Sold on LEDs

[dmorales-bello]

Once all those LEDs were in the dash, I realized the illumination from the HVAC control and cigarrete lighter were almost invisible. I had a BAS9 five LED bulb in the HVAC control already so I bought some LED strips and a BAS9 adapter socket, lined the HVAC housing with aluminum tape and got it to light up nicely to match the rest of the instrument panel in intensity.

I had neglected the cigarette lighter. I found a vintage identical replacement with an illuminated trim ring but still used the original lighter element, swapped it's incandescent bulb for another BAS9 LED and added a bit of flair to it as well.

Dave

 

[siteunseen]

Dmorales you have pretty much SOLD me!  Your interior lights look fantastic. 

[gwri8]

3 hours ago, siteunseen said:

The speedo has two and the tach? So I need 7 gauge bulbs.

What color are you using Greg?  I like the way the green looks now but after seeing smorales white I like that too. I can image search and find some to compare. And your talking about the arrows need the regular bulb? 

Thanks guys!

Since you been sold already…..  I'll answer anyway .  You'll need 11 if you include the turn signals glove box and bright light indicator.  I went with white.  I removed the green lens's and painted the interiors white in the three gauges in the center.  I left green len's in the speedo and tach but still put in LEDs.  I wanted to see the difference between the lights before I committed taking apart the speedo to paint and take the green out.  I do like the white better but the green has a little nostalgia to it.  I haven't gotten around to finishing the all white dash lights because I apparently use that lazy gene from the bottom of the pool a little too often.  I left the turn signals original because I didn't want to change the flasher like Steve mentioned (lazy gene again) and I really didn't see the need to do them also.  As far as using the dash light rheostat,  I always keep it on bright anyway.

[Jeff G 78]

They look great!  Are they too bright at night?  After the really dim OE bulbs, it would be strange to have lighted gauges.

[siteunseen]

33 minutes ago, gwri8 said:

Since you been sold already…..  I'll answer anyway .  You'll need 11 if you include the turn signals glove box and bright light indicator.  I went with white.  I removed the green lens's and painted the interiors white in the three gauges in the center.  I left green len's in the speedo and tach but still put in LEDs.  I wanted to see the difference between the lights before I committed taking apart the speedo to paint and take the green out.  I do like the white better but the green has a little nostalgia to it.  I haven't gotten around to finishing the all white dash lights because I apparently use that lazy gene from the bottom of the pool a little too often.  I left the turn signals original because I didn't want to change the flasher like Steve mentioned (lazy gene again) and I really didn't see the need to do them also.  As far as using the dash light rheostat,  I always keep it on bright anyway.

So "cool white" or "warm white"?  Captain Oooooo face likes the warm white and I pretty much blindly go along with what he says and without any problems; he's a pretty smart feller.

[siteunseen]

3 minutes ago, Jeff G 78 said:

They look great!  Are they too bright at night?  After the really dim OE bulbs, it would be strange to have lighted gauges.

Isn't that the truth! That rheostat is pretty much an off/on in my '72.

[SteveJ]

To dim the LEDs, you'll need a PWM. Bruce (@Captain Obvious) made one for his car.

[dmorales-bello]

1 hour ago, Jeff G 78 said:

They look great!  Are they too bright at night?  After the really dim OE bulbs, it would be strange to have lighted gauges.

They look as bright as most current car instruments look which I really prefer. I hadn't realized how dim the stock instrument lighting was in my original "77 280Z (which I sold 37 years ago!!) until I first drove my "new" '78 280Z at night 2 years ago. An update was urgently needed.

Even though the dimmer knob is functional in my set up, I keep it full on all the time as well.

I have also swapped for LEDs every single exterior bulb (including headlights). I'm sure my 39 year old electrical system appreciates it.

 

[gwri8]

55 minutes ago, siteunseen said:

So "cool white" or "warm white"?  Captain Oooooo face likes the warm white and I pretty much blindly go along with what he says and without any problems; he's a pretty smart feller.

I almost always choose warm white. It's closer to a regular tungsten filament bulb like the originals.  The cool white has a definite blueish tint and is nice if you like it but I find it harder to distinguish things like color and clarity with that color cast.

[siteunseen]

Well done!  Your's looks great, all over. 

I have a '77 thats still original but for the motor.  I deleted a bunch of stuff for pollution,  we don't have the inspection here, yet. That's next, I want it for my daily driver but I want it nice but can't afford the price at this time.

[Jeff G 78]

Great looking Z Dr. Dave.

Edited May 8, 2017 by Jeff G 78

[Captain Obvious]

I used warm white everywhere and I removed all the green lenses.

Gauges:
I used the 5-emitter tower design with the top emitters removed to improve the light dispersion and reduce hot spots.
I also added series resistors to cut the brightness down (240 Ohm for everything except for the clock in which I used a 150 Ohm).
I also added a third bulb to the speedo housing to improve the dead spot in the upper right two oclock area.

HVAC Panel:
I used a paddlewheel design with a 1K series resistor.
I also refreshed the interior of the light box with a coat of white paint to clean up the yellowing plastic.
I also inserted some aluminum reflective tape inside to improve light dispersion and reduce the hot spot at the bulb end.

Dimmer:
I installed a PWM dimmer instead of the original rheostat. Works full range of brightness.
I'm still running an incandescent in my HAZARD switch, although since I'm running a three wire dimmer module, I could change that out as well without losing dimming function.

Here's some summary pics of what I did. Dash bulbs (only seven towers shown because I added the third speedo bulb later) and the HVAC paddlewheel. Additional details on page 5 of this thread:

PWM dimmer (additional details here: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/52446-pulse-width-modulated-pwm-dimmer-control-upgrade/  ):

Third speedo bulb. Don't think I ever posted these before. New bulb location near 80 mph:

Hole drilled without bulb installed. Note the dark dead spot in the upper right:

Bulb installed showing removal of the dead spot in the upper right. It's awesome!!: