1966 Catalina Dash Light Bulb Removal

[Ted Feight]

Is there a trick to getting the dash light bulbs out of the 1966 Catalina. I believe they are 194 bulbs and just pull out, but they are hard to get at. In the instrument cluster I think I counted 11? Is there a tool that make it easier? I think I am going to put LED bulbs back in? Any suggestions?

Thank you again for all your help!

God bless!

Ted Feight

[Fitzy]

They just push in Ted but are a tight fit. You'll just have to lay upside down under the dash and keep wiggling. Yes, there are indeed plenty of them and LEDs make sense as it's a task you will only ever want to do once. Don't replace the high beam light with a LED though, as it will sear your eyeballs if you try and drive with it on - LEDs are BRIGHT! How do I know?

[64 kiwi boni]

11 hours ago, Ted Feight said:

Is there a trick to getting the dash light bulbs out of the 1966 Catalina. I believe they are 194 bulbs and just pull out, but they are hard to get at. In the instrument cluster I think I counted 11? Is there a tool that make it easier? I think I am going to put LED bulbs back in? Any suggestions?

Thank you again for all your help!

God bless!

Ted Feight

way easier if the 66 dash pad is removable  like 63-64 are, sooo easy to change bulbs !! from the top rather than standing on your head upside down under your dash!

[dualquadpete]

I question the #194 number on a 66?? more likely a # 57 bayonet base bulb!! even my newly acquired 74 Grandville has # 57 in dash !!!

[Ted Feight]

Fitzy, 64 kiwiboni and dual quadpete, before I get back into this I want to thank you all for your help. I really appreciate all the help I get from the forum!

I think this is important enough that I want to show what I found while working on this. I am also going to ask for help figuring out what the bulb shown blow is, as it only and a G on it?

As a young man I climbed under a lot of cars and dashes. This one threw me. This was the car I had when I got drafted, but I had never changed the dash bulb. The gas gauge, volt meter, clock and radio were the 1895 twist and pull I expected. The cluster did not look like anything I had seen before. So in my normal detail self I started asking questions before breaking something. No one had got back to me yet so I pulled out the shop manual. These do not always make sense to me, as I am a visual learner. The shop manual said :

1. Disconnect the battery
2. On cars with air conditioning, the venter duct assembly will have to be removed. (I do not have air.)
3.Disconnect the speedometer cable
4. Using a spin wrench or deep socket remove four nuts and lock washers. (I did not find these.)
5. Disconnect illumination board on back side of cluster by removing screws (I found 4 at 1/4 inch.)
6. Push cluster toward front of the car and remove cluster assembly.
7. Replace by reversing above procedure.

I had to use my cell phone to find all the nuts and/or screws, but got it done. Below are pictures to show what I was looking at and what I found. I will also show the shop manual illustration and instructions. Also there is a picture of a bulb from the under the dash courtesy light. This is a convertible to so no dome light. I have know idea what it is or if I can get an LED version? 

One other thing. When doing this have safety glasses on as a lot of sound deadening and insulation will fall in your face.

God bless and thank you for all your help!

Ted Feight

[dualquadpete]

Well I stand [or sit] corrected on the 194 dash bulbs !!! First time today I've been wrong ☹️!!  I looked into that under dash bulb and there are a few LED's that look close on Amazon but would be best to have correct cross over # I'm sure someone here must have a chart for bulbs for 66 Catalina?? I'm still surprised that it has #194's in cluster for a 66   😲😲😲

[Ted Feight]

dualquadpete,

Well a lot of things surprise me about this job. I do appreciate your trying to help. 

God bless!

Ted Feight

 

[Fitzy]

Things must have changed for the 66 model year because that's a totally different setup to my 65. Here is a selection of LED replacement globes from the Ames catalogue. Good to see you're still flexible enough to get under there and do the job. If you ever want to be reminded of how old you're getting, buy an old car and start working on it. Glasses, torch, sore back, creaking joints. Sometimes I think it's us old men that need grease nipples and not the car.

Don't forget my warning about using an LED for the high beam indicator. I made this mistake about 6 cars ago and I'm pretty sure I still have the high beam symbol lasered into my forehead.

[Ted Feight]

At 75 I agree!