Making a High Level Brake Light for Use With A Suitcase

Making a High Level Brake Light

It was not long after purchasing our Roadster 100 that we booked to take her for our first Morgan Weekend away at the Morgan Sports Car Club MOGMMX being held in Buxton, Derbyshire.

 Having established that our suitcase would obscure the Morgan's 'Cobra' High Level Brake Light I decided that we would need something else to replace it.

I researched the internet and it seemed that all that was available to purchase was a High Level Brake Lamp Fitting which could be attached to something else, but it was the something else that was missing.

I chose this particular 210mm model purely because it has swivelling feet which is essential to ensure that the lamps are pointing towards the following drivers eyes. I used it during the 23 days of my Coast Road trip and it is still working well to this day.

I already had the idea to utilise my Luggage Strap 'H' piece to attach the lamp to but soon realised that the lamp would then need to be located to low down for the Straps to secure the sideways movement of the Suitcase.

My New Lamp Unit needed to be able to sit right on top of the suitcase.

I would need a second 'H' Bar to fix the lamp to.

Once again I could not find one for sale on its own therefore I decided to make my own version.

The perfect material which I had available to use for this was the 2 inch Wide Heavy Black Polyester Shoulder Strap from a Discarded Computer Case. 

The Complete List of Parts I needed to assemble the unit were:

1. The Shoulder Strap Webbing.

2. A Strip of Aluminium Bar to insert into the folded strap and through which the Lamp Unit is bolted.

3. Two Short 3mm Flat or Countersunk Head Bolts and Nuts with Spring Locking Washers.

4. The Lamp Unit.

5. A 'Y' Cable Unit ( Described later )

6. An Extra Female Connector Socket

7. A Strip of Non Adhesive Velcro

8. A Metre of Back Heat Shrink Cable Cover. 

Here is a copy of my Design Drawing.

Before Starting to manufacture the unit I first needed to measure the distance between the Strap Guide Loops on the Luggage Rack.

This measurement was needed to determine the finished length of my new 'H' Strap to ensure that when the suitcase is strapped onto the Luggage Rack, the new Brake Lamp 'H' Strap is held taught.

As may be observed in the drawing the Total Finished Length was 19 inches with 2,1/4 inch end loops.

The Cut Length of the Webbing piece would be:

19in Top Length + 16,3/4in Under Length + 2,1/4in Left Side Turn Under + 2in Overlap for Left Side Box Stitch - Total = 40 inches

The Cut Length of the Aluminium Strip was 10in x 1in wide which I made from an old strip of Doorway Carpet Gripper Rod.

I next needed to drill the two small holes in the Aluminium Strip to take the Bolts after first drilling a hole in each leg of the lamp unit.

The next part of the assembly was to measure off the fold lines on the strapping.

The under strap is only folded back as far as the X Stitched Box so that there are no raw edges showing.

Now for the Sewing Machine Work.

The Right Hand End fold is made and the 2inch Box Stitch is Machined to hold that end in place and form the tunnel for the Leather Suitcase Strap to pass through.

It is possible to hand sew this work but it will be very difficult to do without a Very Strong Needle and Sailmakers Hand Grip to push the needle through the thick parts. 

The Part Sewn Webbing with Aluminium Strip, Lamp and Nuts & Bolts ready for assembly

Now measure the Centre Position along the Strap and measure off the two Hole positions needed for bolting on the Lamp Unit through the Top Strap. 

Two Holes are made in the middle of Top Webbing strip, ideally using a Leather Hole Punch but if one is not available then use the pointed end of a pair of scissors.

This may be used to work the two holes in the Top Strip of Webbing.

The Two 3mm Bolts used need to be as short as possible therefore it is worth measuring their length after a trial assembley and, if necessary, reducing their length to be just level with the top of the tightened nuts.

Next assemble the Lamp onto the Top Cover of the webbing. First passing the bolts through the Aluminium Strip, then through the Webbing and lastly through the legs of the Lamp and the Locking Washers before adding the Nuts to each bolt. Tighten the Nuts carefully.

Lastly fold in the Left Hand End of the webbing while tucking under the lower half of the Webbing to cover the Aluminium Strip and the Bolt Heads.

Machine Stitch the Box Stitch continuing along both edges of the open Centre Parts to fully encase the Aluminium strip.

The New Brake Lamp 'H' Unit is now completed with just the Electrical Connections to undertake.   

The Completed 'H' Brake Lamp Unit.

High Level Brake Light - Electrical Connections

May I suggest at this point that if the owner is not proficient in Auto Electrical Work then the next stage work should be undertaken by a Qualified Auto Electrician.

The next point to make is that the connection Must be made into the Brake Light Circuit and not into any other part of the Wiring Harness.

The New Unit needs to be connected into the Cobra High Level Brake Light Circuit but without disconnecting the Cobra.

The Cobra is connected via a socket into the Wiring Harness which can be seen in the Harness Diagrams below.

However, The Cobra needs to remain connected at all time so that it still operated when the suitcase is removed and the new Lamp is removed. 

This is the V6 Roadster Rear Wiring Harness Diagram

Here is the Cobra High Level Brake Light Connector Section of the diagram showing its Female Connector.

Here is an actual set of this model connector and Pin ends as used by M.E.S Ltd. in their Harness and on my new unit.

The Morgan Harness Supplier M.E.S. Ltd.

The ability to connect the new unit into the Cobra Cable was achieved by the Acquisition of what I have called a 'Y' Splitter.

This is an additional cable which is made from the same cables and colours and has the identical connectors on each end ( Two Female and One Male ) so that the correct polarity is maintained.

 Here is my own 'Y' Splitter

This is permanently fitted into the existing High Level Brake Lamp Sockets.

This was achieved by temporary removal of the Spare Wheel to access the cable joint.

The existing joint was unclipped and the male and female sockets were plugged into each end of line maintaining the function of the Cobra and leaving the other leg of the 'Y' ready to plug in the New High Level Lamp when needed.

With the benefit of Hindsight this extra line needs to be much longer (say 18ins long ) so that its socket can be accessed without removing the Spare Wheel every time. 

As I was committed to use this 'Y' Splitter and its short extra leg I have had to introduce an extension cable and use another extra set of sockets ,which anyone following this process would not have to use.

The Female Socket showing the Black Earth Cable on the left and the Powered Green/Purple cable on the right.

 The Male Socket showing the Black Earth Cable on the right and the Powered Green/Purple cable on the left.

Looking inside of the Female Socket showing that it is just a Two Pin Socket.

I asked M.E.S Ltd to make my 'Y' Splitter Cable and when supplied they sent me the unused socket to apply to the New Unit's cable.

It was pointed out to me that the New High Level Brake Lamp has Positive and Negative cables and it is important to ensure that they are correctly connected.

My next task was to measure off the length of Cable I needed on the New Unit so that when fitted to the suitcase I could thread the cable back under the Spare Wheel before connecting it to the car socket.

This way the connection would be protected by the suitcase.

In my case, before adding the Connect to the cable end I wrapped the cable with Black Insulating Tape to both protect it and stiffen the cable.

In my parts list above I have suggested acquiring a meter of Black Heat Shrink Cable Cover for this purpose which needs to be slid over the cable  before the Socket is attached.

 Here is my unit with Shortened and Wrapped Cable and with the socket attached.

Now, Why the Wire Hook you may be asking. This is how I keep the unused Cable on the Morgan when not in use.

I have used the piece of Black Velcro Loop piece and have Wrapped & Sewn it around the Socket on the free end of the 'Y' Splitter.

While the Spare Wheel was removed I also attached a flat piece of the Velcro Hook Section to the wooden cross member immediately below the gap between the Spare Wheel and Car Body on the Right Hand Off Side so that it is clearly visible when the Spare Wheel is replaced.

It was attached to the wood using a Heavy Duty Stapler at each end of the strip.

Once the Cable is disconnected I use the Wire Hook to lower the loose Cable Socket onto the Velcro Hook section where it stays until needed again.

I then use the hook again next time to extract the cable from the Velcro to gain access to the socket again.

I also made a Small Bag to keep the Unit and Hook in when not being used.  

The New Unit on the Car 

The New Unit Seen From Above 

The Cable Threaded Over The Spare Wheel

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Some Alternative Ideas

I did think about using an alternative method of connecting the Lamp to the Brake Circuit by fitting one of these Bayonet Sockets inside the car and connecting it to my 'Y' splitter.

 The Owner of this Similar Socket has an alternative use for it, which in this case it was connected to the Battery Terminals and was being used to plug in his Battery Conditioner Unit

This next Owner had fitted a Lockable Metal Suitcase Strap to his Morgan an used an alternative Swivelling Lamp fixed directly onto the Metal Strap

This Version attaches a Non Swivel Lamp onto a Metal Strap fixed to just the lower half of the Luggage Rack and held in place by the Leather 'H'' strap. This one is too low down.

This unit was based on my drawing but has had the Leather Strap made and uses an alternative Double Row Swivel Lamp.

In this case some protective material such as Neoprene should be adhered to the lower part of the Leather Strapping Piece to cover the Bolt Heads and protect the Suitcase. 

I have also seen a Swivel Lamp Unit attached to a narrow piece of Polished Hardwood.

Each end of the Wood Strip had 'U' shaped slots cut in them so that the unit could be located under each of the Vertical Leather Straps to hold it in place.

Unfortunately I do not have a Photograph of it.

Innovation is the name of this game. 

Frank