81-F150-Explorer Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Yes, take the blue filters out. They are now more opaque than translucent and not only change the color of the light but also significantly reduce the amount of it. But if you like blue then you could go with the HIPO blue LEDs. I was a stage lighting tech in my youth. The Primary colors of light are Red - Green - Blue. (Same as a RGB on a computer monitor or TV set) So the filters when they were new reduced the light by 1/3rd removing the red light to get the Greenish/blue. The Incandescent bulbs are not a pure white light either, and couple the fact that the instrument cluster backing can discolor, and no longer reflect the light ... It's crazy how much loss of brightness there is. As for the ICVR, yes they are OLD! And archaic in design. So you should replace it with something much better, like this one from Dennis Carpenter. I believe the 1971 F-series and Econoline was the first clusters with a printed circuit, so it makes sense why Ford would still use it. The Guages didn't really change in function, just in visual design, until 1987. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Yes, take the blue filters out. They are now more opaque than translucent and not only change the color of the light but also significantly reduce the amount of it. But if you like blue then you could go with the HIPO blue LEDs. I was a stage lighting tech in my youth. The Primary colors of light are Red - Green - Blue. (Same as a RGB on a computer monitor or TV set) So the filters when they were new reduced the light by 1/3rd removing the red light to get the Greenish/blue. The Incandescent bulbs are not a pure white light either, and couple the fact that the instrument cluster backing can discolor, and no longer reflect the light ... It's crazy how much loss of brightness there is. As for the ICVR, yes they are OLD! And archaic in design. So you should replace it with something much better, like this one from Dennis Carpenter. I believe the 1971 F-series and Econoline was the first clusters with a printed circuit, so it makes sense why Ford would still use it. The Guages didn't really change in function, just in visual design, until 1987. Yes, they reduced by 1/3 when they were new. They are far from new and while Bill & HIPO said you can polish them back to be as good as new I don't agree. In my experience they still are cloudy and will surely seriously reduce the light. But by using LEDs you bypass the need for the filters. Want blue, install blue LEDs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanSavage Posted July 11, 2023 Author Share Posted July 11, 2023 Yes, they reduced by 1/3 when they were new. They are far from new and while Bill & HIPO said you can polish them back to be as good as new I don't agree. In my experience they still are cloudy and will surely seriously reduce the light. But by using LEDs you bypass the need for the filters. Want blue, install blue LEDs. Those original blue caps also disintegrate, and I do not think there is an OEM like replacement. But I am convinced. I am going HiPo. Creating account and ordering this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81-F150-Explorer Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 Those original blue caps also disintegrate, and I do not think there is an OEM like replacement. But I am convinced. I am going HiPo. Creating account and ordering this week. The blue caps are replaceable: They also come in other colors. Filter Instrument Cluster Lamp: Blue Part #: D9AZ-10B870-A / Fits: 1980/1986 F-100/F-350/U-150 = 1982/1986 Econoline = 83/86 Ranger = 84/86 Bronco II If your interested. But personally I wouldn't bother replacing them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 Those original blue caps also disintegrate, and I do not think there is an OEM like replacement. But I am convinced. I am going HiPo. Creating account and ordering this week. The blue caps are replaceable: They also come in other colors. Filter Instrument Cluster Lamp: Blue Part #: D9AZ-10B870-A / Fits: 1980/1986 F-100/F-350/U-150 = 1982/1986 Econoline = 83/86 Ranger = 84/86 Bronco II If your interested. But personally I wouldn't bother replacing them. Part number D9 probably not only means they were first used in 1979 but that they were made way back then as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanSavage Posted July 12, 2023 Author Share Posted July 12, 2023 Those original blue caps also disintegrate, and I do not think there is an OEM like replacement. But I am convinced. I am going HiPo. Creating account and ordering this week. The blue caps are replaceable: They also come in other colors. Filter Instrument Cluster Lamp: Blue Part #: D9AZ-10B870-A / Fits: 1980/1986 F-100/F-350/U-150 = 1982/1986 Econoline = 83/86 Ranger = 84/86 Bronco II If your interested. But personally I wouldn't bother replacing them. There are a lot of NOS OEM covers, boy are they expensive—but I did a search on the part number, and found replacements at Mustang, here: https://www.american-mustang.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=39_478&products_id=6325&zenid=78d16fg86jgcr6lgn5lccifij3 I am DEFINITELY not going to use them. HiPo all the way for me now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanSavage Posted July 15, 2023 Author Share Posted July 15, 2023 Yes, they reduced by 1/3 when they were new. They are far from new and while Bill & HIPO said you can polish them back to be as good as new I don't agree. In my experience they still are cloudy and will surely seriously reduce the light. But by using LEDs you bypass the need for the filters. Want blue, install blue LEDs. While I am waiting for more things to arrive—HiPo should be here today, but the Upholstery is going to take 3 months! Yikes! Anyway, started to prep some interior—both the dash and some pillars I got from the pick a year ago. One pillar needed a tab fixed. As you can see from the dash, I cleaned it with rubbing alcohol and started to draw the lines in to prep for the stain. I am going to have to use some Satin black SEM on one part as there was glue inside the little rectangle container. This is the original dash which was given to me when I bought the truck. Have no idea why they removed it, except some of the indicator light covers are missing. I have new ones from the pick and will use adhesive to replace them. Anyway to the tab repair. My old ones disintegrated when I took them off a year ago. I found some but one had a broken tab (first pic). So, I got some mesh, sticky tape on one side. Cut it, wrapped it, and used a plastic welding iron to juuuuuust melt it into the plastic. Then wrapped it with a small patch of fiberglass and resin. It still needs to be sanded (I will use a Dremel sand wheel) but here are the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 While I am waiting for more things to arrive—HiPo should be here today, but the Upholstery is going to take 3 months! Yikes! Anyway, started to prep some interior—both the dash and some pillars I got from the pick a year ago. One pillar needed a tab fixed. As you can see from the dash, I cleaned it with rubbing alcohol and started to draw the lines in to prep for the stain. I am going to have to use some Satin black SEM on one part as there was glue inside the little rectangle container. This is the original dash which was given to me when I bought the truck. Have no idea why they removed it, except some of the indicator light covers are missing. I have new ones from the pick and will use adhesive to replace them. Anyway to the tab repair. My old ones disintegrated when I took them off a year ago. I found some but one had a broken tab (first pic). So, I got some mesh, sticky tape on one side. Cut it, wrapped it, and used a plastic welding iron to juuuuuust melt it into the plastic. Then wrapped it with a small patch of fiberglass and resin. It still needs to be sanded (I will use a Dremel sand wheel) but here are the results. Interesting. So you'll drill it? Or does it take a screw? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanSavage Posted July 15, 2023 Author Share Posted July 15, 2023 Interesting. So you'll drill it? Or does it take a screw? I will likely post this tomorrow. I want the resin to set well tonight (not hardening as fast as I would like, maybe because it is very humid here today), then I will sand it/shape it…but, I will drill a hole same size as the other pillar tabs so the metal screw goes through it and sets the interior moulding piece (If that makes sense). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanSavage Posted July 15, 2023 Author Share Posted July 15, 2023 Interesting. So you'll drill it? Or does it take a screw? Oh forgot to post the dash beginnings for restore as per the excellent write up on Rosewood here Gary. I have highlighted the area I have drawn in the continuation of the “wood grain”: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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