How to replace bulbs on the instrument cluster
 

I have a 1978 SC. ,I bought a new set of bulbs for my gauges and when I pulled the tach out, I notice the bulbs are in red sockets. How to take the socket off the gauge? It seems like there is a spring in there. I tried twisting, twisting while pushing, twisting while pulling the red socket to see if it will pull out but no dice. I was afraid to just pull the red socket out of the tach. Can anyone tell me how the sockets come off so I can change the bulbs?

The red part is a component of the socket. If you pull it out or you will break the socket. I'll dig up the thread that explains how to replace a bulb and post it shortly.

The picture in the first post shows what the bulb socket looks like when it is out of the gauge. You place a small thin bladed screw driver under the rolled edge of the metal body of the bulb holder and lever it out of the gauge. Once you've replace the bulb just push the bulb holder back into the gauge. Good luck

^ What he said.
The metal part is what you have to pry up on.

Thanks guys, I get it now. Didn't realize the metal was part of the socket.

I was in the same boat when I first tried to take the lights out. And it was a fellow Pelican that gave me the answer back in the day :-)

make sure the bulb is secure in the socket before putting it back into the gauge. i just swapped mine over to led's this evening and lost one in the tach. opening the gauge to fish out the bulb is a pita.

I hope you got the LED bulbs..

I would get the 4v bulbs. they are (naturally) twice as bright as the standard 2v ones, and increase the brightness from "really dim" to "decent." you can get them on ebay (they ship from India, which is apparently the only place they are made/sold).