Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

One thing I've noticed is age and sometimes bulb heat on the original gels sometimes makes them very faded. For anyone needing to renew those, hobby shops have an excellent selection. They are transparent so the opaque white has to be placed under but turns out very nicely. Amber and a light brown is also available for those needing it.

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Here is the thread I mentioned earlier about bulbs that might be brighter Brighter 6v Bulbs While I do not see your bulb on there (this list is also from the 1930's), perhaps someone has a bulb list that will show brighter bulbs for the instrument lights.

Success!
I put the cluster back together last night. I even fixed the clock! I laid it in and put the lights in with a pigtail ground and HOLY SMOKES! This thing looks like a luxury automobile now!
I did do a small modification (May the Packard gods forgive me.)
On the fuel and temp gauges, the old orange arrows were very dingy and hard to see even when the units were out of the cluster in full sunlight. I thought to myself "how can I brighten these up? They are such fine print"
The Solution: I took an X-acto knife and very carefully scraped the paint off over the arrows. The arrows are now bare metal which is silver and have much more contrast. I left the dots on the fuel gauge alone and just did the arrows. Then I hit the gauge faces with some krylon clear so the newly exposed metal wouldn't rust/tarnish/darken.
The cluster really looks like a million bucks!
Pictures coming soon.

ps. yes, I've been using the correct bulbs the whole time.

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Looks terrific. Makes you want to take a long drive, doesn't it? Time spent on instrument clusters is some of the most satisfying--its almost like making jewelry.

My 49 23 series bulbs look like the same parts as this picture.I have at least one burned out. How does the metal piece that holds the bulb come out of the cluster? Twist, turn, or just pull out? They seem to be in there very solid.

Thanks for any help. You guys are the best!

Unless there are significantly different that the 51-54 clusters, the bulb holders are held in by friction tabs. Wiggle the holder side to side, and it should pop out. Could be some corrosion holding it in place.

They are the same. Of course the 22nd and 23rd series have those black light filters.

Dave,

How exactly did you do the extra grounding? What did you cround to/from? I'm getting ready to do likewise on mine. Thanks.

While we are back on these instrument clusters: 53 Clusters came in two flavors; blue for seniors, and maroon for juniors. Almost all of the juniors have faded to brown as the maroon dye used in the anodizing process is not stable. It wasn't til recently when I got in a 14K mile 53 Clipper that I even knew they should be maroon. The first photo shows how the parts of gages exposed to light have faded, and the original color. The second is with the cluster all redone with the maroon restored and all the needles repainted with flat white model paint. I use this wonderful translucent laquer from Duplicolor to effect the change. It restores the red pigment to the annodized coating on the aluminum gage faces so they turn maroon again. The effect is quite pleasing.

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Dave and Ross, beautiful work!!