I think I have figured it out. I was pulling some of the lights behind
the dash on my Healey and came up with a #52 lamp (the bulb is the glass
part, the whole thing, base and bulb is called a lamp).
When I first got my MG I pulled a lamp out that was broken. The bulb had
come away from the base. I couldn't find a direct replacement, but a #53
had the same configuration. The two pieces have been on my desk for over
two years. However, the panel lamp I pulled from the MG was not
numbered, but had it's rating on the base. The rating was 12v., 2.2W. At
the time I got a copy of GE's small lamp catalog and couldn't find
anything that was rated at 12V. The 53 that we are all forced to use is
rated 14V. The difference is that the 12V would run brighter than the
14V.
My guess is that we really need the #52 which doesn't seem to be
available. It would burn more brightly than the presently available #53.
Does anyone have any ideas? Could the equivalent of the #52 still be
available in England? The bulb diameter is 7/16th in diameter. I don't
know why, but bulb diameters are measured in 1/8" increments. The G31/2
bulb of the 52 is really 7/16ths. The G stands for Globular.
I have called GE and they have no knowledge of a #52. They even looked
in a 1980 catalog and didn't find any 12 lamps.
Anybody have a time machine so they could go back and get some for us?
Armed with this knowledge does someone have a supply of NOS panel lamps
that might be rated at 12v?
Jack
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