Does anyone manufacture the B pillar interior light lenses for the Series 2?
Or does anyone know of a substitute lense?
Cheers
No, thatās going to be one of those things youāll need to either repair/restore, or keep your eyes out for or inuire about from a parts car.
As you are in AU, you may have some unusual options.
Iād suggest contacting everyday xjs and others like xks unlimited, welsh, etc as thry often have used parts and sources not listed.
Do the same in your area, make point to seek out parts cars and ask.
I believe itās similar to the S1, no?
Found a pair listed on e b a y for $84USDā¦crazy.
If you have the originals and they are cracked or a hole has burned through due to passage of time, i would research various epoxies and consider restoring using some ācreativeā methods.
I feel your pain on those. They become so brittle in timeā¦
Those are one of those very tricky items to get hold of, and worth buying extras if you come across just in caseā¦
May also be worth searching e b a y for a generic or unrelated model, might get lucky modding, heating, bending, cutting a bitā¦etc.
That is if you have original trim piece.
Anyway, itās that sort of thing with these hard to find items.
Good luck
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Yes, same as S1. If yours are serviceable, Iād suggest replacing them with LED festoons in order to eliminate further heat damage. Easy to find, but some of the cheap ones have that annoying bluish spectrum.
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Someone should do a rerun of these lenses. Canāt they be cast in resin easily? Iād try mine but would have to look at them first as they donāt āclipā in very well anymore.
+1 on the better led festoons.
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Iām in AUS too. Did you every have any luck finding substitute lights for the B Pillar?
The part numbers for the Series III B pillar āroof lampsā are JLM554 and JLM555. They show up on eBay from time to time but they are rare and expensive, especially if new or in good condition.
Paul
Thanks for that Paul. Have seen them on ebayā¦ very pricey. My car isnāt standard so Iām not wedded to originality. Think Iāll look to fit some alternative.
Cheers
I did buy some for an S1 from either Ebay or one of the usual suppliers (canāt recall), they werenāt cheap but there really wasnāt an alternative, itās such an odd shape and the originals had embrittled with age and heat so just crumbled when I tried to restore them.
I would second the idea of going LED (even though I didnāt) because itāll avoid heat build up and also if you leave a door open itās much less power drain.
Bertiebloke,
A friend gave me a hand full off LED festoon bulbs and I have been evaluating them in various locations in our 1990 XJ-S convertible and Series III 1990 V12 Vanden Plas. In my opinion the light from the LED bulbs that I have is too harsh for use in the cabin where I installed them in the map lamps. They brightened up the trunk (boot) area much more than the incandescent bulbs do, so I may leave them there. I really liked how they brightened up the reverse lights in our XJ-S convertible and I will probably keep them there as well.
I donāt plan on using the LEDs for the B pillar roof lamps as that would be too harsh a look for me.
Paul
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David, give Geoff at Jagara Spares in Sydney a call (heās in Caringbah). I got mine, in excellent condition from Geoff. As others suggest a āwarm whiteā festoon LED is the best lamp. Paul.
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Itās all about getting the temperature right with LEDs. Iāve got some warm white bins, like 4500k, in the opera lights and they have the same tint as a regular buld.
I have a dim recollection of a process to heat and vacum form plastic. A simple version might work in DIY setting. Make senses in the shop!!!
Carl
Warm white is around 2700-3000K, but Iād guess that only halogen headlight bulbs come close to that. Old-fashioned 12V bulbs such as used in interior lights are rather āmellow yellowā than warm white. So, if you want to mimick the original looks with LEDs you probably need to go down to around 2000K.
In fact, for parts like these it might prove more helpful to dig into 3D printing as the parts are small, light and have a comparatively simple shape. The waffle pattern responsible for the opera light effect over the headliner might be analysed and programmed. Only downside, the printer wonāt be able to create the chrome looks along the lower edge.
Good luck
Jochen
75 XJ6L 4.2 auto (UK spec)
Dumb question: Has anyone looked into 3D printing as the first step in investment casting? Like, 3D print something in plastic, use it to form a plaster cast, melt the plastic out, pour in molten metal?
Iām also wondering if anyone knows how to make glass items. Iāve watched glass blowing, but I presume thereās also casting processes for glass? If so, perhaps these interior light lenses could be reproduced in glass rather than plastic.
I bought a few LED festoons for this application and they were the very bluish type described in this thread. You get the most light that way, as the LED itself is blue, and phosphors add red and green to make white. As LEDs have become brighter (more efficient) folks are using better phosphors to provide warmer colour temperatures. I think festoons are behind in this evolution because of their relative oddity.
Anyone found a festoon suitable for the B-pillar light thatās suitable in colour temperature? I just polished up my lenses as much as possibleāstill not great, but I donāt want to reuse the hot tungsten bulbs.
Itās a valid point about the warmth of the original bulb colour. One of my favourite views of the red interior is night-time when the door opens and the map reading light is on, itās a wonderful warm yellowish glow on the red leather, wood and chrome. Redolent (I like to think) of a 1970ās house of ill repute or Gentlemans club (some would say much the same thing).
Jochen,
I have had three different versions of the roof lamp lenses including ones with black, chrome, and doeskin bezels at the bottom.
Paul
You can ācastā glass using a mould, thatās how most glass objects are made, but you would need a mould exactly as you would when you cast metal. I think that the correct terminology is āpressed glassā but I may be wrong. You would need to make the mould out of a material that could take pretty high temperatures which may be an issue?
I know someone who makes moulded glass bowls etc. Itās a quite simple prosses, I donāt know how the press moulding works, but must be somewhat similar.
If there is a more general interest I could contact him and see if itās feasible and what would be the cost.
I wonder how the clipping action would work though.
I also know someone who could make the aluminium mould.
My bad, you are correct. The ones I installed in the opera lights are 2700. I mixed up the specs with the cool white one I put in the opticell.