Td5 D2 electrics - P38 Courtesy Light (1)

Last year's big effort with repairing and converting the manual sunroof to electric was the start of looking around the interior and wondering what to do with it.

Lighting wise, changing the courtesy bulbs from tungsten to LED was the easiest. I choose red LEDs as a homage to those 'darkroom' days and even fitted some into the front footwell to add to the effect (they all dim-out with the ignition).

But the one thing they highlighted was the ongoing lack of a fitted map / reading light.

And then I discovered this..

Final late build 'special edition' models of the Disco2 had a lot of extras added to their build in an attempt to tempt buyers who were holding out for the upcoming new model Discovery 3. 

These two photos show the overhead console from the top of the range Discovery2 'Metropolis' with the fancy extension to its overhead console housing the sat-nav unit, the re-positioned sunroof controls and a new courtesy light unit c/w map lights that replaced the original one.

Well, it did not take me long to find out that the light unit shown above was also fitted to the 5 door Freelander and the P38 Range Rover.

A quick search on that well known Internet auction site had loads of them coming up and  I soon managed to get me a brand new 'NOS'

item for a bargain £12. 

Brand new, boxed, with its protective film still on and for a bonus, all three bulbs as well.

Studying the blue label on the box revealed the stock date to be 11/09/98, exactly four years before Hx was first registered.

The central light is a 10w Tungsten festoon and the two map lights are 5w Tungsten 501s mounted behind little directional lenses. Each light is then controlled by an individual push button switch.

All I have to do is mount it to the console, wire it into the light circuit in Hx and remove the existing front interior light. 

What could possibly go wrong....?