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TR2/3/3A Wiring Harness

karls59tr

Obi Wan
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Are the wiring harnesses sold by the Big 3 all pretty much the same or is any one better than the other? Do they all come from the same overseas supplier? Also,is the steering column wiring a separate purchase? Are the harnesses complete or is there anything I should know about doing the install. Electrical is not my strong point.:smile-new:
 
The steering column is additional. As for the quality...I've heard no problems with any of the big three. I would suspect they all use one supplier, but I don't know that for a fact.
 
Not only is the steering harness separate as are the front lights harnesses as well as some of the behind the dash short sets. I am not sure where the big 3 get their harnesses from, but I had a problem with the wrong one being sent to me from TRF and they had a replacement drop shipped to me from British Wiring and Harness. I don't know if that was their normal supplier or if they were trying to accommodate me with a fast replacement.
Be sure which harness you want as there are several options of coverings, some things moved around on the car --so commission number for your car, and whether you want bullet tips or bare ends on the wires ( also a commission number thing).
Charley
 
From what I've heard, they usually don't come with the 3 indicator lamp holders installed (turn, ignition and high beam), so you'll need to do some work there. Also a good idea IMO to add ground wires for all the rear lamps, the fuel tank sender and the fuel gauge. The factory relied on the mountings to ground those things, but it's easy for the mountings to not make good electrical contact all the time.
 
When I got that harness made by British Wiring it was a TR4 and it did have all of the dash lights attached. However it also had new push in bulbs for all of the dash lights. So if you are interested in keeping things like the type of bulbs you have in the harness that would be another concern. The original harness uses screw in bulbs.
Charley
 
I bought two wiring harnesses, one for a TR3A and one for a TR3B from Rhode Island Wiring. Excellent quality and accurate reproduction. They crimp and solder the bullets on, so I have not had any issues with poor electrical contact. They make their harnesses in house.
Robert
 
Wow, am I reading it correctly where Rhode Island Wiring is twice the price of the other suppliers for a TR3A harness?
 
I'm getting ready to re-wire my '58 TR3A, probably this winter, and my research has pointed me to British Wiring. If you want to completely modernize and don't care about "originality", you might want to look at Advanced Auto-Wire. They have a modern harness with more fuses and lots of relays. More expensive than British Wiring and the usual 3, but still a lot less than Rhode Island.

Bill
 
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