Halogen Dash Bulb Sticker Shock ::o

Trying to get up the willpower to get my head stuck in brake and clutch pedals again 8-)

Looking for brighter dash bulbs has turned up only 1 source w/halogens and OMG the asking price;
over $ ONE HUNDRED for 5 tiny glorified flashlite bulbs??? Correct me if I'm wrong, but seems LED's don't quite do the brightness trick.

I thought $11 ea. was steep for the marine grade 5 watt halogen mini bayonets in PLT's front lamps (pic). Ancor Marine Electric #592355

Don't wish to tread on the dash bulb supplier's toes really - I'm told they're a recommended vendor, but has anyone sourced these things a bit more reasonable? Grateful for replies thanks!

~Marco and PLT~

Marco - Have you tried removing the dash light rheostat and tying the wires together? That made my stock dash lights significantly brighter.

Hi Bob I keep forgetting about that ... DOH!!! Thanks, worth a try 1st. I've cleaned the 4 round gauges (oil P. is another project), ditched the pathetic 1 watt #52's for 2.2 watt #1449's, and they're getting good voltage. You may have saved me alot of $ thanks man!

If you do enough driving at night I think they are worth the money. I just paid $100 like you mentioned and it just does not seem right but now having done 2 cars I will never go back to standard bulbs. I have heard that the LEDs that fit can give as good of result for a lot less money, I think they have to be ordered from Hong Kong not sure. By pass the reostat can help some but not really satisfactory for me.

Hey Bob and John I may have just found 'em at Light Bulbs Unlimited 2 mi away - 6 watt E10 base mini screw in halogens for $2 ea! Going there now will report back.

And yeah PLT and I are quite nocturnal LOL

Radio Shack also sells higher watt bulbs. I tried them all, even 8 watt that Dennis Magee sells in the British Marquee. And although the price is higher than what I paid 5 years ago, they are well worth it.
Ken

Marco - Let the cat drive. He can see better than you at night!

I used to pay $18 each tor the bulbs used in an 86 T'bird. And being bright, they go out quicker. There were 7 bulbs, I think, and I replaced each one at least twice. Twenty years ago!

The LEDs were brigfht enough for me in my B.

Marco,
Who is that source for the 100 buck glorified bulbs?

Also I am bait confused, you said you have mini bayonet bulbs in PLT's front lights?

I went the way of the halogen and did pay the price for them but I think they are great. One caution. I did notice that the rheostat got quite warm with the halogens. I wired through the rheostat and just leave them on bright. I would do it again or at least until they have LED's that are brighter.
Dave

Hi,

Using higher wattage bulbs can cause overheating in the gauges etc.

I have played with LED strips, follow the link, below, for details and a photo of the difference.

Herb

http://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/saga22one.htm

Marco can you provide the link to the Ancor marine bulbs please. When I google them I get Marinco and no hit against that part number - they're not available from my local chandelry.

http://www.marinco.com/productline/led-bulbs

I see this topic a lot and I always wonder....why do you want a bright light staring you in the face from your gauges. Every modern car I have is set to the lowest possible setting. One thing I enjoyed about driving my MGB at night is that I didn't have headlights from my gauges blinding me. If I can see them at all, it's good enough.

For exterior lights, I'd like to know more about which bulbs -- brand and number or at least who sells them -- work best. For brighter bulbs on the gauges, I think I agree with Eric. The fairly dim gauge lights I have now cause too much reflection in the windshield as it is. Why in the world would you want brighter gauge lights? I can see the gauges fine now so that's not really an issue.

Ok back as promised and the Light Bulbs Unlimited store I raced to earlier was FAIL :X :X Another store with a staff of morons, then the boss told me they're not big in automotive.

I routed the reo wires together; went via the speedo hole. Hey, does every B dash have razor sharp gauge cutouts??? My right middle finger's slashed pretty good :(

Found my reostat in really clean good cond, working smoothly, and with it bypassed theres a teeny tiny brightness diff. Good enough for now - I better save up for a brake m/cyl soon GRRR!

No $20 bulbs being bought any time soon.

I haven't had dash lights on the MGC since 1993.

I use a small flashlight.

B)-

From what I get in this thread it must be time to bring back this thread:

http://www.mgexperience.net/phorum/read.php?1,1802512

I put the Halogen numbers in the end of it.

I am with many others who say "my dash lights are bright enough I do not see the problem."

If your wires are in good shape, there will not be any problems with the halogens. I have had mine since 2003. As for brightness, I drive my car!! And if at night I want to see my guages, they aren't idiot lights, and I like to know what is going on. I have never had an issue with reflections off the windscreen. The Little British web site is the same numbers as the Moss catalog. I find that easy to use as well, and with up to 20% off you can see the savings. I remember seeing LBC Co at a Show and saw how the lights worked. I emailed Jeff Zorn for the stock numbers of the bulbs. I was looking again on his site and saw Halogen bulbs for $12.50 each. I didn't look closer to see if I was looking at the correct size for dash or headlights. I also have them for tail lights, and turn signals.
Ken

http://www.solware.co.uk/customise-car-part-accessories/car-indicator-bulbs.shtml

http://www.powerbulbs.com/store/category/philips-xtreme-extreme-vision-car-headlight-bulbs

I put the two links above for those interested and Michael you can add them to your comprehensive document if you feel inclined and this is a partial response to Drew. I have fitted clear lenses for the front indicators/park lights (and thanks Marco for the link) and I found the first link as a source for silvered amber bulbs (which avoids the fried egg look). Solware say they're really geared to UK customers nevertheless they'll send me a pair - I'll order the 21w.

The second link is for those interested in halogen H4 headlight bulbs - this is Philips latest technology (there are alternatives on powerbulb's site) - I read up on other fora and these come highly recommended. Powerbulbs has free shipping worldwide - they cost me $38 a pair (and for Aussies who maybe interested the best I could find on Ebay was $38 excluding postage or $55 incl. They're retailing around $80 in autoshops). I'm still tossing up which bulbs to use in my taillights perhaps these: http://www.powerbulbs.com/au/product/philips-vision-plus-p215w-twin and http://www.powerbulbs.com/product/philips-vision-plus-p21w-twin .

Some MGEsters will recall that I've fitted a new Autosparks loom. A major difference between it and the original is that all the bulb holders for the gauges etc are wedge type so that's something to consider if you're looking at a new loom and considering which dash bulbs.

Radio Shack, 14.4 V, 200 milliamp bulbs, IIRC, direct swap, good and bright. If you're really serious, take the gauges out, gut them, paint the inside of the cans bright white and re-assemble. That and the Radio shack bulbs, along with bypassing the rheostat will make them a lot brighter...

http://www.boatinginfosource.com/Boating-Products-and-Accessories/Boating/Electrical-Equipment/Navigation-Lights/8;inverseprice#c



Thanks Marco. Here's a link for my fellow Aussie MGEsters. (if the link doesn't work they're on page 8, 'low to high' search.)

Here are screw-base style:

http://www.servicelighting.com/catalog_product.cfm?prod=MB01281

Not sure when they changed, but I know my 70 uses these.