As we age, things get harder for all of us. For some it's hearing, others it's their knees, but for many it's their vision. As your vision fades, it takes longer to focus on items. A big issue for those with vision problems is night driving. Between the darkness, oncoming headlights, and dim gauge illumination, it can be a real struggle for some to safely drive at night. The dimly lit gauges of a classic Ford's stock instrumentation just aren't confidence inspiring when you get behind the wheel at the end of a cruise night to drive home. It's even worse when you hop from a modern car with backlit gauges into your classic. Then your original gauges look even dimmer.
But fret not, there is a way to increase your instrumentation's visibility. One of the more noticeable ways is to replace the stock cluster with aftermarket gauges that are backlit (like modern cars). Depending upon the model of gauge and how you mount them in your dash, you could spend anywhere from $300 to well over $1,000 to get a dash that's easy to read at night. While it's a sound and viable option for many who are also looking for something different, simply upgrading the stock illumination to modern LED bulbs is a huge leap in readability at night for those who want a more stock appearing dash, simply don't have the budget for such an upgrade, or do not have an aftermarket housing available for their model of car to install new gauges. By simply replacing your dash illumination, turn signal, high beam, and warning light bulbs with long lasting and super bright LEDs, your dash will be much easier to read at night with just a little manual labor and only a few bucks out of your project car fund. Take a look as we upgrade a '65-'66 Mustang five-dial instrument cluster with Mustang Project's green LED bulb kit.
The Mustang Project LED bulb...
The Mustang Project LED bulb is specifically designed for classic Ford dash illumination and is available in green, blue, red, white, and amber. While everyone has their theories on what color is easiest on the eyes at night, we kept with the green LEDs for a stock look. The kit shown here includes green illumination LEDs and white turn-signal/high-beam LEDs and it retails for $29.95. Currently, kits are available for '65-'68 Mustangs, but you can also buy the bulbs individually for any classic Ford application that uses 1895 dash bulbs.
Before getting started, a...
Before getting started, a quick photo of the stock dash illumination is taken for comparison when we're done. Our Scott Drake Rally-Pac's illumination, which is a more modern through-the-dial lighting arrangement, is much brighter than that of the stock dash bulbs.
In order to have enough room...
In order to have enough room to access the gauge cluster, the aforementioned Rally-Pac will need to be temporarily removed from its perch on the steering column. Two small attaching bolts free it so that the Rally-Pac can be set aside.
The '65-'66 Mustang gauge...
The '65-'66 Mustang gauge cluster is secured by six Phillips head screws. Make sure you don't miss a screw and crack the gauge cluster during removal.
With all of the attaching...
With all of the attaching screws removed, carefully pull the cluster out of the dash far enough to unscrew the speedometer cable from the back of the speedometer head. This will allow the cluster to come out farther to access the wiring. The small hand towel on the steering column will protect the painted column.
We've had this particular...
We've had this particular gauge cluster out several times, so the strip of masking tape applied to the top of the cluster you see here has a rudimentary wiring diagram of where the wiring attaches (Ford didn't use a modular wiring plug until 1967). However you approach it, be sure to map out the cluster wiring since Ford doesn't do it for you.
Once the cluster's wiring...
Once the cluster's wiring is disconnected and the cluster is removed from the car, you can see what we mean. Except for the ammeter wiring, none of the gauge terminals or bulb sockets are labeled by Ford. A wiring diagram is included with the Mustang Project instructions as well.
If you are replacing your...
If you are replacing your stock incandescent bulbs with any color LED other than blue, you'll need to remove the blue bulb covers from the cluster itself. Remove all of the screws holding the cluster back panel to the trim bezel to separate the cluster housing, but don't separate them just yet.
The four bulb covers on our...
The four bulb covers on our '66 cluster are easily removed using a razor knife to cut away the melted down pin tips. The reason the covers are blue is that incandescent bulbs give off a yellow tint to their illumination and, of course, when you mix yellow and blue you get green. Once the covers are cut away, you can then carefully separate the cluster assembly to retrieve the bulb covers and then reinstall the cluster's retaining screws.
Before reinstalling the cluster,...
Before reinstalling the cluster, it's time to install the actual LED bulbs. First, we remove the four illumination bulbs (blue/red wiring). Then the green LEDs are installed into the illumination sockets to complete the conversion. You'll notice the bulb is a bit crooked in the socket in this photo. We had two sockets that must have been stretched from thermal cycling or a previous owner's brute handling. A little reshaping with a pair of pliers got the bulbs to sit squarely in their sockets. The three clear LEDs were installed in the left- and right-turn signal sockets and the high-beam indicator.
Reassemble the dash and don't...
Reassemble the dash and don't forget the speedometer cable. Just look how much brighter our dash is now. Mustang Project is also working on full LED interior lighting kits for Mustangs as well, so check out the company's website for the latest new LED kits available.