Radio color change from amber

[BobD]

Hi All,

I just got an AM/FM Cassette/CD radio from a later model Chrysler. It has amber colored lights. I'd like to change it to the older green color. I pulled the radio apart and see that the 8 or so light bulbs have a yellow rubber cap over them. Has anyone changed these out with the green ones? If so, what type of radio did you get these from. Is there a green cap a person can buy somewhere? Or, has anyone dipped the bulb in a green paint? I'm sure that would work fine. I'd just like to know what others have done.
Thanks in advance.

[kermit]

They do sell the rubber caps at like autozone and other places. Personally I have painted bulbs before and they turned out pretty nice, so that's what I would probably do.

[BobD]

Quote:

They do sell the rubber caps at like autozone and other places. Personally I have painted bulbs before and they turned out pretty nice, so that's what I would probably do.

I may try that. I've painted lights myself and it does work. I did notice that there's an amber colored lens over the display. So, if I do change the bulb color, I'll have a 2 tone radio.

[Sittn86]

Try to find a junk one with a good LCD on ebay, you might get it fairly cheap, then just switch fascia. There'll be some soldering, more than likely. Hey, didn't Chrysler change the location of the mounting tabs in the 90's? I think I remember having to drill 2 holes, one for the alignment peg, one for the screw, to put one of those in a '90 Caravan. It's been 10 years, though.

[2.216vturbo]

The bulbs actually get pretty hot Bob (didn't like the hot smoking paint smell myself) I had better luck with several coats of green sharpie marker. Each time a layer dries you can lay down a new layer for a darker effect. Do it quickly or the solvent in the ink will loosen up the first coat. Make a little two wire jumper to test your bulbs before you go thru the trouble of re-installing them

Alan

[BobD]

Quote:

The bulbs actually get pretty hot Bob (didn't like the hot smoking paint smell myself) I had better luck with several coats of green sharpie marker. Each time a layer dries you can lay down a new layer for a darker effect. Do it quickly or the solvent in the ink will loosen up the first coat. Make a little two wire jumper to test your bulbs before you go thru the trouble of re-installing them

I wish I had thought of that the other day. I have a green sharpie right here. I stumbled on the curcuit board of the old Chysler radio I tore apart to get the new tab to glue on the new radio. It has 5 green bulbs. The same type. So, next time I hit a salvage yard, I'm going to grab some if I find a broken radio. I don't know why, but people always seem to distroy radios in the salvage yards. Maybe they're looking for bulbs? I don't know. I can live with the display having the amber colored numbers. It would just be nice to get some of the other lights changed. I may get creative and use different colors for different stuff. It would be nice to be able to see a certain color that represents the channel buttons. There's so many buttons on that radio that with the location of it, it would be nice to see what your looking for faster.
I wish I had found this curcuit board before I installed the radio. It's not an easy one like most. This is in a 94 Sundance. The ground strap is far from long enough to make getting the 3/8" nut on/off very easy.
I only epoxied one tab onme the bottom to hold the radio in and it seems to work well.
Next time, I hope to find the correct year CD/cassette radio. It would have saved me a little grief. But for $25.00, I'm not complaining