After a summer of driving Lord Donnington 6.5K miles it was time to place him into dry dock for interior refurbishment. And to put in a new driver door lock actuator and reinstall my recently refinished rear right door panel wood. (British Autowood)
My high mount brake light was cracked and the ivory cover so faded that something had to be done. Recover it in Connolly! This might seem excessive but it solved the burned faded sad look of my ivory plastic cover for the high mount brake light. These covers are potato chip fragile so I am hoping the leather (Connolly Autolux left over from my seat recovering project) gives them more longevity. I managed to get the armrest and cup holder lid recovered in the leather as well. (don't mind my 2018 calendar) Lower back seats are next.

-Lord Donnington

 

Looks very nice and what a great idea! I will say with the added weight on the third brake light it’ll likely need some form of support. Over time the weakening of the two tabs supporting the light and the jouncing of it going over bumps will inevitably make it fall down. I actually use a piece of dense foam to support my light so the rubber bumpers are right on the glass. I will only have so much time as I have a 8” subwoofer mounted in the factory 6x9 location. Realistically I need to take it to a glass company and have them use their super duty commercial adhesive on those tabs. I used the 3M rear view mirror adhesive for my daughters 98’ XJR about 1.5 years ago and just recently it fell down again.

 

Of all the Jaguar failings, the third light is certainly one of the worst. To place a plastic casing in an
area that receives constant and intense sunlight is insane. The material needed here is aluminum.
I have been tempted to design and build a custom one for the Duchess.

 

That cover looks fantastic! I end up gluing the little aluminium tabs on to the rear window but have a piece of foam under it to help it from falling off. Both of my current cars have been fixed this way and have not fallen off in a few years....

BTW; I have two Red VDPs, one with the white interior and one with the tan. They are fantastic cars are comfortable and ride smooth so I agree with you wholeheartedly.

 

I think David likes red.

 

with good reason I’m sure…

 

Yes, the Carnival Red was really the color I was pursuing when the 2003 caught my eye.
However when I spotted the Quartz, it was all over for me.

 

Very impressive leather work, one of those things I have no experience with so it seems like black magic. I do see the plastic beginning to crack more under the leather, so I'd work about the overall longevity of the assembly.

I ended up designing and 3d printing a replacement brake light, more on that in another thread soon...

 

Cool! Can’t wait to hear about it Nilanium.

 

Here it is mounted on the rear window of Lord Donnington. It does indeed look sharp and fitting.