I used the lbcarco bulbs -- they're a huge improvement, in terms of
the light output.
However, they burned out in about a year (15k miles). And since
they're incandescent, increased light=increased heat. The
electronics in our instruments are heat sensitive (particularly
capacitors). In the tachometer on my '70, the bulb is about 1/4"
away from a capacitor.
The combination of these bulbs, and increased heater output from an
MGOC heater kit, gave me erratic tach outputs all winter (a couple of
years ago -- it's in the archives).
Eventually the capacitor in question ruptured, and the tach froze
(gummed up with whatever it is that would come out of an exploded
capacitor) at 3500 rpm. Luckily, I had a replacement tach on the
shelf. Interestingly, the replacement tach -- identical externally
-- has that one capacitor positioned slightly differently; further
from the bulb.
So, though I did appreciate the extra light, I didn't replace them
with a new set when they burned out.
YMMV, etc.
Cleaning the glass, and making sure the inside of the instrument
canister is clean white (or silver or blue) paint, is a good first
step, and trying new stock-type bulbs is a good idea too.
Matt
On Apr 7, 2006, at 6:41 PM, Jeff Fayne wrote:
> I've been using them for about 4 years, they are a definite must
> have. My
> gauges went from unreadable to completely readable at a glance. Be
> sure to
> clean the instrument glass as along as you have it out. Another
> improvement
> is to either clean or repaint the white interior of the instrument
> housing.
>
> Jeff
> '70B
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Barney Gaylord" <barneymg@MGAguru.com>
> Subject: Re: Halogen Instrument Bulbs
>> At 10:23 PM 4/6/06, Dave Ciaccio wrote:
>>> Does anyone know where I can purchase Halogen bulbs for the
>>> instrument panel.They would have to be screw-in type bases. ....
>> Yup. Little British Car Company has them. They're rather expensive
>> because the screw base bulbs are hand made.in small quantities.
>>
>> Barney Gaylord
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