The 'E' Type Forum

I have owned my 69 for over twenty years. Now that my kids are away at college I figured I could do some work on the car myself. Bad idea. I ordered fuses and installed them. At the same time I pulled the gauge light bulbs so I could upgrade them. Now my gauges and radio don't work. After you stop laughing, any ideas? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I would guess that your instruments were being earthed through the original metal light bulbs, and that if you have substituted plastic bulb holders, you have lost your earth. Either that, or the drop down panel itself has ceased to be earthed because you have disturbed a connection . You can test easily by earthing a single gauge with a length of wire to a known earth such as the gear lever - if it then works you have your answer

When you say the gauges don't work, do you mean there is no light on them or they all show nothing on display. All or just the temperature and fuel?

Because the radio doesn't work also, I would suggest checking fuses 5,6 and 7.

Is there anything else electrically not working? Tail lights, stop lights?

Thanks for the quick responses. I tested the power in and out of the fuses and did in fact find one of the new fuses was bad (in the 7 slot). However, no success; the gauges and radio are still not working. Nonetheless, it resolved one issue. I will replace the light bulbs and see if that works. If still no success, will try a direct line.