Instrument Pod

Dashboard Lights too Dim

Dashboard Lights too Dim

I have a 79 automatic and naturally it came with dim dashboard lights. Lived with it for a while since I don't drive much at night. The bugs, the bugs, the bugs, .. Eventually it got to me and I took the pod apart and looked for a most likely cause. In the end, I have determined that to be the three plastic strips riveted to the prisms that bring the light to the front of the dash. They were meant to act as diffusers but with age changed density or color so that they were effectively blocking most of the light coming through. I think they were beige in color, it's been a while. I simply pulled them off and said, "let there be light" and there was light !!! Much brighter than before but still not as bright as you would perhaps want. I don't think it was any brighter when new. Try it, you got nothing to loose. You could even look for some translucent Mylar strip and replace the existing ones with something more translucent, though I didn't find it worth the effort.
Hope it works for you,

Jan Svec, Ottawa, Ontario
79-auto, Guards Red

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