I have a Series 2 XJ12C and find the interior lighting to be almost useless. I guess I can replace the globes with modern LEDs but befor doing so I wanted to check what other people have done in case there is a better solution.

I find the map light on the dash to be OK as it does need to be dull - just enough to read and find things around the lower dash when driving and blinding so I am inclined to leave it as it is.

Suggestions are welcome.

Thanks

Garry

 

Hello, Garry,
I too found Series 2 interior lighting Dismal!
I did replace the map light with an LED and that helped quite a lot, but LEDs in the B-pillar sockets was a disaster! They have a greenish cast by their very nature, and so make the inside the most sickly greenish yellow, makes ya want to gag. And I couldn't get any sufficiently bright anyway.

So, I painted the back side of a couple festoon bulbs with chrome paint, *CAREFUL* to isolate the ends with masking tape as it does have high metal content, just asking for fireworks in the fuse block, and suddenly I have 100% light in the cabin instead of losing half of it to the dark hole inside the pillar.









As these are Incandescents, they do get hot if the door is left open any length of time, resulting in crystallization and shattering of the lenses, which are now Unobtainium. So I installed Jose's door switch disablers (listed on his website), and leave the A-pillar switches disabled, as they're most likely to be left ajar anyway.

I did this nearly 10 years ago and have experienced nothing put Positives.
(';')

 

in both my '65 S type and '84 XJ-6 map lights, I glued thin mirror glass ( 1/16" thick) cut to fit behind the bulbs in the enclosures, and lighting increased without risks of shorting wiring. I am happy with the increase.

There is nothing like a mirror.
you can test this by placing a mirror behind any light bulb in the house, lighting is "expanded", same principle as painting one side of the bulb with chrome paint, but even more powerful. A very delicate job but worth the effort.

I have the "switch silencers" in all 4 doors of the XJ-6 too. I don't need interior lights to come on during daytime or when working in the interior.

As Elinor said, I don't want to ruin the B pillar lenses or housings with more powerful bulbs or even LED's because of their discolor effect so I have left those alone.

 

Thanks to you both for your great tips and insight to the issue - painting the standard globes or putting reflective material behind the globe might be the go. I had not even considered the impact of heat in the process - great stuff.

Thanks

Garry