Stock 1951 Ford

roadster

roadster

Senior Member
I have a stock 1951 Ford and my question is
I notice the dash lights are very dim is this normal?
Thanks
 

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I don't know about the 51 Ford but my 39 has a button under the dash that you turn to increase or decrease the brightness. I've seen some that you just turn the light switch button to change the dashlight intensity.
 
Beautiful car!

Even tho the lights in the dash are working, when they get old they have a build-up of black inside from the filament. Simply replacing them makes a world of difference.
 
I have yet see a shoebox that didn't need some massive rewiring, my '51 certainly did. After completely rewiring the car (with all new grounds), I found the dash lights still left a lot to be desired. Out of desperation I pulled the instrument cluster, took it apart and cleaned it. I removed all the metal covers over the light bulbs (see picture), painted everything inside the cluster white. I also changed the oil, temp, fuel, amp gauge needles and the speedometer pointer, from the factory dark red to white.

Result- My old eyes no longer need to strain to see what my car/engine was doing. Night driving is no longer an exercise into the world of partial blindness. For me it was well worth the effort!

Tom
 

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If i remember right, you can turn the headlight switch to brighten and dim the dash lights'
 
I think that compared to today's modern vehicles the best illumination a stock 6 volt dash can put out will compare poorly - that's how it seems to me with my stock F1.
 
My 39 had plastic (or old equivalent) windows between bulbs and instruments. Was really darkened. I'm still looking for replacement
 
flatheadfan said:
I have yet see a shoebox that didn't need some massive rewiring, my '51 certainly did. After completely rewiring the car (with all new grounds), I found the dash lights still left a lot to be desired. Out of desperation I pulled the instrument cluster, took it apart and cleaned it. I removed all the metal covers over the light bulbs (see picture), painted everything inside the cluster white. I also changed the oil, temp, fuel, amp gauge needles and the speedometer pointer, from the factory dark red to white.

Result- My old eyes no longer need to strain to see what my car/engine was doing. Night driving is no longer an exercise into the world of partial blindness. For me it was well worth the effort!

Tom
Click to expand...
I think this will give the best results......SHOEBOX......Gotta love 'em....MARK
 
The bulbs have shields that are supposed to diffuse the light into a soft glow. the shields darken with age and let very little light through.
 
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