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TR4/4A Mystery WIres on a TR4a

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kindofblue

kindofblue

Jedi Trainee
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I was preparing the car for winter today when I noticed to wires I hadn't paid attention to before - there application is unknown to me

1. Small red wire between distributer and coil. This is not the coil wire. It appears to be held in place be a small screw on the engine side of the distributer. It is hanging by a strand there. I am wondering if it needs to be stripped an rewired for better contact, if I only knew what it was.

2. Ground strap at the steering rack. There is a small grey wire that goes from the steering shaft input to under where the lower coolant hose goes. Why would the steering rack need grounding?
 
If the TR4 is like the TR6, the steering column works as the ground for the horn.
 
Steering shaft must be grounded for the horn to operate (horn operates by providing a ground to complete the circuit, the other side of the horns are always 'hot'. There will also be grounds connecting the protions of the steering shaft on each side of the rubber donuts. All these grounds would have originally been braided cables but some get replacred with wires thru the years (probably works but not ideal).

No idea what that red wire is, would certainly think it is non-original.
 
kindofblue said:
1. Small red wire between distributer and coil. This is not the coil wire.
Click to expand...
So are you saying there is another small wire between the distributor and the coil ?

Normally there are two wires between the coil & dizzy, the large diameter high tension 'coil wire' from the center terminal of the coil to the distributor cap; and a smaller, low tension wire from one of the side coil terminals to the side of the distributor.
The points wire should have a quick connect on the dizzy, but you might have a DPOism.
 
The ground strap on the steering rack is braided wire - which is good. I won't disturb it when I service the lower colling hose this winter.

I believe it is the low tension wire then. It comes out of the side of the dizzy to the side of the coil. I believe there are two wires between them. MY concern is the wire on the dizzy side is quite frayed, and looks like only one strand is being held by the screw. Should I remove it, cut off the frayed ends, and strip some new strands?

BTW- my PO mounted the coil on the left firewall. The first owner (of three) was a member of the TSOA in the 60s. He made lots of "improvements", most of which I agree with. (like dumping the Zenith Strombergs for SU H6s.)
 
The firewall mounting is also a good mod to keep the heat from killing the coil over time.
 
I would definitely fix up the point wire ... if it breaks completely, the engine won't run.

Of course, being somewhat obsessive about electrical failures, I would want to put a proper ring terminal (or quick connect) on the wire, crimped and soldered, with some heat shrink for strain relief ... but stripping it back and putting it under the screw/nut will do for now.

Different strokes for diffrnt folks ... I find the H6 carbs to be rather leak prone and see nothing wrong with ZS carbs (except the later emissions junk). I'll be replacing my H6 with HS6 in the future ...
 
Peter

I have heard the same about putting the coil on the firewall.

I am now considering a proper terminal for the wire. I will have to get a closer look at it. I have an extra set of HS6s that are completely rebuilt. However the linkage pieces between H6 and HS6 are different. I am missing quite a few bits. Do you have any? My H6s do leak damper fluid out the bottom. THe whole job of replacing the carbs scares me. Would you put all the linkages together first, then put the carbs on the car?
 
kindofblue said:
My H6s do leak damper fluid out the bottom.
Click to expand...
That's odd; damper fluid is the one thing I thought they couldn't leak. Usually it's the ZS carbs with the adjustment screw inside the damper that leak damper fluid. H6 carbs generally leak fuel, around the jet seals & float bowl seals/mounts.<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:] THe whole job of replacing the carbs scares me.[/QUOTE]Don't misunderstand me, if you've got H6 on there and they work, then by all means keep them. The dis/advantages are slight either way; I certainly wouldn't counsel going through all that aggravation to convert just for that. IOW, if it runs, drive it! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:] Would you put all the linkages together first, then put the carbs on the car? [/QUOTE]I'd want to have all the pieces together first; but I would NOT try to install the carbs on the engine with the linkage already assembled to the carbs.
 
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