The glass domes are purple and useless. Better to have the map or interior lights on. Best is the lamp in your Iphone. Kept on the seat, lamp down, and picked up with your right hand, when needed😜
Hi,
I have collected quite a few spares over the 20+ years I have owned the MKV, but of course I am a bit far away. But if you would like to get 2-4 original blue glass domes PM me, as I will be in Miami FL in March and could then post them as normal USPS or something local.
Cheers!
I think I have a metal holder for the domes somewhere if it is of interest to anyone. I would have to go rummaging.
My good friend Tom Brady also has a collection of domes and he has volunteered to send me 4 of them, so that is one fewer thing that I need. I have the wiring diagram on order so that should help when I start going through the electrical system. The carbs are done and I’ll probably install them tonight. Next is the brake system.
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You can get UV leds but I see you got lucky. The reddish glow tells me that it really is an UV filter. They used to sell black light incandescent bulbs at the hardware stores, they were coated in something dark blue. Not very efficient at all but neat.
The XJ also grounds the interior light circuit by the door switches, so it’s probably all classic jaguars (and other cars with the Linread/… door switches).
Congratulations on a great deal on a great car! As has been mentioned, all of the really expensive work has already been done! My Mark IX is in good condition mechanically, but the body and interior are in really rough shape. 
It’s also a RHD car with the four-speed and overdrive, so parts are a tad more difficult to come by here in the States.
You mentioned brakes are next… is this planned to be a driver? If so, I can recommend replacing the front calipers with the Coopercraft four-pot upgrade, and likewise the booster unit may be replaced with a more modern unit that bolts right in.
Best of luck, and keep us informed of your progress!
Jay
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Hi,
That’s cool. I think I also bought 4 pcs recently from Tom. 
I think the domes were the same, as were the shades, but the light / holder was different on MKV vs. MKVII etc.
Cheers!
This is a good idea and I would be able to do this on my printer. Just need a good sample to start with or a sketch. It’s a fairly simple job - just need to find the right filament and fit up LEDs to manage temperature, as the incandescent bulbs ruined many an original dome.
If you are looking for a bluish tint to the instrument lighting you might consider the Tamiya water soluble clear paint that hobby shops supply. It might take a few coats on the bulbs, but worth a try.
My Mk9 bone stock has no light rt of amp. It was “traifficator” indicator and has a green lens. The turn signals are now in the tach, which is the left hand large gauge. Speedo is on the right, apparently in both RHD and LHD cars, because the wiring loom is tightly configured for it that way. I was going to change them out, but it would mean cutting open a very nice loom.
I drove the 9 ladt night for 30 mins in pitch dark. The 4 purple light look cool but are useless. I add the map light and it helps, a bit.
But I wonder why Jaguar didn’t use traditional instrument light, as on the XKs?
Mind yiu, they were far from perfect, but clearly better. The green lights which they began using in 1967 are better yet. (Clear bulbs with a green cover).
BTW, Mike, do you have the turn signal switch stem on the rt or left of the steering column. I have seen many LHD cars with the stalk right of column, as was mine, but I flipped it over, so I could instinctively find it.
If it really is uv and the paint on the instrument faces is the right kind (with brighteners that light up) it should work great, there is no light blinding you and the numbers light up magically. Just blue paint won’t do I think. Better to try UV LEDs. Were internally lit instruments available at the time?
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I think there are two issues here:
One being the type of globes being used. The glass bowl just filters out everything but the UV. If the globes aren’t transmitting enough in the UV spectrum, then there is nothing to reflect.
The other is the age-related deterioration of the instrument paint.
I have ordered a few UV LEDs and will ring up a test to see if this makes a difference.
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Dana, some previous owner set mine up with the speedo on the left and the tach on the right. They spent some time doing it, since they needed to route the speedo cable through a grommet to the right (left in the picture) of the transmission lever,
and there is a bracket attached to the exhaust manifold to keep the cable away from it.
From the deterioration I can tell that it was done a long time ago, if it wasn’t original. The tach has the directional arrows in it, so the green light on the instrument panel is redundant. However, it’s a good location to put an indicator if I ever feel the need. My turn signal stalk is on the right side of the steering column, which makes no sense since it interferes with the shifter and there is nothing on the left. Does the self-cancelling still work if you move it to the left side?
I just tested the instruments under a long wave UV light and the paint does not fluoresce. The instruments have no other provision for illumination, which is odd since the XK and MK1 instruments are illuminated from behind, and those cars were built at the same time as this car. It’s as if Jaguar took a step backwards for this luxury car.
Andrew, thank you so much for the Parts Manual. I have found that I am continually referring to it in order to figure out what parts I need. I’m getting the impression that the MK IX is the red-headed stepchild of Jaguar saloons, perhaps because they are so expensive to restore that few people do it. For instance, I was looking for the lower A-arm bushings for a MKIX, but nothing came up in the search. So I went to Andrew’s parts manual, found the number and searched for it instead. Voila, the part came right up, listed as being only for the XK120 and not recognized as a MKIX part. So now when I want a part I first look it up in the parts manual and then search for that number.
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It’s odd because the MKIV had backlit instruments?
Then the MKV went for the luminescent paint and the UV bulbs. However the Map Light on the MKV is a clear bulb under a plastic lens!
Must have been a ‘fad’ or a Sir Bill cost saving special?
Re: changing the turn signal stalk. Yeah, just take apart the things you need to, rotate it to the other side, and it works!
The speedo cable enters through the hole in the firewall properly. That is where mine was. My car bone stock.
Yeah, the original lighting was not very good. I will just put brighter LED bulbs in, and keep it purple. It is cool that way. If you really want to see the speedometer at night, reach way over to the map light switch and pull it. The twist and pull turns on the rear seating lights.
I have the original driver’s handbook and two repair manuals (Glenn, Ball) that have been invaluable. In them are wiring schematics.
The Mark 9 is a WONDERFUL masterpiece. Not only do they show well, they ride smoothly, and manage the road well considering their heft. You will love driving her and getting lots of thumbs up. Press on, man, you have a rare jewel that just needs some sorting.
There was a set on eBay , gone now , but they are out there .