Are 1979 Gauge Needles Supposed to be Illuminated?
 

In general, the dash gauges and heating/cooling controls lighting is pretty dim. I suspect, from reading other posts, that the lights may have metal vaporized on the inside, so I'm going to replace them all at some point.
All of the gauge needles do not light up at all. are the supposed too? is there illumination from somewhere that shines on them.

I have not taken the cluster out yet, bigger fish to fry, but would like to know if they are supposed to light up.

No. The gauges are illuminated but the needles are not; the whole gauge face is edge-lit to provide light for the needles.

The bulbs do plate up with time, but even with brand-new bulbs the SA clusters are generally not as bright as modern dashes.

LEDs are apparently available and may be brighter. But you might lose the Dimming option with some of these types...

Stu Aull
80GS
AK>AZ

I replaced the dash console lights with Amazon sourced LEDs and they are much brighter. The dimming function is almost non-existent but its only as bright as a modern car now. The only lights not LED on my SA are the licence plate lights at the rear and the headlights, plus the small lights of the HVAC controls and radio.

Link t_g_??

Stu Aull
80GS
AK>AZ

Installed these all in 2016 and have had zero issues since then. Some of the cheapie 10 packs may have bad bulbs in them but for the price, a few bad ones is not bad. As with a lot of electronic parts, if they work when initially installed then usually you are good to go.

194

1156

1157 (Beware I tried one set of the cheapies pack of 10 and had to return them because the polarity was wrong so I got this set which cost a bit more but worked)

Dome light

Digital flasher