How To: Change interior to Blue LED's???

ab 281 gt

New Member
Aug 29, 2004
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Irmo, SC
Hey guys, I was just wondering if anyone knows how to change out the interior bulbs to Blue LED bulbs. Such as part numbers for bulbs, where to find them, how to replace certain bulbs, etc.

I would really appreciate it!!
 
Dunno about the HVAC controls, etc...I believe that the color comes from the plastic lens, not the bulb.

I do know about the gauge cluster. For that you will need a guage face that is either blue, or clear (preferably clear, blue doesn't transfer the light as well), then some blue LED replacement bulbs.

There are different bulbs for differnt model years - but for my car (2004) #37 LED bulbs (also cross referenced as #74 bulb). I bought mine on ebay from the seller DAV Electronics.

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Crappy pic, but you get the idea. The center two gauges are illuminated just fine, but because my gauge faces were already "blue lensed" they don't transfer as much of the blue light from the LED's as I would like, leaving the fuel and dummy gauges sort of dark.
 
MMM... that looks good! Should I just ask Randy what # bulbs the gauge clusters are? Come to think of it, he may know what the others are as well..

Thx :)

UPR makes a Hvac plates in blue reverse glow - but they are white faces (sorta ricey imo for an hvac plate) http://www.uprproducts.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=598

Also, the TC/defrost/etc. buttons could be modified if you REALLY want to, best bet would be pull them apart and hack away with an exacto knife to cut out the colored lenses, then replace the LED's with blue ones (in those buttons, they will be extremely small, and not plug and play).
 
hey man i just did this myself. What year car do you have? The 99-04 have the 168/194 style bulbs behind the hvac controlls and #74 behind the guages. I got the guage overlays from upr but hvac overlay looks like complete rice. Get two led bulbs from SUPERBRIGHTLEDS.COM and throw them in the sockets from the back of the hvac controls. (bulb model number = WLED 5-LED Wide Angle LED bulb) You dont need to remve any of coloring from the stock overlay because the leds are bright enough. I'll get you guys some pics and post them up tomarrow, but i can tell you it looks GREAT!
 
Tried the inverted cone 74's in the gauge cluster and they didn't work... They fit in, but not as snug as the factory bulbs. I'm going to talk to Randy and see if 99 might have a different sized bulb.
 
If the LED's are strong enough, you can overpower the factory gauge coloring and change the color displayed. It will make the HVAC look blue, but you will lose the red/blue on the temp knob.

As for the T/C, fogs and defrost button, there are tiny LED's inside. unsure of the correct size so you'll need to crack one open and take a look. They come green, but if you can locate blue replacements, it's a simple swap

As for the Mach 460 radio, if you want to change it to blue you'll need to find the head unit from a Lincoln Aviator and swap the LED board and LCD display from it into your Mach 460 and it will display in blue
 
Damn, just came across this thread a second too late. :( I just bought 6 blue 37/74 LEDs but according to ab_281 this isn't going to work. Todd! Where are you!

I'll wait for an update from ab_281 before taking out my cluster. :(
 
If i could find a cheap Aviator CD-6 radio on Ebay I would do the blue radio swap and then change my buttons over to blue LED's.

If you are gonna change anything in the center console over to blue, you really need to do it all otherwise it will look weird.
 
Just to let you guys know The Lens of an LED(Light Emitting Diode) has nothing to do with what color is emitted! It is the Wavelength of the Light photons. Different wavelengths are different colors. Good thing about LED's is that they will virtually never burn out and they give off less heat which means more electricity is used towards light and they are brighter. I plan On making some Things out of LED's in the Lab at Del State for my car. First project is going to be that third tail light!