Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Trads - High level brake light with Luggage

Solving this issue has been on my list for a while, and I bought an LED unit off e-bay before Christmas. There's also been a run of chat on Mogtalk recently about driving in France and the conclusion seems to be that if the centre brake light is fitted, it must not be obscured by luggage and must work. There are those who remove the centre brake light to maintain the Trad look, but I wouldn't do this for two reasons. First is that the high level brake light might just make the difference between being rear-ended or not. The second reason is that any modification from standard must be notified to your insurer. The truth is that this probably makes no difference, but I wouldn't want to find out that it did after a rear end shunt. Anyway, that's Dave's sermon over for today, so on with the plan.

First job was to remove the luggage carrier and spare wheel. While the spare was off the car I put 30psi in it. Much easier than when it's on the car.

My plan was to unplug the light and leave the car loom unaltered. This is the plug, just under the stalk. It has a simple securing clip and comes apart easily.


The stalk is secured with four wood screws. Not surprising really, but I would have fitted them a bit straighter........


Once off, I found the chassis number 'chalked' on the base. More like Tippex really. Note the rough top edge, and I had assumed that this stalk was plastic. It's metal.


This photo shows how the cables run down in a slot, and should be compared with the next picture - after fettling.


So now we see a black neoprene plug under the lamp, to keep damp at bay, and red insulating tape stuck over the wires, just to make it tidier. You can also see the white plug which I've put in to allow a second set of wires to run to the luggage high level lamp. All connections have been soldered. It's a while since I had the soldering iron out, so I quite enjoyed that. It's very relaxing.


I have had to switch from Firefox to Internet Explorer as my right click paste function still doesn't work in Firefox. Odd eh?
More to follow>>>>>>>

This is how it looks refitted, and with some red tape over the screw heads. Compare with the second photograph from the top and you'll see the difference.

The two extra wires are wrapped in loom tape and go down the offside, linking with the existing loom in the rear corner and secured with cable ties. The idea is that the plug can be fished out from the hole between spare wheel and bodywork and connected to the extra lamp when needed. I'll do a picture of that in the final stages when hopefully it will be clearer.

Next step was the lamp bracket. I wanted stainless, but given how hard it is to work, I started with an offcut of approximately the right size. It's 0.7mm, so a bit thinner than I would like, but was a snip (Hah! a pun ) at 70p.


This was the initial shape, bent over various bits of wood. I bent the edges at about 30degrees in the vice to stiffen it up, and that worked quite well. I also drilled the two holes you can see with a fancy new drill bit, which was good considering how tricky stainless can be.


The idea is that the bracket simply clips onto the rack and is held by the luggage........ no extra holes in the Mog - remember?
The white is the plastic protective cover which I'll leave on until it's finished.


This is how it looks with the light unit added..........
Plus two more bends to get the light level.
Spot the neoprene edging.


Here's the underside. I've lined it with 3mm standard density neoprene, and left a slot for the wires. The neoprene will 'grip' the luggage cover and limit lateral movement. I'm hoping that there will be enough space for another thin layer of neoprene so that the wires are hidden completely.

Here's the rub though. Two of the LED's in this unit are faulty, so I can't finish & fit it. I have another unit on the way, so by next weekend I should be able to finish it off.

So for now, here's how the unfinished article looks in place.........



When the white plastic comes off, I think it should look OK.

Neat!

Cheers,

another professional job, we have come to expect nothing less . on 4/4 sport hi level brake light is recessed into rear deck, not sure if it will be obscured by luggage won't know until I do a trial run, first got to get a new case, thinking peli 1600

Another Nice one Dave. Presumably the H across strap will hold it in place.

Is that a DaveW Type Waterproof Suitcase Case cover as well?

Highly illuminating, don't stop!!

No Frank, it's the Simmonds cover & Samsonite case. I've had it a year but so far haven't managed to use it, despite my best intentions.

Nice work Dave, are you going somewhere nice.

Dunno yet Dave.....
We love the West Country so that's top of the agenda.
MrsW doesn't know about the bespoke luggage yet.......

Hoping to get to Malvern as well.
Lots of plans now MissW has left home = more flexibility.

Let's hope for a decent summer.

Hi Dave.
I presume that you WILL be going to Buxton for the Mog?