Re: '49 instrument panel lights question.
Posted by HH56 On 2015/7/30 20:58:25
The bulbs are covered by a UV filter which is the dark lens you were seeing. The actual illumination provided by the bulbs thru the filters is a very deep and almost nothing being visible purple light and in of itself is not of much use. You can see a tiny bit of light at the bulb locations if the surrounding area around the car is dark. The paint on the numerals and needles on the actual instrument is a white but luminescent paint which is energized by the UV. As you can see from the photo in the owners manual only those painted parts show at night and are a glowing green color when active.
If yours isn't working quite like the manual says, after 65 years the paint has probably lost most of its strength and in some cases has flaked and fallen off. There have been a few who have managed to use a modern luminescent paint to redo the instruments but it is a tedious undertaking. There have been others who have elected to remove the UV lens filters so the bulb illuminates in the normal fashion. While that approach works it does eliminate one of the unique features that Packard and other cars of that era were doing to add some pizazz.
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If yours isn't working quite like the manual says, after 65 years the paint has probably lost most of its strength and in some cases has flaked and fallen off. There have been a few who have managed to use a modern luminescent paint to redo the instruments but it is a tedious undertaking. There have been others who have elected to remove the UV lens filters so the bulb illuminates in the normal fashion. While that approach works it does eliminate one of the unique features that Packard and other cars of that era were doing to add some pizazz.
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