XK / XKR ( X150 ) 2006 - 2014

Jaguar courtesy light modification

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  #21  
Old 04-04-2013, 03:54 PM
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Does this help? As you can see I'm not an artist. Feel inside the door panel after popping out the existing courtesy light to ensure you have enough space. There are some plastic baffles in there that could get in the way if you try to install the light too far forward.

Also remember to remove the lock nuts from the light assembly before pushing it into place.

*edit: US et. al. Driver's side.
 
Attached Thumbnails Jaguar courtesy light modification-image.jpg  

Last edited by Muddydog; 04-04-2013 at 05:50 PM.
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  #22  
Old 04-04-2013, 04:49 PM
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Originally Posted by DGL
Rscultho, Did you get these installed? I received mind yesterday. Where did you locate it? Along side of the courtesy light in the center? Any problem with clearance of courtesy light connector? The 2010 and 2011 models should have the same door panel design.
I haven't had time to put them in yet...
 
  #23  
Old 04-04-2013, 07:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Muddydog
Does this help? As you can see I'm not an artist. Feel inside the door panel after popping out the existing courtesy light to ensure you have enough space. There are some plastic baffles in there that could get in the way if you try to install the light too far forward.

Also remember to remove the lock nuts from the light assembly before pushing it into place.

*edit: US et. al. Driver's side.
Muddydog. You need to get together with Ian Callum and design the next XKR. Thanks for the mock-up diagram. It shows your location perfectly. I was considering directly behind the existing courtesy light in the center. I had a peek in the door and I thought I seen a double plastic bottom in the location you installed it. I'll take another peek. Many thanks...
 

Last edited by DGL; 04-04-2013 at 07:19 PM.
  #24  
Old 04-04-2013, 07:22 PM
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Got to see Muddydogs install last week... the whole thing looks sharp and clean!

Anyone encountered a multi-colored one yet?
 
  #25  
Old 04-04-2013, 07:54 PM
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I found and ordered a set of custom lights. One color, alas, but they give you the option of using any image you send them. They print the image on these little plastic wafers (like 3/8" wide), which you then insert into the light. You can change image discs AFTER instal, which seemed cool also.

I found a very cool looking 'Growler' logo with 'Jaguar' in writing around it, a very aggressive and modern looking image. I put a link to a low-res version of ithttp://jamesmarchantdesign.files.wor...pg?w=150&h=150; I found a huge .jpg of it and they said it was sufficiently high quality to make for a perfect projected image. Printing custom logos was only ~$35, but the lights themselves are expensive (~$100/each if I recall correctly).

Alas, after many weeks of anticipation, the results aren't what I hoped they'd be Hate to be down on the product because the guys who run the company who makes 'em couldn't have been cooler. Super fast response to CS questions, extremely friendly and accommodating. But the product just isn't good enough to use.

The image looks low res, off-center, and the lines are not crisp. The illuminated areas have grainy black dots here and there as well. All in all they compared poorly against even cheap Ebay 'leaper' lights. I'm probably going to end up using some gold colored aluminum lights that project the standard Jaguar with leaper logo in white (one color), bought off of Ebay. Best I could find. I personally can't tell a difference between these aluminum bodied lights and some cheaper plastic ones I bought, but a buddy insists that the aluminum ones look slightly better. FWIW.

Shame on the custom thing though. Having a bit of design/pre-press knowledge from a lifetime ago I'm tempted to try and print an image disk myself and see if I can improve on the poor quality ones that I bought... I could easily take the .jpg Growler logo and convert it into a vector file and print it at the highest resolution possible. Shouldn't be too hard to produce razor sharp lines and perfectly clear images printed on a transparency using a Linotronic. Hell, even ink jet printers are getting crazy high res, so I could probably find a friend with a good new photo level printer and start there. Given the size of the image disk I could try hundreds of versions on one 8.5x11 print... Of course I'd have to buy/improvise a circular punch to get the size and shape perfect... Hmm...

I'll let the group know if I make any inroads.

My guess is that I'll just have the Ebay lights put in and move on.

Wish there were a way to mount these things in our side mirrors (like the Evoq), so when you hit the 'unlock' button you'd walk up to the car and it'd already be casting a nice round logo to illuminate the approach to the door. Having them under the door seems like second best.

Skeeter
 

Last edited by Skeeter; 04-04-2013 at 08:03 PM.
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  #26  
Old 04-06-2013, 12:03 PM
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I installed them last night. They look real sweet and not tacky. Now with new custom pedals, custom mats, and these lights I'm ready to hit the road.

I tried to install them through the courtesy access hole only and found it too difficult. I cross threaded the retainer and had a difficult time to get it off. So, I decided to undo the bottom of the door panel by pulling on the panel to release the fasteners. I also removed 2 torx screws from under the door pull handle. The bottom of the panel released and allowed full access to the area. I personally found this very easy with the bottom of the door panel released about 6 inches away from the door. It took me over 1 hour to install the 1st light and 15 minutes for the 2nd one.

I'm sure if these where a Jaguar OEM option they would want $400.

When I installed the 1st one I drilled up in the location as indicated on Muddydogs diagram and drilled through some fiberglass reinforcement inside the door panel. Because the hole saw is same size as the diameter of the led light cylinder I had a hard time to get the retaining screw washers screwed on. The fiber glass was preventing the retainers from sliding down. I had to open the bottom door panel to snap off enough of the fiber glass reinforcement, with pliers, to allow the retaining screws to pass over the LED light cylinder.
 

Last edited by DGL; 04-06-2013 at 12:14 PM.
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