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I am curious if there is anyone that has tried LED or a brighter bulb for the backlighting on the instrument cluster. I have a 70 Cutlass and I have replaced the dummy gauge with a SW tachometer - I love this tachometer because the number font is close to the factory olds font. The new Stewart Warner gauge is brighter of course. I would like to try to get all the gauges as equal as possible in regard to the back lighting. Do you guys have any thoughts? Unfortunately, I do not have a better picture than this she is hibernating for the winter ...I live in the Chicago land area
Look up the wattages for the bulbs your car came with and decide where you’d like the brightest and less bright bulbs. Lots of those little peanut bulbs came in different wattages so you can play lighting designer if you like.
Personally I like the warm yellow glow of incandescent much better than LED’s in an old car, but this is the epitome of to each his or her own.
You’ll see more detail on what I did with my ‘66’s if you dig around under my username.
I used Sylvania Soft White LED's in the gauge cluster in my 79 blue Calais, and liked 'em so much I converted all instrument cluster bulbs in my 79 Hurst Olds as well. Primarily, I got tired of the hot incandescent 194's, 161's and 168's burning my green pod holder and/or circuit board. The soft whites are not as harsh as the Zevos I think the frosted dome mitigates the harshness. And they do dim. Not as much as I would like but I'll take what I got. The lighting is great, but it's not for everybody, I'll say that. A very white color as opposed to the yellowish tinge the incandescents project.
This conversion is not cheap, the bulbs are between $7-$10 apiece. If you can get them in the 2 pack it's a bit cheaper. I have since converted all interior bulbs in both cars to LEDs using the Sylvania brand.
Also, x2 on Cfair's note on liking the warm yellow glow the incandescent bulbs give off, for this reason the bulbs in the gauge pod of my black/silver 79 brougham will stay just as they are.
Last edited by BlueCalais79; Feb 9, 2026 at 06:09 AM.
Yeah, those ZEVO bulbs don't dim and I don't care. And I prefer the whiter light like new cars have over the old timey yellow cast. I used to use the old 168 bulbs which are brighter, but you risk toasting your sockets. Ask me how I know. I recently soldered some sockets in because they were French Fried. Hah.
For safety reasons, making you dash lights brighter with with non-dimming LED, especially white, bulbs is just the opposite of what you should be doing.
It takes 30 minutes or more for your eyes to adapt to nighttime conditions. To maintain your best nighttime vision, the best backlighting is the dimmest red that will still allow you to read your instruments. If you cannot have red, use another color like green and run these as dim as possible. White is the last color that you should select.
This advice is taken from the basics taught to all aircraft pilots in basic training. The same principles apply to driving a vehicle at night.
Last edited by Tri-Carb; Feb 11, 2026 at 02:14 PM.
For safety reasons, making you dash lights brighter with with non-dimming LED, especially white, bulbs is just the opposite of what you should be doing.
It takes 30 minutes or more for your eyes to adapt to nighttime conditions. To maintain your best nighttime vision, the best backlighting is the dimmest red that will still allow you to read your instruments. If you cannot have red, use another color like green and run these as dim as possible. White is the last color that you should select.
This advice is taken from the basics taught to all aircraft pilots in basic training. The same principles apply to driving a vehicle at night.
Definitely some truth to this.
I can always tell when my wife has been driving one of my cars, the dash lights are set to a retina melting level. I always tease her by asking if she is scared of the dark.
There is another interesting factoid for those who drive at night in areas significantly above MSL. You can inhale supplemental oxygen, and your nighttime visual acuity is miraculously enhanced. We consistently experience this effect flying non-pressurized aircraft.
TriCarb raises an excellent point on the lighting, this makes 100% sense. I do keep my night light setting on the dimmest possible I can get, it helps. As the gauge cluster is backlit there is alot of black surface in my 79 gauge pods so it isn't all that bad. As listed above, the Sylvannia Cool White bulb tops are frosted as opposed to the Zevos which are clear so I would have to think that would take some of the edge off.
