These lenses have tiny arrows on them. It’s to ensure right-hand versus left-hand drive!
BHPian Jeroen recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Last Wednesday night, I returned from my trip to visit the airshow in Paris. I used the Jaguar, of course. 900 km round trip is nothing for this car.
I had to come back as I had made an appointment for its annual APK (MOT). It passed with flying colours, as usual. However, they informed me that it did have a broken lens on the right main beam light unit. Luckily, that did not affect the light shining, so they could pass it.
I took my Jaguar to the car wash, and there it broke down even further. But at least it was clean!
There is a nearby second-hand Jaguar dealer, Richard. You have seen me visiting him before. Peter and I went to see him for parts for Peter’s XJ.
I know the lens and backing unit can be replaced separately. I also knew that new ones would be easily priced at €350-400. Also, in this particular case, I did not want a new one. The Jaguar still had proper glass lenses. But after almost 23 years and well over 300k on the clock, all four of them show signs of wear. Adding a brand spanking new one would not look good.
Richard had a nice used lens for about Euro 120.
So this morning I set about replacing it. Not a very difficult job.
First thing is to pry off the chrome ring. I often take these off for cleaning and polishing.
The actual unit is held in place with three tiny ball clip studs. It’s a matter of brute force to pull the unit out. However, it’s all plastic bits, including the actual light unit mount. After 23 years, it will be brittle. So, a bit of patience and clever trickery is called for.
I used my pickle fork to get behind each stud. This pickle fork comes in very handy for all kinds of odd jobs, just like tire levers.
Halfway done, old unit removed without breaking anything.
Mind you, the already broken lens broke even further. So I swept very carefully several times. The big chunks of glass are obvious, and you can pick them up. The tiny little pieces are not so easily spotted or picked up. I am not that worried about a puncture. But I often have to sit or lie down on the garage floor. Getting a small piece of glass in your skin is no fun. Ask me how I know!
As per my usual operating procedure, comparing old and new very carefully.
I decided to use the chrome ring that was already on the car. It was in much better shape than the one on the new unit.
Something I learned from Richard. These lenses have tiny arrows on them. It’s to ensure right-hand versus left-hand drive! I did not know that.
All working again! Job done.
And now for something a bit different. You might recall I built a model of a knodding donkey some time ago.
A few weeks ago, I decided to send them an email with the TeamBHP link. I got a mail back right away. They were pleased and offered me another kit at a discounted price. Long story short, it arrived today.
This kit is huge. The box weighs 8 kilograms alone!
Some of the content:
I am not sure when I will start on it. As it is, I still have to finish my model of the Scuderi engine. And I also have a vintage Alfa engine model. We will see. As any modelbuilder will tell you, you should always have unbuilt models rather than built models.
When I do build it, I will put a new and separate thread up, of course.
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