Radio dial lamp location/replacement
 

For a '71 Blaupunkt Frankfurt US

What is the location of the dial lamp, best access and if replaceable a source for part?
The bulb is a 7V / 0.1 A according to the Blaupunkt pamphlet that came with the radio.
I have the bottom plate off and see what appears to be a bulb in the back corner behind the speaker outputs but want be sure.

Picture or verbal description please.

Thanks
David

The dial lamp is directly behind the dial face and is accessed by taking off the dial cover and the dial backing plate.

STOP... DON'T unscrew the three or four screw around the dial face and try to take everything off that way. The plastic dial face and backing come out first to prevent you from breaking the dial itself.

It is tricky to get the backing plate out without breaking the dial as well. The best way is to move the dial all the way to the left side and carefully pry out the dial backing from the right. There is a small notch on the side you can press with a small screwdriver and then carefully lift it out and around the dial. CARFULLY, the dial will break.

The bulb on a 71 will be right there and there is a small tab you can use to pull it out. Sometimes it is hard to get at. At this time you can take off the metal dial surround with the three to four srews. 1966-68 bulbs are a pain to get in just right. You push directly on the bulb and then gently push downwards to seat in the holder. 1969-71 bulbs just pull out with a pastic holder. If the radio is out of the car you can take the cover off and that helps. On 73-76 versions the dial bulb is actually just screwed in with a single srew. Those are super easy to replace.

I find that any 911/912/914 dash bulb is a perfect fit either 7 or 12v lamp will work just fine. In the earlier Blaupunks the bulb only gets 7v anyways. The 12v lamp will be a bit dim. In the later Blaus the bulb gets 12v and is brighter.

P.S. The bulb thing you are looking at behind the speaker outputs is NOT the dial face bulb.

I hope this helps,

Christopher
 

Great response, I already went past the point where you said stop but no harm done other than a bit of frustration to reassemble. I will try your approach next.

David

Question for rockaria...wouldn't a 12V bulb last longer than a 7V bulb? Burning dimmer = longer life?

I don't know exactly what the lifespan of the bulb would be. Though it would seem logical. What I do know is that 12v bulbs that fit are easy to find. 7v bulbs not so easy. Where I live I have to mail order anything for my Porsches. All of the places I frequent just have the 12v bulbs.

Bulbs are easy to change with the radio in the car if you have the correct chrome faceplate surround.