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Wiring Harness Replacement

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M

mxp01

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I recently sent my BE off for paint. In the process we pulled out the old wiring harness. It must have been close to original since it nearly disintegrated in our hands. Furthermore, the harness had been spliced several times and we even had some wires that weren't attached to anything.

I've found that VB sells a complete harness for about $210, considerably less than Moss' harness. Does anyone have a bias against the VB harness? Is it really "too good to be true?"

Also consider, price does matter and resources are limited. If I can save on something that is workable, then I can spend on something else I need on the car.

Any suggestions/recommendations will be welcome.

Thanks,
MXP
 
I don't know anything about the VB harness but I do know that wiring is not the place to cut corners. (Don't ask how I know that) Even little intermittent wiring gremlins can be a real nuisance to identify. If it's really significantly cheaper, I would wait for advice from someone who actually has some experience with it.
 
My VB harness was fine. I can't say that for my buddy's MGA harness he got from the "other place".
Do get ALL the pieces, headlamp dip switch harness, tail end harness, and head lamp harnesses if you need them.
 
A full harness from AH Spares is ÂŁ125 in cotton, so that is about the same price. Can't be any worse than the one you pulled out of the car, can it?
 
Just For information i picked up. an Old Bently workshop manuel with a drivers handbook attached and it has verygood Wiring Section on how to wire the MG in it.
 
That price is probably just for the main harness, which is the big wiring trunk that runs in the engine bay and under the dash. Not sure about your car, but mine is a three piece. Main, dash, and rear harness, each sold separately.

When you order place your harness side by side if possible. Some harnesses are so butchered it doesn't matter, but you want to make sure you have all the right connections where they should be.
 
Definitely keep your old harness handy. Tunebug's rewire went easily with the British Wiring harnesses, but I did wind up needing one of the light sockets from the old harness.

To second the above advice, regardless of where you get the harness from, make sure that you get all of the bits. I also got a bunch of extra connectors, and did need them for a few of the bits.

My rewiring adventure:
https://www.drooartz.com/index.php?page=32
 
Are you sure your old harness is total trash? Was it cloth wiring or something? Mine looked rough when removed, but after I got all the oil and grease off and unwrapped and cleaned it, I found that the wires were fine. I checked each wire and if I needed a splice I did a good solder and heat shrink job so that it would not give trouble. Then I went by the wiring diagram and labeled each wire with a wire label for where it went to make the installation job easier. Then I used some modern type wire wrap from a parts store to relace the harness. What looks like a rats nest can usually be straightened out. Now, if its the old cloth wire like some of the old bentleys and rovers that I worked on, then I would say get the new harness because the colors fade over time to where you can't tell the wires apart.
 
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