My car was wired by Pedro's sloppy brother!

[70herald]

Well I finally figured out the main reason my cars engine keeps missing. lousy wiring. I measured the resistance between the coil and the distributor today: 30 ohms. I soldered new end onto the wires (they were crimped on) and resistance went down to almost nothing. then I looked under the dash to try and follow the + line from the key switch to the coil what a mess! a huge rats nest of wires and tape all twisted together. and lots of odd crimped together connections. At least for the time being I am getting full voltage at the + connection on the coil. At least in the parking lot it is no longer backfiring when I rev the engine. It still misses though, no question that I need to get the distributor rebuilt.

 

[NutmegCT]

Ah the joys of "former owner" wiring. Who knows the origin, but what an adventure you have waiting for you.

On mine, I keep finding wire (pick a color - any color), patched into a red/white wire, then into two inches of blue wire, then a patch into a yellow/black wire, then a dual wire connector (with one side empty of course), etc. All finally running to brand new red wires coming from the lights, horn, heater motor, etc.

I think it's a sign of Previous Owner blessing: you'll never be bored. You lucky guy!

Tom

 

[Tinster]

Yisrael-

If you find stero speaker wires running to your engine
gauges and starter switch- you might actually have
the "real deal"-- Pedro's junkyard mechanic might have
worked on your car.

D

 

[Andrew Mace]

Dale, any idea how long Pedro has been in business? Back in the mid-1970s I walked away from a Triumph Mayflower. I wasn't that disturbed by the damaged LF fender, but I was so startled (scared?) by the wiring harness -- consisting TOTALLY OF WHITE WIRE -- that I never looked back.... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/shocked.gif

 

[70herald]

you'll never be bored. You lucky guy!

Tom

I have spent the last two+ years not being bored. I am ready for a bit of boredom. Actually, I am very serious thinking of either buying or making a proper new harness. I have done way to much work on this car to wind up with something which is not reliable. My biggest debate is if I want something totally stock or "upgraded" with relays etc.

 

[DrEntropy]

If you're goin' to drive the thing and look forward to the 'boredom', My two cents' worth would be: go for the relays and NO crimp fasteners/Scotch-Loks within 100 yards of the harness.

 

[Tinster]

Yisrael-

Pedro used stereo speaker wire and solid black wires
and then wrapped the entire mess is sticky black tape.

A "car guy" took one look at my electrical mess and
told me to purchase an entire car wire harness. I ordered
the Dan Master Power Block TR6 wire harness and I am totally
pleased with the results. It has several appropriate relays,
high tech fuses and makes use of British bullet connectors.
The bullet connectors are fantastic.

https://www.britishwiring.com/BW.htm

The folks at British wiring are very nice and helpful.
They will send you samples of their products.

PS: I sent photos of Pedro's existing wire mess to Mike
Masters before I installed the new Power Block. Mike told
me to gut Pedro's mess out of the car completely before
installing any new wires. Pedro's mess was THAT bad.

Hey, I owe you a few technical favors, here's my opportunity
to pay you back!!

dale

 

[PeterK]

Dale, any idea how long Pedro has been in business? Back in the mid-1970s I walked away from a Triumph Mayflower. I wasn't that disturbed by the damaged LF fender, but I was so startled (scared?) by the wiring harness -- consisting TOTALLY OF WHITE WIRE -- that I never looked back.... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/shocked.gif

Our TR3A came with a totally RED wiring harness. It's upsized wire has been totally reliable but hard to trace circuits being all one color. It's the only thing that embarrasses me when showing the car even though it's rock solid. So this winter I will replace it with a factory style harness from British Wiring. I already have an alternator, aux fuse panel with 6 circuits installed, and relays for the headlights but plan to add a couple of more relays.

 

[Guest]

.

.

 

[TR3driver]

I would guess that the PO just did not know that harnesses were available.

Or couldn't afford them. A new harness costs more than my first TR3A did !

Or wanted to make some changes, and felt paying for a harness only to cut it apart was silly.

Honestly, I don't understand what all the fuss is about. My TR3A's harness is original, and the colors have more or less faded to incomprehension anyway. Identifying wires is easy enough that I frequently don't even bother to tag them when I do take something off, just identify them when time comes to put it back together. The circuits have to be tested anyway ...

 

[PeterK]

Mine was also tied together with twist-ties from trash bags, also red! He did a great job labeleling each wire with a telcom-style number tag, just wish he'd been a little more original.

(eye roll)
I think the all red wire detracts from the cars value in terms of originality whereas my headlight relays and a hidden aux fuse panel does not.

 

[Bugeye58]

I once re-did a '67 TR4A that had spent most of its life in Taiwan. <u>There</u> was an adventure in bad wiring! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
Jeff

 

[Guest]

.

 

[70herald]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]

I would guess that the PO just did not know that harnesses were available.

Or couldn't afford them. A new harness costs more than my first TR3A did !

Or wanted to make some changes, and felt paying for a harness only to cut it apart was silly.

I think that he just didn't want buy anything. He also had a degree in automotive electronics and worked in shop. I bet he used up all the scrap wiring bits he had left over from other jobs. I wouldn't mind so much if there was some sort of rhyme or reason in the colors , but wires start in one color reach a relay hidden somewhere and suddenly change colors.

 

[TR3driver]

but wires start in one color reach a relay hidden somewhere and suddenly change colors.

Which is true even with an original harness.

 

[70herald]

but wires start in one color reach a relay hidden somewhere and suddenly change colors.

Which is true even with an original harness.

Yes but then on the original harness it usually will match the color code on the wiring diagram, so despite changing colors, it is possible to figure out what the wire might be connected to.

 

[Andrew Mace]

but wires start in one color reach a relay hidden somewhere and suddenly change colors.

Which is true even with an original harness.

Yes but then on the original harness it usually will match the color code on the wiring diagram, so despite changing colors, it is possible to figure out what the wire might be connected to.

...or at least correlate with Lucas color-code Lucas color-code logic to SOME extent!

 

[bcliff]

I had 70 MGB that the DPO (a well meaning high school student) had extensively rewired with yellow telephone wire. It had been substituted for a lot of the original wiring harness. I cleaned connectors and used the original harness and everything worked fine.
Bruce