I am getting ready to rewire my 1956 Ford Crown Victoria with a NOS original under dash to engine harness and a new reproduction headlight crossover harness and taillight harness. I would like to upgrade the dash instrument lighting and taillights with brighter LED bulbs. Looking for recommendations for these types of bulbs, Looking for bulbs that would just plug into existing sockets with no modifications,
Thanks

Likely a good idea for dash lighting, as LEDs last so much longer.  After 25 yrs./100K miles, my 6V bulbs are starting to burn out, so will be spending a lot of painful time under the dash soon.  Any replacement LEDs would probably need to be the dimmable type though (unless you never leave a streetlamp-lit city).

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

This is what I used in my 54 Ford (converted to 12V).  The dash lights are  really nice but you may lose the dimming. 

Taillight - iBrightstar 9 - 30V Super Bright LED - Brilliant red (Amazon)
  Dash Lights - LED BA9S 5050S-SMD  (ebay)
You may find the signals work a little slower.  I used the same bulbs in the rear of my 56 Bird and this happened.   I didn't notice a difference in the 54.  I did not do the dash signal lights and the high beam indicator

Both plug and play.

If the signals are slower, you can get a special flasher for LED's.




54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

Paul, I’ve read that some LED’s can be bright from behind, but dimmer at a shallow angle. You happy with the “angle” view on the tail lights? I’d love to have something brighter. In the home location of M soft and A zon, half the population seems to think they can drive by looking at their phone. And with their modern bright LED headlights stuck on high, I never need to dim the dash lights.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

I’m using halogen bulbs front and rear and find them excellent with no changes to the system or speed with the flasher. I personally don’t like bright instrument lights but it’s a personal choice. Ours is a 56 and I’ve lit up the top red reflectors above the backup lights with the same wattage as the backup lamps. 

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

I considered replacing the bulb in my 55 Tbird radio with an LED during the Aurora conversion. However, Justin (Sierra Classic Car Sound) said that due to the angle/position of the bulb, an LED would not be as bright. On the other hand, I do intend to replace the bulbs in my Autometer gauges with LEDs after seeing a gauge that had been melted by the incandescent bulb. 

It's a pain to work under a 55-57 Tbird dash, even with the seat, steering column, etc. removed. I replaced all of the 6v incandescent bulbs with 12v bulbs, and I don't plan on doing much, if any, night driving. Hopefully, the incandescent bulbs will last until the car and I part company (one way or another).  

LEDs do emit light in a cone shape.  This does mean that they can be significantly dimmer when viewed off center and may not illuminate things properly.  They also cannot take advantage of reflectors like incandescents because all of the light goes forward, in that cone pattern whereas incandescent is closer to a spherical emission of light.  A light designed from the start for LEDs can work very well but results can be less than ideal for a light that was intended to use incandescent bulbs.



Lawrenceville, GA

Hi
first I am no expert and I am in the UK. ( a limey?)
I looked at doing this to the  dash lights in a 56 f100.
LED  Ba15s (s single contact) is what to look for.  Ba15d is a double contact version.  be careful as some have offset bayonet pins.
I gave up as I could not find a dimmable version. My dash lights (2 bulbs) are powered from a variable resistor in the headlight switch. 
purchased a pack of filament bulbs for the price of one LED
I would love to get a pair of Holley Retro light head lights but they only do them for LHD. 
less current draw I thought I could work them without relatys
stuey

The previous owner of my motorcycle had replaced the taillight/brake light bulb with an LED. Although I never had to replace it, it wasn't very bright. 

I never checked the rear lights at an angle, but the lens' are much brighter so I assume that they still show good 

.



54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ