Trying to get my instrument lights to all work on my 58 Coupe that I have owned for a few months now. I noticed that Stoddards sells the .6 watt for field illumination and 1.2watt bulbs for the warning lights. Why not just 1.2 watt for all of them? Also, how does this Christmas tree chain of lights get grounded? Thank you, Mark

The lights are grounded through the instrument sockets, but it helps to make a couple of extra ground wires leading from each instrument to clean metal under the dash. Make these ground wires using lengths of heavy gauge wire with soldered pigtails at each end.

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Hi Mark,

There is no reason why you cannot (I have done that for many years in both cars). That is as easy an upgrade as you can do, especially right now. The 1.2w bulbs in all sockets make the dash lights just bearable, even in a well sorted car.

The next step is to put in LED's which are downright bright. Jules Dielen is the man for those.

Regards,

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Sebastian Gaeta
Registry #8339
'65 C coupe
'64 C cab

Thanks for the help guys...Geoff, where are the attachment points you used on the instrument end for the ground pigtail? Do you somehow work the wires into each bulb holder? Thanks, Mark

Mark,

You can run a new earth wire from the rear of the instrument cluster to some point under the dashboard - I used an existing under-instrument ground position.

For the instrument end of the earth wire I simply connected that to one of the two threaded mounting poles of each instrument.

Without this extra earth wire the instruments just earth via the mounting bridge where each end touches the painted rear of the dashboard - not always the best earthing.

HTH

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I run the grounding pigtails to one of the two threaded rods that secure the instrument to the dash. You then only have to tighten up the knurled retainer nut to get a nice ground effect.

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