LED interior lights

[fgross2006]

So I finally got my Scott Drake LED's in and working on my cluster. Not sure how I fried the original printed cluster but I got a used one and swapped it onto my cluster.

Anyway, gotta say I'm not happy and quite disappointed with the Scott Drake LED kit. I opted to go with the white lights since I thought going red would have left my interior half red and half orange. Would have been much easier if they made a kit for Stangs that have the stock color but anyway, the brightness of the white light washes out the orange color of the lens's. Big disappointment.

Also, I do recall reading other reviews saying the Scott Drake lights only flash forward and leave dead spots on the cluster. That is 100% correct. On the Speedo its shadowy between 35 and 55 MPH. I might have been able to live with that but on the tach its downright dark between 2000 to 4000 RPM and that a real noticeable flaw.

I see other companies that make LEDs that actually spread light forward and 360 degrees around. But with LED's they have to be 100% correct for the car and application or they wont work or wont work right. That is why I initially went with the Scott Drakes because they were specific for Fox Bodies.

As it stands I like the green lights Scott Drake gave for the directional, The red light they gave for the hi bean was horrible as it washed out the purple lens so I put a white light there and it still shows purple so I can keep that. The failure points are all the illumination lights on the cluster and the heater panel. The heater appears to take 1 light. I had extras with the kit so I put one in the heater panel and it lights exactly half the panel.

In addition to that I'd like LED's to replace the Trans shifter light that is so dull it almost looks like there's no light at all, and I want to LED the interior lights by the 2 kick panels and the 2 lights on the lighted rear view mirror and the console light as well.

This is why the Scott Drake kit is so lacking as it isn't complete and it leave you with a dual colored interior. Trying to use white to avoid that didn't work out so well . Anybody have other products to suggest for a uniform interior LED conversion that will give a bright white Map/Interior and uniform red or orange dash/console/heater panel?

[FoxChassis]

LED are not specific to Foxes. You can get them from anyone. All of the Mustang vendors package up just what you need for the cluster but as you have found out they not very good bulbs. And they are usually overpriced. I prefer to order from superbrightleds.com

There is more than one light in the HVAC panel. http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthread.php?96132

[fgross2006]

I pulled the heater panel out again and mine has 2 lights. The one that lights the panel points forward so the LED doesn't light upward.
I did manage to get the dead spots on the cluster lit. It's OK but not great. I'll keep it for now. I just need to find correct LED for the kick panel lights and the rear view lights

Attachment 105078

[ZephyrEFI]

Pretty much you just need to find bulbs that shine 360 degrees and fit in the same space the old bulbs did. I also like SuperBrightLEDs. They tell you all that stuff up front, and it's pretty easy to find something that will work for you. I replaced every bulb in my interior with theirs with good results. That said they do also carry cheapie bulbs, but as long as you keep the lumens above the incandescent rating and pay for quality, you won't be disappointed!

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[fgross2006]

Pretty much you just need to find bulbs that shine 360 degrees and fit in the same space the old bulbs did. I also like SuperBrightLEDs. They tell you all that stuff up front, and it's pretty easy to find something that will work for you. I replaced every bulb in my interior with theirs with good results. That said they do also carry cheapie bulbs, but as long as you keep the lumens above the incandescent rating and pay for quality, you won't be disappointed!

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

I was able to find listings for the trans shifter, heater control fan, heater control panel bulbs on superbrightleds.com

The problem now is the convertible illumination lights under the dash on driver and passenger sides are stock bulb 89 and superbrightleds.com has LED for this but not an LED that has a 360 degree light pattern. The ones they show all point in forward direction which I think would leave shadows all around.

Also I still cant find the correct bulb number for the lighted rear view. This is the exact rear view I have. Its from an 87 - up I think. I retrofit my 84 to use it. But I cant find any info on the light bulb number anywhere.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1987-1993-OE...D37338%26meid%

[fgross2006]

Well I got the rear view LED situation taken care of. I took the bulb assembly off with a tiny flat screwdriver and the wiring drops down about 2 inches. Not too tough to work with. Be careful removing the clear lens as it has tiny locking tabs easily broken if mishandled.

The light is the same bulb as the dash cluster lights. Its a push in with the 2 thin wires. I popped the light pigtail off the lens assembly and removed the bulb. The only minor issue was that the LED is fatter then the stock bulb so it wouldn't push through into the lens assembly if inserted into the pigtail first. The opening is too narrow to allow the LED to pass so I dabbed some dialetric grease on into the pigtails, tests the lights to see which direction is correct, then I pushed the pigtail back into the lens assembly without the bulb. Then I pushed the LED up into the LENS assembly from the bottom.

Its a little tight to get one finger up there but I made it work. Also took a moment to clean the 2 lens's and up inside the lens assembly with some glass cleaner. So that's one less thing.

Attachment 105100

Attachment 105101

Attachment 105102

Attachment 105103

[fgross2006]

I looked up the LED equivalent's to the stock lights for the;
Trans shifter, heater control fan switch, heater control panel and the under dash convertible illumination lights.

superbrightleds.com has just what I need for the tranny shifter and heater panel. Im a little disappointed with their options for the under dash illumination lights that shine forward instead of 360 degrees. I may try them anyway but Im still hoping to find a better option.

The only remaining bulb I cant find a part number for is the console light. For some reason my owners manual doesn't list it. Anybody know what bulb number that is? I'd rather not have to pull it off to find out.

[crazyfox]

I just installed led lights in my 86 vert. I went with the kit listed on ebay under title (full set instrument cluster speedometer red led bulbs for 1979-1986 ford mustang.

I used all the leds except the ones for the blinkers (they blinked too slowly with the led bulbs in the indicators on the cluster).I also left the high beam bulb stock. Turned out nice, lighting is even with no unlit spots.
kit is only $27.96 with free shipping. check out the pic of my cluster.

[fgross2006]

I just installed led lights in my 86 vert. I went with the kit listed on ebay under title (full set instrument cluster speedometer red led bulbs for 1979-1986 ford mustang.

I used all the leds except the ones for the blinkers (they blinked too slowly with the led bulbs in the indicators on the cluster).I also left the high beam bulb stock. Turned out nice, lighting is even with no unlit spots.
kit is only $27.96 with free shipping. check out the pic of my cluster.

Looks nice. Did you leave the stock orange lens in the cluster with the red LEDs?

I am dissapointed with the white lights behind the orange lens. I'm gonna order amber colored LEDs with 360 degree lighting from superbrightleds.com

[crazyfox]

didn't touch the lens. just the led bulbs

[fgross2006]

didn't touch the lens. just the led bulbs

Also, did you leave the stock orange in the heater panel, trans shifter and console?

I would have done red but I didn't want mismatched interior lights.

Which manufacturers lights did you get?

Also I just noticed your oil pressure is almost off the scale. Whys it so high? I just installed a crate engine and new Melling oil pump and my oil pressure runs just to the right of the halfway mark on the scale.

[crazyfox]

didn't change the heater control bulb or console, have manual trans so no shifter light. not sure of brand. I got them off ebay. look at my earlier post I put the title of the ebay listing in my post (copy and paste that title into ebays search box and it will take you there.
Yeah, I noticed that my oil pressure seems high too. The sender is only a few months old, don't have any oil leaks, not sure maybe the guage is reading off?? Car runs like a scalded cat though.

[crazyfox]

I just realized that picture of the guages at night was taken right after cold start up. look at the temp guage. oil pressure reads high when cold. the new pictures below are of the car warmed up and going down the highway. oil pressure more towards middle. lol

[fgross2006]

didn't change the heater control bulb or console, have manual trans so no shifter light. not sure of brand. I got them off ebay. look at my earlier post I put the title of the ebay listing in my post (copy and paste that title into ebays search box and it will take you there.
Yeah, I noticed that my oil pressure seems high too. The sender is only a few months old, don't have any oil leaks, not sure maybe the guage is reading off?? Car runs like a scalded cat though.

Do you have a 2 tone color with the stock bulbs in the heater panel? Should still be orange?

[crazyfox]

yes, guages red, heater control orange/redish. I did not change the heater control bulb. I actually need a new heater control faceplate as mine has a hairline crack in it and at night the crack lights up brighter than the rest of it. really annoying me. can i change just the black plastic faceplate without replacing the whole heater control assembly?

[grabbergreen84]

No. not easily. You need the whole thing. You could seal the crack so that it doesn't let light leak out, but that would probably be tough to get at from the rear - unless you can get to it through a bulb hole. Still you could probably accomplish this from the outside.

[fgross2006]

yes, guages red, heater control orange/redish. I did not change the heater control bulb. I actually need a new heater control faceplate as mine has a hairline crack in it and at night the crack lights up brighter than the rest of it. really annoying me. can i change just the black plastic faceplate without replacing the whole heater control assembly?

I communicated with the ebay seller that sells your kit. They only have a cluster kit. Nothing for the rest of the interior.

I do like the red better then amber though but I think I'll use superbrightleds.com and just mix n match and make my own complete interior LED kit.

I want the heater panel, fan control, console, interior illumination to all be LED. And I want the Map and interior LED lights soft white. Bright white is headache inducing.