Original #90 courtesy lamp bulb - Photo?

[Todd B.]

Does anyone have a photo of an original #90 bulb used in C2 courtesy lamps? I read in the archives that this bulb had a unique shape, and I'd like to know what to look for.

Thanks,
Todd

[John M.]

Re: Original #90 courtesy lamp bulb - Photo?

http://classicautobulbs.com/vintage.html. Scroll down into their vintage bulb selection to view a photo of a G-E #90. Hope this helps

[Todd B.]

Re: Original #90 courtesy lamp bulb - Photo?

Thanks John - that's what I needed. I appreciate your help.

Todd

[John D.]

Re: Original #90 courtesy lamp bulb - Photo?

Todd, The glass globe has a shape of a grape. Now today's replacement have a much larger glove that the real deal.
Most onlookers (nice word for judge) won't know the difference. Go to Car Quest and ask for nice #90's made overseas.

Now lets discuss Made In USa #90's. But before a story on my 63, the LWC to keep JR happy. First show it was ever judged was Marlborough 06.
Nice judge was Bill S. Bill looked at the courtesy bulbs and said they were not what he would expect to see-not typical as they were pear shaped. LOL. Ding.
So then I studied up on bulbs and learned a lot about the #90's.
One brand of NOS ones had so much solder on the two terminals that they would not fit in the socket. So I tried some NOS Philips #90's and they fit perfect.
#90's have two soldered terminals on them. #89's only have one. #89's are all over the flea markets but #90's are hard to find.
Recap: Original #90s have a very small round glass where as the replacements are much larger. JD

[Todd B.]

Re: Original #90 courtesy lamp bulb - Photo?

Thanks John for the additional details on these bulbs. I had picked up some NOS Westinghouse #90's (old USA-made bulbs), and was concerned whether or not they were close enough to the original GE #90's to appear correct. They actually look very close in shape/size to the GE #90 bulb shown in the Classic Auto Bulbs photo.

Regards,
Todd

[Wayne M.]

Re: Original #90 courtesy lamp bulb - Photo?

John -- are these pics typical of the bulb #90. Probably got this from junkyard cruising . Notice the faint "USA" in the middle thumbnail. Is the bulb glass the correct 'grape' size, or too small.

I couldn't find the vintage bulb section in the above link, to compare this to theirs.

[Michael F.]

Re: Original #90 courtesy lamp bulb - Photo?

John -- are these pics typical of the bulb #90. Probably got this from junkyard cruising . Notice the faint "USA" in the middle thumbnail. Is the bulb glass the correct 'grape' size, or too small.

I couldn't find the vintage bulb section in the above link, to compare this to theirs.

I have that exact bulb in my hand as I write this. It came from my 63 courtesy light. :thumbs:

[John M.]

Re: Original #90 courtesy lamp bulb - Photo?

Wayne... Just scroll down toward the bottom of the main page which appears on your screen when you go to the link. There are photos of several bulbs, including a GE # 90, which are commonly used in older corvettes. I do not have any of their bulbs so I cannot comment on their correctness but they look old to me and I thought the photo would help with the original request.

[Wayne M.]

Re: Original #90 courtesy lamp bulb - Photo?

Wayne... Just scroll down toward the bottom of the main page which appears on your screen when you go to the link. There are photos of several bulbs, including a GE # 90, .

OK John -- second time lucky. Thanks

[Todd B.]

Re: Original #90 courtesy lamp bulb - Photo?

Thanks to all who have replied so far.

I've attached some images of the Westinghouse bulbs that I have - for comparison to the shape of the GE bulb that Wayne posted:





Regards,
Todd

[John D.]

Re: Original #90 courtesy lamp bulb - Photo?

John -- are these pics typical of the bulb #90. Probably got this from junkyard cruising . Notice the faint "USA" in the middle thumbnail. Is the bulb glass the correct 'grape' size, or too small.

I couldn't find the vintage bulb section in the above link, to compare this to theirs.

Wayne, Your bulb is 100% correct. As you can see the originals were quite small. Nice pics. Thanks, JD

[Bruce B.]

Re: Original #90 courtesy lamp bulb - Photo?

Last October I bought a #90 bulb at the local parts store, foreign made, for $1.80.
The next day at The Pumpkin Run, a street rod event the same parts store had a table of "obsolete parts" and I got 2 boxes of l90 aka G90 bulbs for $0.25 per BOX of 10.
I have posted some pictures. The only thing I see different about these is that they have a thick spot in the glass on all of them. They are stamped USA.
They must be pretty old as they have no barcode or ZIP code on the box.