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I need to replace the light bulb for the radio in my '65 Buick Wildcat.

The radio is a Delco Sonomatic 7289734 (U7N137), AM only, no wonderbar, and is part of a fairly common family of radios installed in mid-'60s GM products.

The bulb appears to be marked with the number 294. This number isn't an off-the-shelf part at NAPA and a cursory Google search turns up some LED bulbs but nothing incandescent.

Doing a search for "Delco radio bulb" brought me to This Interlight Page which gives a part number of 7290302, but that doesn't seem to cross-reference either.

The closest I've come based on other bulbs used in the vehicle (according to NAPA) is #1445.

Does anyone have any experience with this radio and/or bulb that can suggest a better match? I'm willing to take a less-exact match to have something I can pick up at one of my local auto parts stores.

W294

Update

Since I was chasing another issue with the radio in another forum, I also asked this question there, and was given bulb #293 as a candidate.

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I appears you need a G3.5 or G3 1/2 bulb with a bayonet base. It is also referred to as a mini indicator bulb. Looking on amazon, there are still some companies that make them.

If you want to go to the parts store (or radio shack) and look, your specs are:
~3/8" diameter base
~15/16" length
bayonet base

10 pack on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Eiko-Indicator-0-135-Miniature-Bayonet/dp/B003R3LAQA/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1476980153&sr=8-7&keywords=G3.5+bulb+bayonet

Some that look close:
SYLVANIA 53
SYLVANIA 57
GE Lighting 53
GE Lighting 25550

You should be able to find a '53' or '57' bulb at most auto parts stores.

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    My old paper catalog lists a G4, where as new cross references go with a G3.5 globe. You can add a 1895 modern number to the list. This bulb type is on the wall at most autozones and walmarts.
    – spicetraders
    Commented Oct 20, 2016 at 16:58
  • Most of these look to be coming in at either 1 or 2 candlepower (cp). If the 7290302 bulb is proper (which admittedly is an assumption), it looks like 1cp is probably closer to correct. Obviously I could always get a couple different ones and try them out but I like going in with a "most likely" candidate when I can.
    – Wildcat Matt
    Commented Oct 20, 2016 at 17:15
  • If you throw out the globe size matching and level of backlight, you can go with a LED version hanging in the autozones LED section. They have those in the standard small bayonet base type. If your Sonomatic was a tube version then you would have to stick with the incandescent as closely matching power as you can as it would likely be part of the filament circuit.
    – spicetraders
    Commented Oct 20, 2016 at 17:33
  • @spicetraders The radio is all-transistor so no tubes to worry about, but I don't want to go down the LED route largely because "old AM Radio" cries out for "warm yellow light" in my mind.
    – Wildcat Matt
    Commented Oct 20, 2016 at 19:34

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