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Lights at Last !!

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T

Tinster

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My dead 69TR shows signs of life.

Thanks to all for helping me as I have struggled this past month to understand and install the Dan Masters new wiring harness. None of the lights on the TR functioned and the original colored wires were long gone. I purchased 3 of those electric gauge testing gizzmos but could not figure out how to use them.

I read that some TR owners got smashed in the rear end at night because they lacked a third brake light. Since I tore out all the existing dead wires I figured in for a penny-in for a pound. Why not install a third brake light? But where and how kinda puzzled me.

I bought twin small, 12V red lights and drilled thru the license plate. Wired them into the the other two- in parallel I am hoping.

Since I am brain dead with the testing gizzmos I purchased a 12V, 20 amp battery and hooked it to the brake light main wire. Totally awesome!!!! My solidly dead TR now has functioning brake lights and rear running lights. This is the first time since I have owned the auto that any light has lit.

Also, since I do not understand electric and Mr Masters says "grounds" are the cause of most problems--I have been adding a ground wire to everything that current flows thru. A lesson learned today.

One of the lights was brighter than the other. I swapped bulbs, replaced both bulbs, swapped wires and always one light was brighter than the other. The dull bulb reversed locations depending on the combo I used. Final Answer??

One of the light holders did not have a seperate ground wire attached to it. I soldered a ground wire to the socket and ran it to the frame steel. YaHOOOO, balanced BRIGHT lights!!. So now I will be sure to solder a seperate ground wire to every light bulb and run it to the frame.

Photo of my third brake light assembly, for anyone interested in one solution.

https://community.webshots.com/album/550249797IDsfiC

thanks again, maybe someday my dead car will rise like a Phoenix bird ??

Tinster in Puerto Rico.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
 
Update on my attempts to install the new Dan Masters wire harness.

I spent two hours yesterday trying to solder a ground wire to the
left side running bulb socket. That was the final bulb for the rear end. I finally got that %$^# ground wire to stay soldered to the bulb holder, hooked it to the battery and one side was bright, the other was dim.

Now every &^%$^ set of rear end bulbs, brakes, back ups, running etc.has
one dim and one bright.

Fours hours trying to locate the problem with no luck. (cuss words deleted)

So I ripped out a whole damned month of my efforts and am starting over. This go around I think I am going to weld pieces of flat steel bar to the body and put ground connectors for each bulb onto the flat steel bars. One ground wire for each and every bulb socket.

If that does not give me functioning rear lights I believe it will be time to take the car apart and sell the pieces on E-Bay.

What a bummer. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
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