We unloaded the first of our two '95 convertibles this
morning (the other one is still in Ohio). It shared the
container with an '08 Chrysler Town&Country (not available
in Europe yet) and a '60 Austin Healey Sprite in full race
dress. This XJS is champagne with a black top and cream
interior (in need of serious attention) and has done 158k
miles. Apart from the roof (which only works manually) all
appears to work well. Looking forward to digging in to it:)
First question: I have this car and a set of pre-fecelift
twin headlight units. Welsh assured my they would fit no
problem but of course they don’t. How do I make them fit
anyway? Someone must have been there, done it and gotten the
T-shirt I’m sure;)
In reply to a message from Arnoud sent Thu 10 Apr 2008:
The only way to mount quad headlights on face-lift cars I
hear is to buy the after-market kit for $1000 & $1500.
Haven’t done it myself, don’t want to and don’t need the
T-shirt.–
equiprx
Pacifica, CA, United States
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In reply to a message from Arnoud sent Thu 10 Apr 2008:
Hi Arnoud. Could you send me a link or address to where you got
your headlight assembly? This may be the same one I found earlier,
just want to check it out again. Can’t seem to find it at Welsh’s
website. I have a 95 also, and interested in the conversion, but
earlier replys to my post were mostly negitive, and I didn’t really
want to spend the $700.00 (I think) that the conversion was offered
for. Why does yours not fit? The fender opening itself, or
wiring, or what? I ask only because I’m interested in this
conversion also. Thanks. Keith.–
The original message included these comments:
twin headlight units. Welsh assured my they would fit no
problem but of course they don’t. How do I make them fit
In reply to a message from Keith Hodges sent Thu 10 Apr 2008:
Hi Keith,
Can’t believe no-one’s had a go at this before? Anyway: I
only took a casual look and the first obstacle is a bracket
on the outside of the aperture, which should be easy to
remove. At first glance the mounting bracket holes appear to
line up. I hope to find some time this weekend to
investigate further. I prefer the looks of twin lights and
the fact that they only cost 30 euros ea. to replace rather
than 200 or so;)
I just sent an email to Welsh (who happened to be almost at
walking distance from my buddy who sent the cars) of they
had any and they happened to have this set just in (it’s is
in good condition I must say). Even after I double-checked
they insisted that it was a straight swap. I’m not too
bothered tho: if all else fails I’ll just sell ‘em and get
the correct ones instead.
All in all I’m pleased with this car (found on Ebay, as the
other one): it’s a 4 litre; done 158K miles and the interior
shows that, but it runs and drives very nice, save for a
minor rattle somewhere from the front. The only thing that
needs attention is the very poor handbrake and the light
(the ones from this car are with the other car which didn’t
have any when I bought it;) The roof is now manually
operated; may try and revamp the system (I have the parts
from (again) a pre-facelift) but for now this’ll do fine.
Looking forward to delivering this one to the south of
france in a few weeks’ time:)
I’ll put some pics on one of these days.–
Arnoud
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In reply to a message from Arnoud sent Fri 11 Apr 2008:
ok, I had a go today and it’s really easy: I deleted the
center bracket on the ('89) headlights. Th outer bracket on
the ('95) car went to the trash as well. Basically the
complete assembly bolts straight on: no drilling or weird
stuff required. The only thing you need to take care of is
the wiring but since the colours are the same this should be
really easy. It too me about aan hour to sort it out. The
chrome really complements the champagne (dunno what the
official name is) colour of the car: it looks like a million
bucks (or 15 euros;).
It sure makes me wonder why facelift quad lights sell for
200 euros more than pre-facelift ones, since the only
fundamental difference is the connector…–
Arnoud
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In reply to a message from Arnoud sent Fri 11 Apr 2008:
What’s in the after-market ‘‘conversion kit’’ that merits the alleged
$1000 price tag?–
'92 XJS V12 Convertible, '95 XJR, '00 Mercedes Benz S500
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In reply to a message from BurbankSteve sent Fri 11 Apr 2008:
Either the price went up, or we’re talking about a differenc set.
The one I look up, but can no longer find was about $700.00. All
new parts, and supposed to be made specifically for the later
cars. The kit looked OK, but not enough for me to spend that much
money. Everything was brand new, with extra nice chrome headlight
surround. Still not worth it to me. Keith.–
The original message included these comments:
In reply to a message from Arnoud sent Fri 11 Apr 2008:
Arnoud, is the headlight assembly you added an original 89 XJS
light assembly? I found one earlier, but can’t remember what
company had it, and may have be Welshs, but not sure. The one I
found was an aftermarket assembly, made to fit the later facelift
cars. Now, if you installed an original 89 assembly, then I’m back
in the ball game. When I posted about this four or five months
ago, everyone was pretty sure the original ones would not fit. I
even asked if someone had an old, unusable one they wanted to part
with, since I wanted to experiment with it to see if I could get it
to work. I too love the looks of the earlier headlights, along
with the newer more trouble free cars. They may be a Ford
generation car, for all thats good, or bad, about that, but, its
what I have, its what I love, and, thats, that!–
The original message included these comments:
center bracket on the ('89) headlights. Th outer bracket on
In reply to a message from Arnoud sent Thu 10 Apr 2008:
SNG Barratt Jaguar is the company that had the headlight
conversion, for the quad headlights to the facelift cars. I spent
only a couple minutes looking through their site, but couldn’t find
them, but my earlier post on this subject I listed them at
$833.00. So, thats even more reason why I didn’t buy them, and if
you installed original 89 headlights, so much the better. Please
post some pictures as soon as you can, am very interested in more
details. Thanks. Keith–
The original message included these comments:
twin headlight units. Welsh assured my they would fit no
In reply to a message from Keith Hodges sent Sat 12 Apr 2008:
Hi,
in fact mine were from an '88. I used torx bolts off an xj40
door window mechanism I had lying about to fix the brackets
to the body. Like I mentioned before I got rid of the center
bracket on the light assy and the outer bracket on the car’s
headlight aperture (phillips screw). I first fitted the two
inner bolts lightly so the bracket could slide behind them;
then I fitted the outer bolts; a bit fiddly but doable. I
then fitted the chrome trim so I could align the whole
thing, then tightended it down. There’s really nothing to it
and for the life of me I don’t know why there’s a price
difference. The only things I had to buy were new outer
lights, since sealed beams are illegal overhere (got to be
H4 halogen). I got a pair of Hellas @ 30 euros ea. and they
fit perfectly. Pics as soon as possible.
I’m also thinking of fitting a set of 8x16 ‘‘Roulette’’ wheels
off an XJ40 (the 5-spokes are a bit boring IMHO). Is there a
clearance issue with the steering knuckle as on pre-facelift
cars and Ser I/II/III XJ’s or did they solve that on the
facelift?
cheers,–
The original message included these comments:
$833.00. So, thats even more reason why I didn’t buy them, and if
you installed original 89 headlights, so much the better. Please
In reply to a message from Arnoud sent Sun 13 Apr 2008:
Man, I am so greatful that you did this. This is going to make my
car, as I’m sure yours is, THE PERFECT CAR!!! I was so disapointed
when everybody seemed to think it wouldn’t work. I too am
surprised that no one had tried this before. Sorry, have no
experience with the wheels, but I’m sure someone here will know.
Thanks. Keith–
The original message included these comments:
in fact mine were from an '88. I used torx bolts off an xj40
In reply to a message from Arnoud sent Sun 13 Apr 2008:
To answer my own question: it depends on the rim believe it
or not: one did clear the knuckle (albeit after I removed a
balance weight) and another didn’t. For peace of mind I’ll
remove a tiny slice from the knuckle, rather than mess with
the rim. I think the Roulettes look pretty cool, save for
the fact that the center badge on the front wheel has to be
fixed to the cap in another way since the hub protrudes too
much (same as on early cars). In fact I was surprised to
find a standard XJS brake caliper at the front (X300 style
with vented disc at the back); I thought they’d changed to
XJ40/X300 style calipers at the front as well.
cheers,–
The original message included these comments:
I’m also thinking of fitting a set of 8x16 ‘‘Roulette’’ wheels
off an XJ40 (the 5-spokes are a bit boring IMHO). Is there a
clearance issue with the steering knuckle as on pre-facelift
cars and Ser I/II/III XJ’s or did they solve that on the
facelift?