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LED instrument panel lights? naybody done this? Possible?

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 2:35 pm
by Bob Dillon
Just curious.

Re: LED instrument panel lights? naybody done this? Possible

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 5:07 pm
by sethjamesrimrodt
I tried it with Radio Shack LED's they weren't bright enough and didn't have a wide enough pattern. I took mine back out. Might have a different result for the pre 2000 bonnevilles though.

Re: LED instrument panel lights? naybody done this? Possible

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 5:13 pm
by harofreak00
The real question is why? Color change? Brightness? Like to fix stuff that's not broke?

Re: LED instrument panel lights? naybody done this? Possible

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 6:03 pm
by SSEiMan01
It has been done on a 92-99 like he has... Matt changed color, I'll just be increasing brightness when I get around to mine.

Re: LED instrument panel lights? naybody done this? Possible

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:17 pm
by coop8070
Will the color change work on a 94 lesabre? Or is the green color built into the gauge face?

Re: LED instrument panel lights? naybody done this? Possible

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:11 pm
by MattStrike
It takes a steady hand, but the 'color' can be removed.

http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... er#p351211

Re: LED instrument panel lights? naybody done this? Possible

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:30 pm
by gweg_b
I put blue in my '95 LeSabre. Didn't do anything other than put the bulbs in. Came out the exact color I wanted.

Image

Now, I didn't have a very even pattern, but that was because the bulbs weren't wide enough. I will get to fixing that once the car is running again. I used bulbs from SuperBrightLeds.com

Re: LED instrument panel lights? naybody done this? Possible

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 5:01 pm
by Bob Dillon
What is the part number of the bulbs you used to do that, and was it just a matter of replacing the bulbs?

And how much brighter is it? (old eyes)

Re: LED instrument panel lights? naybody done this? Possible

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 5:49 pm
by gweg_b
The bulbs were 194's. Unfortunately, I don't have the part numbers on hand, but I also have a feeling those bulbs are not made anymore, since I installed them in 2005.

This is probably the closest to what I have:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo ... -base/199/
They sell a variety of bulbs on their website. I'll be looking into wider angle, brighter bulbs in the future.

They are brighter than the stock bulbs, but the problem is that blue and darkness do not mix very well. For older eyes, the blue is probably harder to see at night. Red would probably be the best for nighttime. Once I get my LeSabre running again, I'm switching from blue interior to green - still probably won't be the best at night, but will match better with the theme I'm going for.

Re: LED instrument panel lights? naybody done this? Possible

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 7:45 pm
by MattStrike
The Buick has a green coloring so the blue has no problem passing through the green filter. If you are thinking about a color change then you have to do what I did.

Re: LED instrument panel lights? naybody done this? Possible

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 9:02 pm
by phil0054
I'm curious about doing this as well on my '02. Color might be a consideration, but the top of my speedo is not lit , nor is the clock side of the radio and a growing number of buttons, including the steering wheel. So, I'm looking for durability too. Come to think of it, can anything be done to increase daytime brightness of the HUD? Ironically, I set my Samsung Galaxy S2 up in the hole, and it works perfectly! lol problem is I'd have to find a mirror function and lots of other software apps to make it actually useful to leave it there. But for now, I'm cool with stock, but it's hardly visible on a bright day.

JP

Re: LED instrument panel lights? naybody done this? Possible

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 9:26 pm
by gweg_b
You know, Matt, I never thought about it that way, and I even took color theory in school. Big help that was! :lol: