Interior light bulbs

[84RabbitGTI]

I am looking for the correct bulbs for the interior courtesy lights on the door pillars of my 1951 Kaiser.  Size, type, cross refs for new bulbs or other brand cars, and/or sources for the bulbs would be greatly appreciated.  I have found the original Kaiser part numbers in the company parts list for them but I don't have any specs for them (type and size of base) and I don't think the ones that came out of it are the originals. The one I have says only "T63" stamped on it.  I'm sure they are fairly common. Thanks.

[Gordie]

If the old bulb looks and fits correctly just take it to your local auto parts store and they should be able to match it for you.  There is a vendor on eBay that offers dash light bulbs for K-F products that are very inexpensive.

[54 Kaiser]

A good source of info for stuff like this is "Don's Bulbs". (Google it, you'll find it.)

The clip below is part of a reprint from an old Westinghouse bulb guide. I cropped just the Kaiser section for myself. The "Dome" lamp (on the door posts) is an 81 on the '51.  The '54 also has floor lights on the front and trunk lights that are also #81's.



Miniature bayonet base, single contact. (BA15s base.)
6.5 volt. 6.6 watt. 1.02 amp. Not particularly bright but you can't get more light without heat unless you go to LED's.

NAPA may not stock them but they should be able to order them in for you.

[Orphanauto]

interesting that you post this, because all my lights work except my dash lights. Perhaps all of my instrument light bulbs are out, not sure as I havent checked yet. Is it fairly easy to pull the cover off and replace them? I'm new with a Kaiser, 53 manhattan. Is there anything else to check I'm thinking no fuse in  53. tahnks for the input...Ron..

[84RabbitGTI]

Thanks for all the advice.  I have gone to my local auto parts stores and they look at me like I have a NASA Moon buggy or something.  Even my local NAPA is unwilling to help me, but let me look at the books at least.  Thanks for the number on the base size.  That's what I thought it was.  I may try the LED's since these things are relatively inexpensive.  They may not work well in this application because of their more directional beam projection, but they might be ok in the plastic housing.

Since someone brought up the Instrument panel, has someone come up with a way to "shed more light" on the damn thing?  It is really quite useless when the sun goes down unless you are on an unlit road with no traffic at midnight.  There are few unlit roads here in Western WA with light traffic on them.  Thanks.

[superk226]

interesting that you post this, because all my lights work except my dash lights. Perhaps all of my instrument light bulbs are out, not sure as I havent checked yet. Is it fairly easy to pull the cover off and replace them? I'm new with a Kaiser, 53 manhattan. Is there anything else to check I'm thinking no fuse in  53. tahnks for the input...Ron..

   If none of the dash lights work, it is probably the rheostat on the light switch that is either burned out or the wiper is not making contact. There is no separate fuse for the dash lights, they feed through the same source as the head lights...Larry

[mbflemingkf]

The bulb numbers for all the bulb applications are listed in the Owners Manual.  Don't buy NOS bulbs.  The glue is likely dried up to the point that when twisted they will seperate from the bases.  There are numberous NEW 6 volt bulb sellers on e-bay.  Just type in what you need like "81 bulb."  63 is a common number and is available at most parts houses like Auto Zone, etc.  You can buy at NAPA but they will be very expensive.

[54 Kaiser]

interesting that you post this, because all my lights work except my dash lights. Perhaps all of my instrument light bulbs are out, not sure as I havent checked yet. Is it fairly easy to pull the cover off and replace them? I'm new with a Kaiser, 53 manhattan. Is there anything else to check I'm thinking no fuse in  53. tahnks for the input...Ron..

I agree with superk226's comment but I'll add this. Even with the rheostat BYPASSED, I thought the instrument cluster bulbs were blown as well as the one for the automatic transmission indicator. So, I pulled the cluster apart. Bulbs (on the '54) are accessible by just removing the top cover of the steering column.

Bulbs were all GOOD. So, I disassembled the transmission indicator bits and found that the "tint" piece had gone so dark over the years, it was almost black. I'm sure you could have safely used it for arc welding it was blocking light that well.

Logic dictates that they may have used the same material in the cluster for "tinting" the colour of the bulbs and it has lost it's transparency the same as the automatic indicator did. All I know is that if it's at night, and I put the parking lights on, and give my eyes lots of time to adjust to the ambient light around me, I can barely make out anything on the cluster. Fuel, speed, etc. The "idiot" lights are visible when starting but still not very bright. You wouldn't see them in daylight. Turn signal indicators aren't too bad. High beam indicator is pretty dim.

I plan to pull the cluster apart this summer to see what's up inside. Worst case I'll remove the tint covers completely and use either tinted bulbs (I can tell you were to buy tint) or coloured LED's in place of the bulbs. I'm not really sure if the lighting should have a "bluish" or "greenish" tint to it. Right now, it's "black light". And I don't like driving at night with it that way.

[ben-tex]

I had to carry a flashlight in my 54...

[54 Kaiser]

I had to carry a flashlight in my 54...

   

[montefrazer]

"I light a match to see the dash
And then I start to pray"   
From DaYoopers  http://www.lyricsondemand.com/d/dayooperslyrics/rustychevroletlyrics.html

[Skybolt]

I use a "head band flash llight" adjusted to shine on the cluster whend looking in that direction when driving the '53 at night. 

[84RabbitGTI]

My '51 was bright tonight. The power in town went out for a while and I could see the dash really well!