Cheap & Easy way to improve cabin lighting

dllubin

dllubin

Don
Ever since my car was new, the overhead courtesy light was ineffective and barely noticeable unless it was dark out. The fact that everything in the car except the carpet is black does not help.

The factory bulb is a 5 watt 39mm festoon type. I replaced it with a high power (380 lumens - roughly equivalent to a 30 watt incandescent) LED festoon and it is rather amazing how bright it is inside the car. The new bulb directs all the light in the direction of the cabin whereas the original bulb sends light in all directions and the reflector in the housing does not seem to help much. This probably makes the difference in light output somewhat greater than the factor of 6 you would expect when comparing a 30 watt bulb to a 5 watt bulb. In addition, the light is very white (6,000K) compared to the yellowish incandescent. I searched eBay for some really bright 39mm LED festoons and came up with this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-NEWES...cVbF0eT:sc:ShippingMethodStandard!94062!US!-1

Best $5 I've spent on the car in quite a while, and I've got a spare bulb for another project.
 
Don, thanks for posting this. For those of us who drive our Xs at night this would really help. I just wish some of these LED option could be bought locally. I hate orders from Amazon et al. Now I wish someone would give us a one-stop list of LED bulbs for the rest of the car. The threads on this forum so far have been a bit complicated regarding LEDs and questions always remain about which option to use.
 
LarryC said:
Don, thanks for posting this. For those of us who drive our Xs at night this would really help. I just wish some of these LED option could be bought locally. I hate orders from Amazon et al. Now I wish someone would give us a one-stop list of LED bulbs for the rest of the car. The threads on this forum so far have been a bit complicated regarding LEDs and questions always remain about which option to use.
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I got mine from eBay and it took less than 3 days from the time I ordered it. I checked out a few at the local O'Reilly's but they were out of stock in anything LED and 39mm. If they were in stock, I think they were 10 bucks each and unspecified light output.
 
Smaugz said:
Try Superbrightleds

for 84 Bertone https://www.superbrightleds.com/veh...hicle-led-lights?make=10&model=1757&year=1984

for 79 Fiat x1/9 https://www.superbrightleds.com/veh...hicle-led-lights?make=26&model=1757&year=1979

for 74 Fiat x1/9 https://www.superbrightleds.com/veh...hicle-led-lights?make=26&model=1757&year=1974
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I checked these guys out but their 39mm festoon bulbs are only about one third the brightness of the above bulb and are more expensive. They do have a nice selection for the other bulbs in the car.
 
dllubin said:
Better get your sunglasses out!
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Good advice. Just installed the referenced eBay product from the top of the thread. This for an early X with an overhead dome lamp. The stock festoon bulb is captive in a grounded housing with a terminal to ground wire. The hot side is toward the driver's side with a spring loaded terminal. Careful not to ground that, or you'll blow the fuse (ask me how I know). Fuse holder is a red in-line behind the fuse block. LED's are polarized, so you'll need to install in the correct orientation.

LED festoon is smaller in diameter than the stock bulb, so you'll need to crimp down the holder to the negative end of the LED bulb to secure it.

The light is quite white in color and many times brighter than the incandescent.
 
Agnelli said:
Good advice. Just installed the referenced eBay product from the top of the thread. This for an early X with an overhead dome lamp. The stock festoon bulb is captive in a grounded housing with a terminal to ground wire. The hot side is toward the driver's side with a spring loaded terminal. Careful not to ground that, or you'll blow the fuse (ask me how I know). Fuse holder is a red in-line behind the fuse block. LED's are polarized, so you'll need to install in the correct orientation.

LED festoon is smaller in diameter than the stock bulb, so you'll need to crimp down the holder to the negative end of the LED bulb to secure it.

The light is quite white in color and many times brighter than the incandescent.
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The particular bulb referenced is non polarized. This is pretty common these days for LED bulbs with any smarts in them. They just hook them up to a bridge rectifier internally so it will work either way.
 
dllubin said:
The particular bulb referenced is non polarized. This is pretty common these days for LED bulbs with any smarts in them. They just hook them up to a bridge rectifier internally so it will work either way.
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I haven't bought any in a while so I hadn't noticed that. Good to know, thanks Don.
 
If you guys had an early Miata, you wouldn't be bitching about dim interior lights. Apparently Mazda worries about us being able to see our knees at night.

The car that pulls up behind you will provide all the interior lighting you need.
 
My solution to the cabin lighting issue was free - for me anyway, since I had a large stash of Volvo parts :D Put a pair of under dash lights from a V70 into the vents

X19-0993.jpg


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X19-0797.jpg
 
I miss the old one in the center of the targa bar like they were in the earlier cars. Not perfect but gave decent illumination to the interior of the car.
 
kmead said:
one in the center of the targa bar like they were in the earlier cars
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Agree. My '79 1500/5-sp has that style (single, center of targa). While my '86s have the door mounted ones. So I guess it wasn't a 1300 vs 1500 design change. Was it Fiat vs Bertone?
 
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