Lighting the way
When I took the Jaguar Sovereign over last year my intention was to replace the rectangular fish tank headlamps with the four headlamps which were original equipment for the entry level XJ6 of the same year. There were two reasons for this; the four lamp system is far more efficient and they look far more ‘Jaguar’. Over the past months however, I have begun to like the look of the square lamps of the Sovereign, particularly since they were the correct original equipment for the Sovereign model.
Their lack of efficiency though could not be denied though, so I had a word with Tim Brotherton at Lucas and asked what I could do to improve them. Tim recommended fitting Lucas +120 per cent Light Booster Xenon Bulbs. In theory that should have been a five-minute job but not the case when it came to the Sovereign. Starting with the nearside light housing, it was necessary to remove the air cleaner box before I could access the back of the light unit. Having done that, I realised that to access the rear of the offside lamp, I would have to remove all the plumbing for the screen wash and headlamp wash as well as a whole load of other kit.
There was only one alternative: remove the whole lamp assembly. So, off came the radiator grille inserts, then the surround and then after undoing the four 13mm nuts securing the rectangular headlamp unit I was able to withdraw it and replace the bulb. Ninety minutes later, everything was finally back together but I had to wait until the evening when it got dark before I could see if the whole exercise had been worth the trouble.
It was. The difference in brightness is very noticeable, the light emitted from the headlamps is much whiter and night vision from behind the wheel is much improved. Should have done this job months ago.
The replacement antenna I fitted to the Sovereign a short time ago was not original but since it was the only one available there was little option other than to use it. As the wiring was slightly different though, the antenna becomes fully extended
whenever the ignition is switched on. To overcome this, I decided to fit a switch into the power feed circuit to the antenna’s motor.
First, I had to find a place where I could feed some wiring from inside the car through to the boot. I undid the two screws retaining the rear seat cushion, then after lifting the cushion out of the car I removed the four screws securing the bottom of the rear squab. I was then able to access the fixings holding the rear shelf in place. Once these were released I was able to raise the shelf just enough to be able to thread a length of twin speaker flex through a small slot down into the boot and close to the antenna motor power feed.
After cutting the antenna power feed wire, I connected the twin flex to the severed antenna feed and secured the wire safely before moving back inside the car. Next, I fed the flex down into the seat well and from there, underneath the carpet and down the right side of the centre console. I then drilled a hole in the left side of the driver’s knee bolster where it meets the centre console and fitted a toggle switch.
The two ends of the twin speaker flex were then attached to the new switch. After securing the rear shelf and refitting the rear seat, I checked my new system. Perfect – the antenna is now controlled by the new toggle switch and no longer extends every time I switch on the ignition even though the audio system is off.
There was only one alternative: remove the whole lamp assembly. So, off came the radiator grille inserts, then the surround...