Hey y'all, I have been working on the Dart some (67 Dart GT) and going to try to get the gauges all working again, fuel and temp have been sporadic and working sometimes when you push in on the cluster. I purchased the RTE IVR, and am looking at getting LED bulbs since it's kind of a pain to replace them, and they will pull a little less voltage. Looking at the Phillips 158w, seems like a solid little bulb, but open to ideas, Phillips is a known brand so I feel better getting those. I have a few gauge bulb sockets missing and some broken, so again, while it's out, may as well replace those, these ones https://www.amazon.com/Instrument-Panel ... B0040D0QFC seem to be correct (5/8" not 1/2") does that seem right?

Also, I am looking at these https://www.ebay.com/itm/Circuit-Board- ... SwpppcL24J same idea, as long as it's out might be worth it. I have a missing pin at one connector, and like 5+ that are loose, my soldering skills are not great, so unbolting the old ones and putting these in seems like a good idea, cost could be worse...

Finally. I had removed this cluster at some point in the past, and disconnected the ammeter and run those wires to a voltmeter that is just sitting on the floor. Where it is, it's not telling me much, so think I may just put the leads back to the ammeter. I have been reading and seems like it might be a hazard, but thought I would ask y'all's opinion. It's mostly a fun car, not racing it or doing anything much beyond HEI, Super Six, and front disc brakes.

Thanks for any input!

You're wise to be skeptical about LED bulbs; there's a ton of junk on the market. Carefully-chosen Philips items are reasonably good, but Osram-Sylvania makes a good one in three colours. I like to use the yellow-amber one for general dashboard illumination, because the yellow light produces less glare at whatever intensity setting you choose, making it easier to see the road and the dashboard at the same time after dark. The yellow bulb can also be used successfully behind green turn signal pilot lights. The red one is the obvious pick for red warning lights. If you feel a consuming need to light up the dashboard like a movie screen and to hell with your night-driving vision (can you tell I think this is an unwise idea?) they make the bulb in cold white (6000K). There's a warm white version, too, but Sylvania doesn't sell it in North America so you have to get it in via unofficial import, which is unreasonably expensive—Philips to the rescue on that one.

Note that you can't use an LED bulb in a single turn signal pilot light that flashes no matter whether you're making a left or right turn. For the same reason, don't freak out if some of your LED bulbs don't light when you install them; just rotate them 180° and reinstall.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks for the input, can you clarify on the turn signal point?

A single pilot light that blinks whether you signal for a left or a right is hooked up such that current flows through the bulb one way during a left signal and the other way during a right signal. That's fine with filament bulbs, which are not polarised; they work no matter which way the current flows. But LEDs are polarised devices; they light up with current in one direction and stay dark with current the other direction.

If your left and right turn signal pilot lights are separate (2 green lights on your dashboard) there'll be no problem using LEDs in them.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Ok thanks! That makes sense now!