lights Try replacing the voltage regulator with a modern electronic one. I did this and there is a noticeable improvement.
Another thing to remember with old cars and electronics is the fact of oxydation, tarnish, poor conduction. Grounds suffer from this primarily, so if a person took a day to clean all grounds on the car, and why stop at that. Take the headlight switch out and clean the rheostat as well. I think you would see a definate improvement. My 76 stallion still has bright dash lights as it has spent most of its life indoors and dry. But some of my other old cars have not been as lucky. Ever get in an old car and adjust the brightness of the dash lights and watch it flicker as you do it? The above afflictions are the reason for this. Good lord,,, there I go thinking again. This has got to STOP! Beer please!!!!!!! Dan
Here's a tip I got from a Torino guy. The standard instrument bulb is a GE194 rated at 3.0 watts. The bulbs are actually more like 2.5 watts. Ford began using this printed circuit/bulb set up in 1969 & it was utilized throughout the model lines for years. The fix is to use a Sylvania 2825-W5W replacement bulb that will give you 5 watts at a cooler temperature. I believe this bulb was designed for the Japanese side marker lamps. I installed these bulbs in my 68 Torino 390 GT & my Boss 302. What a difference! I haven't installed them in my Maverick as of yet, but I will. Hope this helps you guys.
Sweet! I did the bulb swap (six total including turn signals unless you want to have a bright oil, alt, brakes, temp guage, that would take ten bulbs.) It is still daytime so I cant tell if it helped much but I think I see a difference, I will post later tonight.
Yup! It worked, the lights are brighter, not supernova bright but better than before for sure! I recommend everyone do this, it only took me 10 minutes and six bucks. Thanks for the post gsjohnson.
i had a new deck installed and one night i start driving and im like hey what the hell no instrument lights?!?!?! so im drivin in the dark till my appointment to get those guys to fix it. *sorry officer i didn't know i was doin 60 i can't see shit here.*
Does anybody know if you can get blue colored replacement bulbs? I think it would be a nice effect in my blue mav! -Todd
Just got around to doing the swap today! It is great! In my car, they are around twice the brightness of the old ones! Like everyone else, I highly reccomend this swap! -Corbin
Help! I wanted to change my dash bulbs to W5W, but can't seem to get the instrument cluster out. I took out the two screws at the top and lifted the tabs at the bottom out of the slots, but it won't come out. Is there a trick to this? I was worried I would break something. Any advice?
m&m, i took my speedo cable loose from the tranny. there is a clip also under the car that holds the cable to the body. with this loose i could pull the cluster out to unhook the cable and plug. good luck... p.s. we did kelly's cluster the other day. we painted the inside the blue piece with "chrome" paint. he said that helped a lot. ...frank...:bananaman :bananaman
Check this link, and scroll down towards the bottom.... http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7234&highlight=instrument+cluster+removal -Corbin
The Sylvannia W5W bulbs work like a dream. I did the swap a couple of weeks ago, 6 bulbs were 9 bucks and it was worth every penny.
Just finished mine and all I have to say is best $10 bucks I have spent on the car. Now I can see how much Gold er I mean gas I have.
