Finally received the Eiko A-72 bulbs. Got 30 of them for only $12 plus shipping from PlanetBulb.

In comparing the three types I now have, they are not an exact match for the LIFE 12V3.4W bulbs that were in there, but hopefully they will fit. They are much closer than the Autopal bulbs MSA is selling. The car is up on stands right now for new ball joints and tie rod ends, so I'm not inclined to jump inside and monkey around with my body hanging out the door to reach the gauges, but maybe by the weekend.

As you can see from the picture, the Eiko bulbs (on the left) are slightly larger than the perfect-fitting LIFE bulbs. I whipped out my caliper and figure there should be about 0.020" clearance between the glass and the green dome, based on my previous measurements.

I just can't believe MSA is selling these Autopal bulbs, when clearly they have issues, at least for some of us. 28 bucks down the drain!

How did you change the bulbs in the smaller gauges? Did you go from under the dash or did you remove the tach and go through that hole? Im having a hell of a time reaching the plug. I cant get the new (Motorsport) bulbs pushed into the socket.

I pulled the glove box to get at the smaller gauges. It was not easy, let me tell you. Removing the glove box is an experience in and of itself, so long as you plan to reuse it.

I then stuck my arm in through the glove box hole and was able to remove and replace all the bulbs.

I should warn you that I had nothing but problems with the MSA bulbs, as I mentioned in previous posts. I actually had to take the glove box out and put it back in twice, just because the MSA bulbs kept popping out after the first time. No problems so far with the Eiko bulbs.

MSA should really be ashamed of themselves for selling a kit like that at such a ridiculous price when it doesn't even work right. I sent them an email detailing what is wrong with it, and received no reply. I have to say I am a little disappointed in them right now.

FWIW - I've never gotten any response from MSA regarding complaints or suggestions when using email, but much better when talking on the phone directly. Not sure who is in charge of reading email - maybe no one and that's the problem!

I have noted that Motorsports customer service has gone downhill. Use to be very friendly on the phone and would make recomendations. Now they sound dry and lifeless. Just take my order and thats it. With just a little more interaction, they could be selling more products.

One more thing. Inf, i took your advice and ordered from PlanetBulb. Will see how it works for me.

damn,

I wish i had read this before I installed these MSA bulbs. I am pissed that MSA has not done their homework-again. Don't they realize they are cutting their own throats with this kind of mistakes. Doesn't anyone there do and R&D work.

This is not the first time or item with MSA-I thought they were the experts:angry:

I have atleast 2 guages winking at me now and the speedo just goes dark sitting in my garage. Atleast my heater panel is not in yet so some of the guages will be easy to get to, but that speedo will be a lot of work.

I used the MSA kit, but only to replace the bulbs that were burned out, so perhaps I didn't hit the ones that don't fit.

My biggest problem was getting the original bulbs out of the socket. They are "push and turn" style bulbs, and once they were pushed down, there was nothing above the housing to turn.

Welll I wanted to use those brighter bulbs because they do make a nice improvement over the smaller wattage ones. I believe the that they are too long, but my fix was to file down the solder on the positive tip. There is quite a bit on the end of these bulbs and I probably took have of it off with a fine tooth file. Now the bulbs don't flicker at all. It does seem that this problem doesn't exist on all the sockets. I had issues with my oil pressure guage and speedo. I haven't takled the speedo yet because I'm not ready for that kind of pain. But for now the other guages are great. Drove the car around all night without a flicker:classic:

If anyone sees any issue with this kind of fix-please speak up!!

I also have problems with the MSA bulbs - my factory bulbs were dim so I took the MSA bait and had all the bulbs swapped out of my '73. The speedometer bulb started flickering immediately but has consistently worked for a couple of weeks now - my clock bulb is completely dead and my fuel gauge bulb flickers on/off every time I hit a bump. Not a happy camper.

I changed all of mine out last year with Eiko A-72 bulbs. Perfect fit, slightly brighter panel, no flickering, very happy.

I used the MSA ones and had the same problem as others here with intermittant lights in the gauges. I ended up taking the gauges out one at a time and knocking the green dome out and the bulbs stay in just fine now. It doesn't bother me with the white light instead of the green light, and eventually I will be going with aftermarket gauges that I will add LED lighting to, so its a moot point in the end for me.

Greg