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TR2/3/3A TR-3 Wiring connectors

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Arrow

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Does anyone have a tried and true method to soldier
the bayonet ends on the wire? Before you shoot me
I have three TR-3As-two original. I am a puriest at heart
this third car I bought as a kid in the 60s and built a driver I was 16. I kept it and gave it to my 16 year old son. We are rebuilding it for todays roads and interstates.
Mustang II rack and pinion, 8 inch 3.55 posi rear end and
crate 350 Chevy. Outside I want to look stock. I bought fiberglass Beta rear wings to accomodate wider wheels and rubber to keep this thing on the ground. I am installing a
new Painless wiring harness and need to soldier the bayonet
ends on the wires. TA
 
Strip back the insulation about 3/8", twist the strands together, pre-tin the strands into one wire with electrical grade flux and solder. Then insert this into the big end of the bayonet, till you can see the wire tip when you look into the hole in the bullet end. Then solder the tip of the inner stranded wire to the inside of the hole from the outside end of the bayonet.
 
My method is similar except I run the stripped wire into the bullet (bayonet) until it projects out of the tip about an eighth inch or so. For larger gauge wires you may have to drill the hole in the tip a bit larger but that is easily done as it's brass. I then solder the tip and clip the excess. Finally dress the end a little with a file as needed.

You do want a solid connection there (both electrical and mechanical) as when you disconnect it someday you will have to pull on the wire do get it loose.
 
Hello Arrow,

I believe that you should crimp rather than solder those terminals. Unless you use a terminal with a crimp clasp to hold the cable mechanically on the cable insulation you have a join that is weak mechanically because of the abrupt junction of the hard soldered section in the lug and the flexible cable which has not been soldered, that junction is where the cable will break with vibration.

Using a good quality crimp pliers (not the simple two piece squeze pliers)and equally good quality terminals is the way to go. The correctly cripmed terminal has a good electrical connection and also mechanical support as the terminal is double crimped, one section on the bare wire and the other on the insulation. I personally favour the fully insulated crimp terminals as there is less chance of an accidental short circuit; not original but a better job in my view.

Alec
 
No, they are meant to be soldered. Put your soldering Iron onto the connector after you have put the wire in as described above. Once you have enough heat there the solder will melt and be drawn into the connector. You will find that the end of the insulation will melt slightly, but only the last millimetre or so. I haven't had one let go yet.
 
No doubt, none of my business and you will surely tell me so but giving a 16 year old a car with a small block, 2,000 pound weight and the same protection as a Radio Flyer wagon is the same as handing him a loaded gun and telling him to play with it! I don't understand.

Lou Metelko
Auburn, Indiana
 
They are not all meant to be soldierd...sorry about the spelling. There are special piers make for crimping these ends. I do not think that they are available in the USA.
Cheers, David.
 
Bugeye58 said:
David, I bought a set of the piers to do the proper hexagonal crimp from British Wiring.
Jeff
Click to expand...

British Wiring just sold out to a guy in Pennsylvania. Hope they keep the same quality.

I buy naked quality spade connectors from a marine electrical hardware specialty store. I crimp and solder then insulate with 1 or 2 layers of appropriate shrink tubing.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]TR6BILL Hope they keep the same quality.

[/QUOTE]

So do I, Bill. I've been dealing with them since shortly after they started.
Jeff
 
Good to know, Jeff. I purchased mine while in the UK. I did hear that they have sold. Never used them, as I tend to build and import componets from the UK.
Cheers, David.
 
Sorry to be pedantic, but the original type bullet connectors on a TR3 are designed to be soldered on. There are various other types of bullet connectors that can be crimped on. These include the "W" crimp type and the hexagon bullet crimp. Of course there are also the pre-insulated variety, but they will not fit into the existing connectors so easily. While the hexagon crimped bullet may give good mechanical grip personally I would rather have the wire soldered on to maintain a good electrical contact over time.
 
Hello Nick, you are quite correct, the bullet types should be soldered, but perhaps I was misled when the original query refers to bayonet connectors. Later bullets were crimped however and these are available from UK specialists as are the pliers to crimp them.

Alec
 
I don't know what the postage would be like to the USA, but I have found this company to be very good and they have a vast range of stock.
Vehicle Wiring Products
 
We have a great source of connectors and electrical bits at britishwiring.com . Matt Baker of Triumphs Rescue in PA just purchased this business and will be "open" beginning tomorrow.
 
Hi Alec, I have never seen a crimped electrical joint that will match the overall electrical integrity of a soldered one. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/nonod.gif However, from a production standpoint crimping is the least expensive of the two choices.---Keoke
 
I must have crimped a couple of dozen on my Master's rewire. Buy the tool. Don't have to mess with the solder. On the lucar connectors,I am with Bill. although I bought the appropriate pliers for the particular connector.I then solder and cover with shrink. I must have used 12 feet on my project
 
PeterK said:
We have a great source of connectors and electrical bits at britishwiring.com . Matt Baker of Triumphs Rescue in PA just purchased this business and will be "open" beginning tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Many years ago, before there was British Wiring (or at least before <u>I</u> discovered British Wiring), I was in dire need for my then 1974 TR6, specifically a June, 1974 TR6. It is important that you know the month, especially in a 74, when they had 74 1/2 TR6. Anywho, the wiring harness on this car was an absolute bird's nest of non-original K-Mart wires. Nowhere to turn, no internet, I found a Triumph graveyard outside of Atlanta where hundreds of Triumphs were being dismantled for their parts. Back then, the parts weren't so valuable. (Does anyone remember this place?) The owner had a June, 1974 TR6 with a good harness. I bit, he stripped it out, and what I got was a fair harness, quite original, but not great. Lotsa abraded wires, cruddy connectors. Maybe even a burned circuit or two. He cut off three of the Lucar connector from under the dash, too tight to unplug. Now became the hard part. Somehow, it becomes foggy right here, I found a company in England that duplicated Triumph (and I am sure other) wiring harnesses using the exact wiring colours. The phone call was fun, the dude on the British side of the call referred to me as some "crazy bloke from America" calling about a new harness. I sent him the new-old harness in a mailer along with 140 lbs., back when a dollar was a dollar, and three weeks later I received a gorgeous, correct June, 1974 wiring harness, with the three dash Lucar connectors cut off to length!


Those were the days.

I just ordered the rear harness for my June 1973 TR6 from British Wiring and got it the next day. I will miss Leslie and her hubby. Let's all pull for the new guy.
 
Lou Metelko said:
No doubt, none of my business and you will surely tell me so but giving a 16 year old a car with a small block, 2,000 pound weight and the same protection as a Radio Flyer wagon is the same as handing him a loaded gun and telling him to play with it! I don't understand.

Lou Metelko
Auburn, Indiana
Click to expand...
I guess I'd have to agree with Lou on this one...a 16 year old needs a Geo Metro with two spark plugs removed!
 
PeterK said:
We have a great source of connectors and electrical bits at britishwiring.com . Matt Baker of Triumphs Rescue in PA just purchased this business and will be "open" beginning tomorrow.
Click to expand...

I certainly hopes he puts a greeting and update on his website...no info at all on the sale of the business...customers really want to know what's going on...
 
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