Trafficator Wiring

[HealeyRick]

Anyone have any good approaches for threading the
> horn/directional wires through the plate at the end
> of
> the steering box? I ran some monofilament through
> the
> column when I removed the trafficator, but it untied
> when I was trying to feed the wire back down. I
> tried
> using a wire coathanger as a splint with one end
> stuck
> in the end of the long metal tube and the
> directional
> wires electric taped to the coathanger. Seems like
> it
> should work, but the coathanger is hitting the metal
> plate at the end of the steering box without passing
> through the hole. I don't want to remove the
> endplate
> if I can avoid it.


Sorry for the cross-post but I'm desperate
> TIA
> Rick /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nopity.gif

 

[John Loftus]

Re: Trafficator Help?

Rick,

I used some electrical wire. The plastic covered solid copper wire that is used for 110 volt wiring in your home is thin enough and sturdy enough to feed from the front. I don't remember the gage but it measures about 1/8" in overall diameter (I just checked .. 12 gage). Any Home Depot, etc. will carry it and you can buy it by the foot. I fed the wire through the front grill, straight into the tube. Once through I used a minimal amount of duct tape or electrical tape to attach the harness ends in a lapped pattern i.e. each shorter than the next so the overall taped joint was smooth and as thin as possible. Have a helper guide the wires in as you pull at the other end ... sometimes a little back and forth is needed to clear minor steps inside the tube.
Good luck!
John

 

[shorn]

Re: Trafficator Help?

I changed my steering wheel this June and am familiar with the process. I had trouble pulling the wires back down the stator tube. First, I tried string then fishing line, both broke. Finally I used electrical wire and tape, but I had to remove the end bullet connectors from the 4 trafficator wires to make the bundle small enough to go back down the stator tube, just unsolder them. I even used a little electrical goop (lubricant for pulling wires)on the bundle of wires. Then two people, one pulling on the pull wire while the other feeds the bundle down the stator tube. Finally solder the connectors back on the wire ends and hook things back up.

 

[HealeyRick]

Re: Trafficator Help?

Thanks, John. I followed your suggestion and it worked perfectly on the first shot. Didn't even have to remove the bullet connectors. Lempert wheel is now installed and looking great!

Rick

 

[mbrooks]

Re: Trafficator Help?

In case this is of any use to anybody!!....

[BN2 non-ajustable steering wheel]

I got around to starting my trafficator installation yesterday. I had to remove the 5 foot long stator tube from the car because a PO had cut the three screws that held the original trafficator to the stator tube flange. Once out of the car, the remains of the screws came out from the back of the flange. PO had also cut the wiring at both ends of the stator tube, flush with the ends, leaving nothing to grab hold of. My stator tube was a good inch longer than necessary, so I carefully hacksawed about 3/8" from the bottom end. This left enough wire hanging out to grab on to. Then the fun started. The wires were stuck solid. After several attempts to dribble WD40 in to the tube, I decided to try heat [by this time I could tell that the wire was stuck somewhere towards the top of the tube]. I used a camping gas stove, playing it up and down the tube until it was quite hot. Another tug and the wire came out.

Threading the new harness in, I had no success using the wire and tape method. What I did then was to solder the pull wire to the longest bullet on the new harness - no tape at all. Worked a treat.

Next job is to refit the steering wheel with the cancelling ring. It looks as if the arm on the cancelling ring needs to be pointing down, with the steering wheel in the straight ahead position. So I need to get the car back off the stands and take it down the road to check the steering wheel position - should have marked it before I took it off...

 

[mbrooks]

Re: Trafficator Help?

Further progress report

Fitted the trafficator cancelling ring. This is the first thing on the column after the steering wheel as it has a larger diameter than the washers and spacers. It fits over a shoulder on the column. It needs to be fitted with the projecting tang to the BOTTOM. When the stator tube with the wire harness is threaded back down through the column [again, pull wire soldered to first bullet on new harness], the "other" cancelling ring [the one on the trafficator itself, with the slot in it] needs to be meshed with the projecting tang on the one fitted under the steeering wheel nut.

Another thing I noticed - the three screws that hold the trafficator to the stator tube flange [this is the non-adjustable steering] - if you tighten them fully, the cancelling ring on the trafficator will not rotate freely. I fitted the screws using red nut locking fluid, so I could leave them not quite fully tightened without fear of them working loose.

Dave Russell, if you are reading this, many thanks for your help in an earlier posting - you might be interested that at least for a non-adjustable column, the idea of pulling the wire through the stator tube out of the car, then pulling the whole assembly through the column, works fine.

Mike