Which are the correct bulbs for the Instrument Cluster? Who sells them?

I just need the panel lights, not blinkers, warning lights or brights indicator. And which ones are the panel lights?

Same for the Tach, what bulb do I get?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Please state year & vehicle model.

 

Evidently you have a 4-4-2. This may be some assistance...

 

Those stupid little things can get really expensive when you're buying 15 of them.
They want like $12 for a pack of 5 at autozone.
buy bulk

 

The instrument cluster in the photo is 64-65 F85

 

You're a living/walking/breathing Encyclopaedia Britannica.

 

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is yet another reason why you want a Chassis Service Manual. The bulb table is on the last page of Section 13 Electrical

 

Rock Auto sometimes has closeouts and you can buy the bulbs for under 10 cents each.

Currently the 194 bulbs are 17 cents each, but the shipping will make the total price much larger.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/partsear...et&partnum=194

 

You should be putting LED bulbs. The ones from Sylvania are very good and fit nicely. Just my 2¢. The price is not for the faint of heart. Maybe $10 ea for the ZEVO 194.

 

What a PITA. Not easy, at least for me. I also did my map and footwell lights. Several Extra strength Tylenol tablets helped 😊

 

I personally see absolutely zero incentive to install any LED lamps into ANY motor vehicle considered a classic/vintage vehicle. Why buy/own vintage? YMMV
Yes, electric sealed beam lamps were a significant improvement over acetylene lamps; yet, if you want to buy/own vintage - why upgrade to sealed beam lamps on a truly vintage/classic motor vehicle. What remains of the notion of vintage/classic? YMMV

 

10 bucks a bulb x 8 bulbs in that panel alone would severely impact my lunch budget!!!

 

for me it was personally a safety choice. I have had T-3s in my convertible for almost 30 years - might as well have been driving blindfolded. I changed every light in the dash as long as I was rewiring everything. I can see everything much better. I chose a higher temp bulb so it is also whiter. I'm fine with that as well. For me being able to see the road, speedometer etc means more enjoyment. YMMV

 

try these - less expensive and work well

 

I'm not a fan of LED headlights, because they look wrong in these cars. I did use the brightest LED taillights I could get, however, as a hedge against being rear-ended.

 

Joe, did you find that just changing the rears out for LED's, and leaving the front alone, kept the original style flasher working correctly? Assuming that's how you have it set up that is.

 

I'm using LED's in my 79 Calais due to the fact the standard 194's melt the housing so badly that sometimes you can't get the socket out, especially that one in the upper left side where the tach is. To tone it down a bit I used the Sylvannia LED Cool White 194's, they have a frosted cover, it's less glaring and they are (slightly) dimmable. For the older cars (such as yours) IMHO I would have stuck with the traditional bulbs though, for that original look. My blue 79 is something I am driving more regularly now, due to being retired, so function is ruling out over originality for that car..

 

With LED lights in the dash, the dimmer doesn’t work. Either on or off.

 

If you just change the rear lights to LED only, the original factory flasher will work. The plus to having rear LED is how much brighter they are when hit the brakes!! Also most of us have rear lenses that have some clouding over the years and the extra brightness helps to even when your not braking, IMO

 

I've had mixed results with that. On my 62 and 67 the OEM flasher worked fine. On the 69 Cutlass wagon I had to install an electronic flasher module. It kinda depends on the end-to-end system resistance, apparently. It's also possible that the flasher in the 69 was marginal to start with.

 

Ahh I see, worth a try I guess. Now, does that electronic flasher provide any circuit protection for the signal lights like the original does?

 

No and excellent question. You have to run a fuse in the power feed to the flasher. The OEM mechanical flasher is a self-resetting circuit breaker.

 

Once you install those Sylvania Zevo 194 bulbs, you will NEVER go back and, as a bonus, your sockets will never burn out from all the heat, especially if you "upgrade" to a 168 bulb which is 3cp instead of the 194 putting out 2cp. I tried that.

 

The Sylvania Zevo super whites are even brighter than the cool whites, I tried one and it was too much for what I wanted it for. I used Sylvania 194 Cool Whites for all but the gauge cluster wherein I used a 168. I even used the cool white LED's for the directional signal light indicators & the Bright Headlight Indicator in the dash. Really freshened that up. And again, much, much less heat.

This all got to be expensive what with each bulb going for 7 to eight bucks a piece but I think it's worth it, especially if you plan on having the car a long time; I'm going on forty years now. Forty down, forty to go.........

 

I've changed everything in my 67, except the headlights and front turn/park bulbs, over to LED. I like the brighter white color.
I did get some complaints from my friends on Harleys that the rears weren't bright in direct sunlight. I think maybe they had polarized sunglasses? They look plenty bright to me. I have under car glow units in each hole for brake and turn and a 9 LED strip for the parks.

 

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, it is a 65 442.

 

Piling on with the ‘go LED’ camp. I replaced everything in both the ‘68 and ‘70. They’re much brighter, as a result safer (headlights and brakes), don’t melt your courtesy/map light lenses due to the heat, draw less current and last way longer. Pay attention to the Kelvin rating if you want to duplicate that original warm yellow tinted light (2400K).