Lights in the Climate/vent controls

[Scott S]

Hi All -

On monday I had to take my new (to me) car out in the dark for the first time (a 1977 S).

I noticed that the climate contol had no lights. I did some fishing around and found them all up under the dash. They were all on. So, I crawled under the dash (fun!) and started putting the bulbs unto the sockets on the back of the face plate.

Nothing fit. The bulb casings were all way to small and simply fell out of the panel sockets as soon as any of the climate control levers were moved. There was no type of mechanical clasp or anything that I could see. The wiring looks to be 100% unaltered/original.

How do these stay in in the panel?

Also, there was one additional light housed in a thick rubber sleave that has a lense of sort on the end. I was thinking it was for the ash tray, but do not see anywhere it would attach. Any idea where this light goes?


Thanks!!!
Scott S

[aoncurly]

Not sure about your panel, but that thick rubber one sounds like the light for the ash tray. There should be a hole above the ash tray (take the tray out) and the rubber should have a round lip that fits into the hole. The light illuminate the ash tray when your lights are turned on.

[Richard Windsor]

might have to take it out to fix them

[spuggy]

Yay for the '77!

I just replaced most of the cabin bulbs with LEDs...

aoncurly is spot on with the ashtray light. Get up under the dash and it's pretty obvious.

The heater controls have plastic tubes and the bulb holders just push into them. Over time, the heat deforms the plastic tubes, and they don't grip the bulb holders.

I replaced with LEDs (which are brighter and don't get hot) and then use shrink wrap or even electrical tape (ick) to hold them in place. The really cheap (10 for $3, free shipping), super flimsy LEDs from Evil Bay work fine, but you may need to shape the corners of the LED slightly (e.g. with a file) so they don't snag/catch in the bulb holder. Better quality ones might not have this problem, but then it'd be more than $3...

Working on the bulb holders is a lot easier if you remove the bolt holding the controls in place and pull it out a couple of inches; still fiddly. Finding/removing the bolt is fun; after that, re-fitting the ashtray light will feel easy

[Scott S]

Thanks very much all. looks like it is simply age vs some butchering. I will figure out a fix.

Your heat shrink idea is great - that maybe the easiest way to simply make the bulb holders a tad thicker so they stay in place.

Thanks again!
Scott S

[fanaudical]

Spuggy - Do you have a link to the LED's you're using?

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by Scott Schroeder

Your heat shrink idea is great - that maybe the easiest way to simply make the bulb holders a tad thicker so they stay in place.

Hey, that would probably work too - but what I meant was to have heat shrink over the control bulb holders, extending long enough (an inch or so) to grip the bulb base/harness when you shrank it in place...

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by fanaudical

Spuggy - Do you have a link to the LED's you're using?

I was gonna say "no, but the original bulbs are Silvania 2721, also variously called T5 wedge or 5050. - you'll find plenty on Ebay" - when I found this testing my theory:

New 10pcs T5 70 73 74 286 5050 2721 1 SMD LED Wedge Dashboard White Light Bulbs | eBay

They look very similar to the ones I got.

The wire lead can be kind of fragile where it attaches to the LED itself, especially if you're shaping it with a file to match the base Which you only need to do for the heater illuminination; they fit the gauge warning bulb holders fine without needing to mess with them at all.

There's another type using the older-style "dome" LED, which looks to be better mechanically-supported. But those are pricier, and I wanted to see how it worked out on the cheap.

Replaced my fuel warning bulb yesterday when it finally burnt out - much deeper red, even with the washed-out filter on the gauge - and much brighter... Should be able to see it clearly, even in bright sunlight.

Just remember not to use an LED for the generator warning light...