Where would you wire an auxilliary outlet?

[CurtisJ]

On my fairly heavily modified MGB-GT, I decided to install both a cigarette-lighter-style power socket and ALSO a set of binder posts. You can get them at most any electronic supply house. If you're wiring a power socket anyhow, there's little additional effort. The binder posts will screw down onto bare stripped wire. They also have banana plug sockets built-in, which is handy for plugging in a test meter (to check voltage).

(Aluminum dashboard above. Rollcage in foreground.)

 

[Boink]

On my outlet I put a common 20 amp fuse- if it gets a direct short it will kill fast enough but it will handle anything that I need. The inline fuse is a last resort safety so 20 is fine (in my opinion)
BillM

Wow, 20 seems very high. Heck, I was thinking 10 was high. Actually, the wires are 16 gauge which is probably only rated 10 amps (though admittedly a momentary event). I was thinking of going down to 3 or even 1 amp. Hmmm....

 

[Boink]

On my fairly heavily modified MGB-GT, I decided to install both a cigarette-lighter-style power socket and ALSO a set of binder posts. You can get them at most any electronic supply house. If you're wiring a power socket anyhow, there's little additional effort. The binder posts will screw down onto bare stripped wire. They also have banana plug sockets built-in, which is handy for plugging in a test meter (to check voltage).

(Aluminum dashboard above. Rollcage in foreground.)

Thanks Curtis (and for the photo).
- Mark

 

[KSIS]

Any time I take a trip to the junk yard, I head for the import section and grab the aux outlets from VW Jettas's and Passats. They have a good length of wire. When I had my Midget, I used a coiled wire like the style from a CB radio and one of the outlets.

 

[Deleted member 9684]

Place it on the firewall ahead of the shiftier above the bottom of the dash just a bit. Mount it side ways at the edge of the foot well on the passenger side. Wire direct to battery through the fire wall with an in line fuse.

There ya go, out of the way and non-dash-spoiling.

will this work on a positive ground car with a generator? I read the other replies, but do not want to interfere with any of the on-board wiring...so is it safe to attach to the positive side of the battery with an in-line fuse and ground to the car with the brakcet?

 

[Boink]

Place it on the firewall ahead of the shiftier above the bottom of the dash just a bit. Mount it side ways at the edge of the foot well on the passenger side. Wire direct to battery through the fire wall with an in line fuse.

There ya go, out of the way and non-dash-spoiling.

will this work on a positive ground car with a generator? I read the other replies, but do not want to interfere with any of the on-board wiring...so is it safe to attach to the positive side of the battery with an in-line fuse and ground to the car with the brakcet?

This is why I'm going to go with an insulated outlet on a coiled cord (that tucks away when not needed).

 

[nomad]

Place it on the firewall ahead of the shiftier above the bottom of the dash just a bit. Mount it side ways at the edge of the foot well on the passenger side. Wire direct to battery through the fire wall with an in line fuse.

There ya go, out of the way and non-dash-spoiling.

will this work on a positive ground car with a generator? I read the other replies, but do not want to interfere with any of the on-board wiring...so is it safe to attach to the positive side of the battery with an in-line fuse and ground to the car with the brakcet?

Will work but you won't ahve something that will work with modern electonics which require a negative ground. Or am I not understanding what you mean??

Kurt.

 

[Deleted member 9684]

i'd like to be able to charge my blackberry and iphone/ipad. the car is a positive ground car with a generator. the answer would seem simple enough but i'm confused by the replies...

 

[Billm]

It is SO much easier (and safer) to convert to negative ground !!!
BillM

 

[smaceng]

Having had a big Healey that burned up in my garage due to the PO's poor wiring to a radio made me declare never to try to run a positive ground car which had accessory devices running on negative ground. Just too much can go wrong..
Scott in CA

 

[nomad]

i'd like to be able to charge my blackberry and iphone/ipad. the car is a positive ground car with a generator. the answer would seem simple enough but i'm confused by the replies...

On a BE about the only thing you need to do to convert to negative ground is change the battery connections and repolarize the generator. If I'm forgetting something or there is a link on this I'm sure someone will pipe up.

Kurt.

 

[Jim_Gruber]

That's about it. With TachDrive off of generator and Fuel Pump as mechanical nothing else to do. I've got the process, touching one of the generator terminals to ground to change the polarity of the generator after wiring is switched but other than that . Started can be connected either way and work, oly issue woiuld be a factory radio which would smoke after connecting terminals in reverse. Bugsy, my '68 got hooked up backwards by a DPO when he swapped in a 1098 out of a '66 Spridget. Couldn't figure out why he could not get the engine to start except when priming carb by hand. Because car was hooked up backwards fuel pump would not run. After several weeks of cogitating on this one and trying to figure out why car would not start and fuel pump would not click I was staring at the battery and all of a sudden the light bulb came on. Turn battery around, touch key and Vroom, Vroom. One of my most satisfying trouble shooting efforts ever. The poor DPO had spent months trying to figure this one out and I got the car for a song as a result.

I've got the process in my files but don't have access right now.

 

[Billm]

On changing to neg ground- if you want to get fancy you can swap the low tension (small) wires on the coil but it makes almost no difference.
BillM

 

[elrey]

Woke up one night to the sound of a horn blaring. Went outside to see what was up just in time to see my neighbor's Cooper S [the original] burst into flame. Burnt to the ground. Weirdly enough [or not], the previous day he had massaged a neg. ground Nakamichi tape deck into his pos. ground car. I'm not sure why the horn went off, but the car was toast.

 

[Deleted member 9684]

i'd like to be able to charge my blackberry and iphone/ipad. the car is a positive ground car with a generator. the answer would seem simple enough but i'm confused by the replies...

On a BE about the only thing you need to do to convert to negative ground is change the battery connections and repolarize the generator. If I'm forgetting something or there is a link on this I'm sure someone will pipe up.

Kurt.

Don't want to convert to negative ground. Guess I'll just be sure to have fully charged blackberry, iphone and ipad at all times.

 

[Boink]

You can still use an insulated outlet (and Radio Shack even has one that sits on an insulated bracket), then you simply wire it accordingly. Add a fuse. No biggie.