
the lighting even more and provide results more common with later
model vehicles. At this time, we expect the base kits to be priced
around $17-19 and the kits that include our special 5X bulbs for the
gauge illumination will be around $30. The kits will be available in
Blue, Green, Red, and Amber (Yellow) in both the single LED and the 5X
LED bulbs. People can see a few of our other gauge illumination kits
on our website at HiPoParts Garage - High Performance Auto Racing Parts. You can see we carry kits for
all 65-73 Mustangs and Cougars and have sold several thousand of them
in the past year with great success and many happy customers. Having
several regular customers and friends with 73-79 Ford Trucks and
Broncos, we decided that the next kit we did should be for this group.
We are quite excited to finally get this kit for sale. It has been in the
works for nearly 18 months now and your friend Dennis has been a huge help
in getting this project done over the past few months and we are thrilled
it is finally ready for release. We think it will be a huge success and a great
improvement for people who love their Ford Trucks.
We are days away from getting this done. Maybe we can offer a special
group price to members of your site?
Also on another note:Needles
I also noticed that one of the posts talks about painting the gauge
needles fluorescent orange. that is actually not correct.T
he correct color is fluorescent red. Fluorescent red actually appears in a
red/orange color because of the fluorescent pigment. We sell
fluorescent paint in the correct stock red as well as custom colors
that include orange, green, blue, pink, yellow and white. All of our
paints have a high fluorescent solids content. (That is the part that
makes them glow at night.) Our price for this paint is $2-2.25 on our
website. People should know that is they use a light color other than
blue or green, the needles will not light as well. The blue spectrum
of light is required to activate the fluorescents in the paint and is
only present in blue and green light.
Thank you for your support,
Bill
I don't how many prototypes will be available for Gratis but I have already picked the
1976 recipient.
Here is the announcement to you all from Bill.
Hello FTE'ers
We are only about a week away form having LED kits for 73-79 Ford
Trucks for sale on our site and probably on e-bay as well. Our kits
will include all of the bulbs for the entire gauge cluster as well as
detailed instructions that show the proper orientation of each bulb in
the cluster. The bulbs used in this cluster are polarized, so you
need to install them properly to get them to light. If you put one in
backwards, you have to pull the cluster to turn the bulb around to get
it to work. This can be a frustrating way of installing a few light
bulbs, that is why we put so much time and effort into clear and
concise instructions for our products. We have also tested a number
of different bulbs designs to determine the optimum bulb for each
location in the gauge cluster. Different bulbs create different
results, so we wanted to be sure our kits provided the best lighting
results possible given the cluster we are trying to light. Our
detailed instructions also show how to prepare the cluster for optimum
results.
Some of our bulbs are similar in design to the ones your
fellow enthusiasts shows in his photos and will be one of the types
used in the basic kit for 73-79 Ford Trucks. In about two weeks we
will also have a kit that uses a special bulbs custom manufactured LED
bulbs for the illumination that have 5 LEDs each. This will increase
the lighting even more and provide results more common with later
model vehicles. At this time, we expect the base kits to be priced
around $17-19 and the kits that include our special 5X bulbs for the
gauge illumination will be around $30. The kits will be available in
Blue, Green, Red, and Amber (Yellow) in both the single LED and the 5X
LED bulbs. People can see a few of our other gauge illumination kits
on our website at HiPoParts Garage - High Performance Auto Racing Parts. You can see we carry kits for
all 65-73 Mustangs and Cougars and have sold several thousand of them
in the past year with great success and many happy customers. Having
several regular customers and friends with 73-79 Ford Trucks and
Broncos, we decided that the next kit we did should be for this group.
We are quite excited to finally get this kit for sale. It has been in the
works for nearly 18 months now and your friend Dennis has been a huge help
in getting this project done over the past few months and we are thrilled
it is finally ready for release. We think it will be a huge success and a great
improvement for people who love their Ford Trucks.
We are days away from getting this done. Maybe we can offer a special
group price to members of your site?
Also on another note:Needles
I also noticed that one of the posts talks about painting the gauge
needles fluorescent orange. that is actually not correct.T
he correct color is fluorescent red. Fluorescent red actually appears in a
red/orange color because of the fluorescent pigment. We sell
fluorescent paint in the correct stock red as well as custom colors
that include orange, green, blue, pink, yellow and white. All of our
paints have a high fluorescent solids content. (That is the part that
makes them glow at night.) Our price for this paint is $2-2.25 on our
website. People should know that is they use a light color other than
blue or green, the needles will not light as well. The blue spectrum
of light is required to activate the fluorescents in the paint and is
only present in blue and green light.
Thank you for your support,
Bill
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,133
Likes: 3
From: Dracut, Massachusetts
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More Turbo
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 555
Likes: 2
From: Washington state
Oh just a FYI for those that may get confused on polarity. You can use a standard AA battery and hook the leads up to the LED if it lights the respective polarity matches what the batteries is, if it doesn't light then the polarity is reversed.
The only issue you may find is that White and Blue LED's don't light with a Standard 1.5V just series up two AA batteries for 3V and that will light them up. It is because the forward Bias voltage is higher in those two color LED's.
The only issue you may find is that White and Blue LED's don't light with a Standard 1.5V just series up two AA batteries for 3V and that will light them up. It is because the forward Bias voltage is higher in those two color LED's.
