<VV> LED DASH BULBS - FOLLOWUP

[rod murray]

Hello group,



Here's a followup to my 12/18/15 query re LED replacement bulbs for my
CORSA dash. I competed the changeover this past weekend, and had been asked
by a few folks to share the results.


Let me say thank you up front to those who offered input and insight to my
efforts on this project - it all came in handy as I moved forward.  That
said, here's a brief illumination background...my goal was simply brighter
gauges and this project provided a modest education about candle-power and
lumen conversions.  Since LED bulbs are measured in lumens we'll go w that
term.  Standard CORSA dash bulbs are basically a combination of ba9s 1445
and 1895 "warm white" incandescents delivering 8.8 and 25 lumens
respectively.  The 1445's are for the blinkers and bright light indicator,
and the 1895's handle the rest.  1816 bulbs have been used as an upgrade to
the 1895's and upping brightness to approx 35 lumens.  check the shop
manual for specific info.


LED replacement bulb options varied widely but basic considerations came
down to these...illumination path, bulb depth, color choice,
brightness/lumen preference, and simply accepting that LED bulbs won't dim
with the standard dimming knob.


Research and above-mentioned input steered my decision to go w ba9s 34442
5-led bulbs in "warm white" (available at ledlight.com).  These bulbs met
all the above criteria while putting out 60 lumen (a big upgrade) w a
120-degree illumination path.   They were also an exact fit replacement for
the standards - very easy to swap, the hardest part is removing the dash
(thx to that cursed push-down button on the light switch behind the
cluster!)


Note I opted not to change the idiot lights as they have a specific job to
do that I didn't want to mess with.


As for the results...I'd say a nice improvement overall. Gauges are
definitely brighter, and blinkers and bright lights function as they
should. I'll give these a thumbs up and look forward to hearing results
from others.  On a bigger scope, the bulb switch was part of a longer list
of dash items in need of attention, the most visible per the attached pix
being that I also swapped the standard gauge cluster for a "white" gauge
pkg. so would be interesting to see how these same bulbs would look in the
standard gauge cluster.


The attached pix show the dash with lights off and on, and also pic of the
1445, 1895, and 34442 LED bulbs for size comp.


Happy to answer any questions, and thx again to those who helped me up
front.


-- 
Rod
Pittsburgh
66 Monza (w a CORSA dash)
WPCC, CORSA, Corvanatics
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