Glad it's helpful.

A little further web looking this morning shows
these dimmable GE55 LED replacement lamps that may interest you if you decide to use your original sockets.
These are a bit pricier than the other bulbs I mentioned and actually are from an "aircraft" lighting source company. The given "specs" definitely seem to fill the need for upgrading to brighter dash lights for anyone looking to do that.
If you decide to go that route, would be interested in any feedback you can provide on the lamps performance (or lack of). I would like to improve my dash lighting too and a simple plug and play would be nice.