Four of my fiber optic strands were inoperative...the having mysteriously been cut off in a previous life. I suspect somebody lost patience trying to disengage them from their homes. I myself inadvertently cut a couple ends off, years ago, on a pal's XJ6 so I won't disparage anyone very harshly in these matters . I thought I was cutting a couple of ground wires! Gah ! What a dumbass.

Anyhow.....

I used 12 volt "grain of rice" bulbs to replace the fiber optics. These bulbs are readily available in various colors on Ebay. I think they're typically used by model railroad hobbyists. You can get 20 of the little devils for about $10 or so.

For the headlight and ignition escutcheons (surrounds, bezels, whatever) I found that the tiny bulbs pressed easily and snugly into the holes. Very easy.

For the two climate control dials the task is slightly more complicated...but still easy. The control panel is removed and the dials are disassembled. Disassembly is a simply matter of gently prying off the toothed retainer ring so the backside of the dial can come off, revealing the fiber optic ends. (This is normally how you'd remove the fiber optic cables although sometimes some wiggling will do the trick. That is, wiggle the cables. You can wiggle yourself and it won't do a darn thing!)

The grain of rice bulbs are then set into position where the fiber optics used to reside. A drop of crazy glue holds 'em in place.

The wiring is simple: just a good ground at whatever location is convenient and then tap into the existing panel light circuit for your 12v "+". I made up some simple sub-harnesses.

The pics will obviously tell a better story than I can.

The dials all glow nicely now,

This was a fun project but in all honestly it would've almost certainly been faster and easier to simply buy and install a good used fiber optic harness from David Boger .

Cheers
DD

 

yes, and some LEDs fit nice and snuggly too, but the wiring, yes the wiring, it is such a hassle. That's why I've left mine factory-stock, i.e., with the fiber optic cables.

 

Which is exactly what I spent 2-3 hours doing yesterday.

This turned out to be a not-so-great modification. The tiny bulbs don't hold up well, at least not in an automotive environment. I got tired of replacing them.

Cheers
DD