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MG MGB Technical - Guage Lighting

Could not find much in the archived (probably not using the right words).

Any recommendations to increase the lighting on the guages for a 67 B GT? My reostat is working fine, but even on full, the guages are difficult to read at night.

I know this is normal for the TD. But is this normal for the B and are there tricks to increase it?
Bruce Cunha

On my midget the guage housing come off and the inside of the outter housing is painted white (tends to yellow over time) to increase/reflect the light, a new fresh coat of bright white will do the trick + fresh bulbs wouldn't hurt. I believe LBC co. sells halo inst bulbs.
J.T. White

Bruce,

Several posters here have recommended removing the reostat and directly wiring the dash lights. Check the archives for reostat.

When I rebuilt my dash, I put a 67 dash in a 68 B (not an eash job) I repainted all of my instrument cases. I painted the exterior silver and the interior all white. They originally had white and blue paint in them about 50% of each. Several of the gauges had a blue plastic around the edge that the light bulb had to shine through. I removed this and replaced it with clear plastic strips that I bought at TAP Plastics. I used the standard bulbs.

I also carefully disassembled my reostat and cleaned it using glass beads in my sand blasting cabinet. It came out looking like new. I lightly oiled the spring shaped wire and reassembled it.

The combination of cleaning the reostat, painting the interiors all white, removing the blue plastic, and cleaning up all of the electrical connections made the dash very visible at night. It is not as bright as my new commuter car but it has a very nice glow.

Cris
Cris DeYoung

Bruce, go to RadioShack and buy new, brighter bulbs. If you search the archives, you'll find the part #.

Also, did you check the ohms on your rheostat? Many times there is still resistance in the "full on" position, cutting the voltage. I bypassed mine since I never dim the lights anyway. Both wires are tied to the same terminal.
Jeff
Jeff Schlemmer

Bruce there is loads on this subject in the archives.. spell gauge correctly and you should find out all you want to know.
BTW the cheapest upgrades you should do are paint the inner case a gloss white and remove the rheostat from the wiring loom. The halogen bulbs are said not to last very long in service.
Cecil Kimber

Cecil

Damn my typing. I tried Gauge Illumination and Gauge Lighting in the archives search. Only got one hit. I finally got what I wanted with Gauge Light or just Gauge


I will try taking the rheostat out of the circuit. I see that is easily done with the extra spade. Rather not take all the gauges out unless nothing else easier works.

Thanks, as usual, for the assist.


Bruce Cunha

If bypassing the rheostat increases brightness then the rheostat has had it, and they are very expensive to replace. The greatest stress on the rheostat ocurs when it is just short of full brightness. Whilst all rheostats (seem to) have two spades on each connection and some years only have one wire going to each connection making bypassing it simply a matter of moving one of the wires to the spare spade on the other connection, other years have wires on both of the spades on one side making it a little more tricky. Radio Shack bulbs were first recommended several years ago, but fell out of favour as they soon burn out, being 7v incandescent bulbs on what is 14.5v when running. They also take more current putting even more load on the rheostat. 12v Halogen bulbs from one or two of the MG parts suppliers are different, said to be brighter, and lower current than normal. But I find the beauty of analogue instruments is that one *doesn't* have to read them, just see the angle of the pointer.
Paul Hunt 2

Clean the INSIDE of the glass. A heavy film develops after 35+ years. Removing it makes a huge difference.

The face on the larger gauges can be removed with the gauge in place. Hold the body of the gauge from behind and twist the bezel counter clockwise.

They are re-installed by reversing the process.

I suspect the small round gauges work the same way, but I haven't tried them. No clue about the rectangular oil pressure gauge.
Dan Hiltz

Chris Betson did some work on this about 6 months ago apparently using high intensity neons. If you have a look in the archives you should be able to find it
Iain MacKintosh

Several months ago I "upgraded" the lighting in the gauges on my US spec 78 B. Got some self adhesive silver mylar at the local Hobby Lobby (hobby / craft store) for less than $5 for 3 sheets 8.5 x 11. Cleaned the glass and 'cut and pasted' the mylar in place. Also removed the green 'light filters' that cover over the bulbs. Left the rheostat in place and actually turn it down some at night. It made a HUGE difference. I've also been coating the turn signal reflectors with it - it makes a really noticable difference.

Tom
Tom Sotomayor

The really amusing thing about what Chris Betson (haven't seen anything from him for a while) did was when he posted some pictures of the results and someone posted back, in all seriousness, "Can you make the pictures a bit brighter"
Paul Hunt 2

Ha yes, I remember that. If only life were so easy.

It did however look as if there was adequate illumination there.
Iain MacKintosh

Chris Betson is a regular contributor on the MGOC members forum. Nice to see your name again Paul Hunt. I haven't seen your valuable contributions for a long time - or have I just missed them?

Mike H
Mike Howlett

This thread was discussed between 28/09/2005 and 30/09/2005

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGB Technical BBS is active now.