Pimping my Cobra with red interior lights...

metal prongs that hold the bulb in place. I didn't know this when I bought the replacement parts.

just metal tips on each end of the bulb.

So, I took a small screw driver and made a small hole in each end of the metal prongs so the metal tips on the bulb fit and stay in place. :)

went click click click. Seems the battery died. Or killed itself in protest. I tried to jump it and it couldn't be brought back to life. Funny that should happen today.

Sounds like your car is trying to tell you something. Maybe it's ashamed to be seen in public with those red lights. Afraid that next you'll be cruising the gay red light districts. Or perhaps running an illicit business out of your car. That it's afraid that on one of those sleazy streets, a cops spot light will bring the attention of the entire world. Remember! Cars have feelings, too. :0)

"Brad and Karen" wrote in news:55ejk.140884 $gc5.107851@pd7urf2no:

I won't do it again if you don't format your newsreader properly. Set the line length at 76, and stop trying to post HTML to Usenet.

I know. :( I was *honestly* tempted to put the original bulbs back in today, just to see if it started. LOL.

Brad

le metal prongs that hold the bulb in place. I didn't know this when I boug= ht the replacement parts.

ather just metal tips on each end of the bulb.

lb. So, I took a small screw driver and made a small hole in each end of th= e metal prongs so the metal tips on the bulb fit and stay in place. =A0:)

ust went click click click. Seems the battery died. Or killed itself in pro= test. I tried to jump it and it couldn't be brought back to life. Funny tha= t should happen today.

Don't forget to hang a bullfighter painted on black velvet from the mirror.

sorry, late to this thread:

isn't the theory of red light that it doesn't destroy your night vision? I know that's the story Studebaker used when they went to red gauge lights in '63.....supposedly what aircraft used, at least then.

my '64 Avanti had regular size gauge bulbs with red "filters" over them: looked like little red condoms. Don't know if gays use red condoms - I thought they were fond of green which was more a Plymouth thing and there may be significance to that.

my later Avanti's reverted to regular gauge lighting......the 4 "courtesy lights" were normal. but when you drove at night the the consoles were bathed in red light beamed down from a lamp under the dash. I don't recall having to fight off solicitations from either persuasion, although I may have misunderstood it whenever people asked me what kind of ride it was.

btw: currently have an '06 Mustang and '06 Five Hundred: the 'stang isn't driven much, but have to start it at least every 2 weeks or the battery goes limp (electrics have been checked-out and supposedly OK). The Five Hundred went dead once overnight with no explanation. Maybe Fords tend to reject all those foreign parts........funny, the 'stang keeps its radio presets, but have had to reprogram the windows, time....and the tranny is ambivalent until it figures out how it hard I'm going to ride it,.

Check out the instruments in an aircraft, like a jet fighter. Check out what color filter a Navy Seal uses on his flashlight when he's reading a map. Red. It's easier on the eyes at night. You can keep your night vision. And, it doesn't register as easily with an opponent scanning the area for you as a standard light source does. In the pitch black, the light of a single candle can carry for miles.

metal prongs that hold the bulb in place. I didn't know this when I bought the replacement parts.

rather just metal tips on each end of the bulb.

So, I took a small screw driver and made a small hole in each end of the metal prongs so the metal tips on the bulb fit and stay in place.  :)

went click click click. Seems the battery died. Or killed itself in protest. I tried to jump it and it couldn't be brought back to life. Funny that should happen today.

In Japan, the PI, etc, multi-colored Christmas tree lighs along with a sort of lace with lace balls (dingle balls) every so many inches around the windshield and back glass.

There is a chemical in the eyeball, visual purple (sic), that is destroyed by exposure to full-spectrum light. It takes a while to build back up, after an exposure, which you will notice as recovery of night vision.* Red light doesn't affect the visual purple (as much) as other wavelengths do. That's what I learned in school fifty-something years ago. It may not longer be true.

Early in WWII navy ships were equipped with blue lights in areas visible from off-ship, as someone who could make decisions decided things looked pretty dark in blue light, so blue light would not be as visible over the waters. Turns out blue light is among the wavelengths most visible over distance. So, the bulb guy sold out of blue when they were building ships, and sold out of red when they were refitted. I learned that in school fifty-something years ago. It might be an urban legend today, as well.

• Strange but true: the eye's curve of dark adaptation is nearly identical to the curve of light intensity from full sun to full dark. I learned that in school fifty years ago ...

Spike wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Astronomers always use red light to read charts, etc. I remember covering the flashlight with red tissue paper and a rubber band.

However, red is not all that good for seeing your gauges. I think Ford got it right with their dim green lighting and flourescent orange needles.

Speaking of lighting, when I was a kid, one of my dad's friends had a 1940s Chrysler. The speedometer lighting changed color according to the speed. There were changes at 20, 35, 45, 55 and 65. Must have been done with a sliding colorized plastic filter. I remember very well that the lights were red over 65. Red = too fast, I guess.

I thought that was one of the coolest things ever. The color of the lighting told you your speed range.

Spike: one of the regrets of my automotive life: I lusted after a '55 Cadillac Fleetwood on the GM dealer's used car lot in this small Ohio town.....a trade-in......they treated it just like any old used car, asking a very low price. It needed nothing....I even test drove it. The only things I could find wrong with it were that it would have taken a big chunk of my garage space, and I wasn't wild about the baby blue color.

It languished for weeks, disappeared, and I next saw it parked at "Cafe Fiesta"....complete with those little pom-pom balls around all the windows, fuzzy steering wheel and rear view mirror covers, and angel hair on the rear package shelf with a religious tableau. Saw it around town a couple weeks before it disappeared forever. My guilt still haunts me.