TR2/3/3A TR3B front bumper and turn signal woes.

[Brooklands]

Why do I think I can do these things. I did get the old grill off the car, and have the top four screws in properly with spire nuts. The screw holes in the bottom of the grill do not align of course, but for now it looks okay and I will wait for the non-driving season to fix that. When I removed the grill I also took off the front bumper, and now one of the nuts to bolt the bumper on does not line up with the hole in the front apron. If I insert the bolt in from the frame towards the front of the car, I can see about 3/4 of the bolt with the remaining part hidden behind sheet metal. Is there an easy way to flex this to get them aligned?

Also, when I removed the turn signals to take out the old grill, I found that all the wires to the lights had press in connections under the hood, and the three wires coming out the back of the lights are all black. I thought I had properly labeled five of the wires before detaching, but the sixth wire on the right turn signal was not attached to anything. I believe it was to be the ground, but I cannot find where that would have been attached. On the left side there were adjacent grounds for the headlight and turn signal, but that is not the case on the right side. When I turn on the parking lights, the rights side is now brighter than the left, but I don't know if that was the case before. When I turn on the left turn signal, all is well with the world. But when I turn on the right turn signal, the front one has a dim glow, and the rear one does nothing now. I tried swapping the two wires in the turn signal itself that are close to each other, but that does not seem to have an effect.

Any suggestions to either of my problems before I drive it back into the shop?

 

[Andrew Mace]

For the bumper bracket, I'll wager that a suitable large screwdriver or drift through the hole could be used to gently lever things back into alignment.

As for the side-flasher lamps, I'd suggest obtaining some short lengths of red wire and some short lengths of green wire. Keep the black wire for the ground of the lamp. Test each lamp to determine which is the dimmer filament (usually it's the taller one in the bulb, I think), and put the length of red wire there. Then put the length of green wire on the other filament. That way you've essentially matched up with the original color coding. Such lamps usually were not "sided," so the green would connect to either green w/white (right flasher) or green w/red (left) as needed. It's been awhile, so I don't remember what sort (if any) of harness might have been attached to the front lamps originally, but the above should make it a lot easier in the future.

 

[newmexTR3]

I have the same problem with my bumper when I take it off. My solution was to loosen up the two bolts that hold each frame-to-bumper bracket to the chassis. Once those are loose you should be able to line up the holes to get the bumper bolts in. Once you have that in, you can re-tighten the brackets to the chassis.

Hopefully that makes sense. if it doesn't I can post a diagram.
Cheers,
Gavin

 

[TR3driver]

On the left side there were adjacent grounds for the headlight and turn signal, but that is not the case on the right side.

The right side should have the same grounding arrangement as the left, a flat spring-like piece with two openings for bullets, screwed to the sheet metal ledge behind the horns. Part number 990 at https://www.britishwiring.com/CAT14_15.PDF

When mine broke and a replacement was not readily available; I made up a short length of wire with a bullet on one end and a 1/4" ring terminal on the other. The ring terminal went under the head of a horn bolt; the bullet went into an (additional) 4-way sleeve along with the two ground wires on that side. There are other ways, of course.

More in a bit, I've got to do something now.

 

[Geo Hahn]

...There are other ways, of course...

When they were NLA I made one from the metal from a tailight bulb base. Not absolutely exact but pretty close (pic shows an original and the copy):

 

[Brooklands]

Thanks guys. I actually put the jack under the frame to bumper bracket and lifted just a bit and got it all lined up. We were able to then get the four bottom screws into the grill and I have identified the wire for the brighter filament, but must not have it connected properly in the rewired mess under my hood. Where is that wire supposed to end, the relay, or the turn signal switch. Of course with the previous owner work on my car, the turn signal is a dash mounted toggle switch. If I know where the wire is to end up I can make a bypass of the "harness" directly to where it belongs and see how it all ends up.
I went to return the trim ring and glass to the working right front turn signal, but I guess there is a trick to that as well. Suggestions?

 

[Andrew Mace]

I went to return the trim ring and glass to the working right front turn signal, but I guess there is a trick to that as well. Suggestions?

Reverse of disassembly. ;-)

No, really. Glass goes in first, and you might need a bit of small flat-blade screwdriver persuasion to get the rubber over the lip on the base of the glass. Then replace the ring the same way.

 

[Brooklands]

Thanks Andrew, I was trying to do them both at the same time...

 

[Andrew Mace]

Understandable! It's really quite the clever design: once the ring is in place, it does a really good job of keeping the glass tightly located, so long as the rubber is still supple and not ripped.

I have to admit I was about six years old when I first learned how to do this...out of desperation and necessity. Triumph 10 sedans used these lamps front and rear. Dad had just bought a brand-new one, and this curious little boy was intrigued at the setup...and started to take one apart. Luckily, the few brain cells I had then (no different now!) enabled me to figure out how to get it back together before Dad caught me!

 

[TR3driver]

Where is that wire supposed to end, the relay, or the turn signal switch.

The wire from the bulb would normally end at a 4-way sleeve more or less above where the ground clip goes. There it would join with the subharness wire from the turn signal switch, and the harness wire from the rear turn signal.

I have a small flat blade screwdriver with the edges rounded off to use on those rubbers. It's still a bit of a trick, but basically you start one edge under the lip, then use the screwdriver to lift the lip and work around the edge while pushing on the glass. Then repeat with the chrome ring.

A little silicone spray will both ease the process, and help preserve the rubber.

 

[Brooklands]

Thanks all. I have to make a new connector for the ground, but I worked on the connector that was previously spliced into the wire from the bright filament, and I now have turn signals. And Andrew properly helped me return the lenses and their trim rings, so my car is now back together and it is pouring rain outside. But I have it all together and ready to go to Das Awkscht Fescht next weekend. Fagin should be there all three days in Macungie Park.

I love the photo above too Andrew. My TR3B is the first British car in our family, but we are going to look at a new Mini Clubman next week if my wife is comfortable with the expenditure.

 

[TR3driver]

When they were NLA I made one from the metal from a tailight bulb base. Not absolutely exact but pretty close (pic shows an original and the copy):

Wow! That's good work, I sure wouldn't have spotted it!

 

[Brooklands]

I fabricated a non-original looking ground, but now my right front blinker is double-timing, and my right rear is non-functional. It was suggested locally that it sounded like a ground in the wires to rear light. Any other suggestions for finding out what I did now?

 

[Andrew Mace]

I would check the rear bulb to make sure the filament is intact; if so, start by simply wiggling it. Bad ground does seem likely from what you describe.

 

[martx-5]

Double timing on the directional is a dead give away that one of the bulbs is not working. Usually because the filament burned out, the ground is bad, or the connection in the bulb socket is lousey.

 

[TR3driver]

Not a "ground in the wires to the rear light" as then the front lamp wouldn't work either. A bad ground at the rear lamp is a definite possibility, though, as the factory setup relied on the path through the mounting screws and clip nuts, which are simply slid onto a painted surface. If someone hasn't done so already, I recommend fabricating a ground harness for all the rear lamps (which I brought around to one of the fuel tank mounting bolts).

But first I would double-check that all 3 green/white wires are connected at the 4-way sleeve near the LH horn. Another possibility is that the spring clip inside the vinyl sleeve has broken.

 

[angelfj1]

George: Great job - looks like a clone!

 

[martx-5]

I don't know how the original rear lamp assembly was made, but my replacement assemblies have a grounding loop to stuff a bullet connector in. I took advantage of that when I installed Dan Master's wiring harness.

 

[Brooklands]

My turn signal had that grounding loop with a connector so I added a ground wire and now all my lights are working once again. Thanks all for your help. This place IS awesome.