Another of the plans that fell victim to the
everlasting restoration of this early TR7. In the spring of last year I
selected the
main harness that was going to be used for this car. But
then the parts car, I received from a friend late last year, intervened. And
the wiring from that car looked to be even better than the one I had chosen before. So over the weekend I spent some time in the shed
to check and compare the various wiring harnesses I had put aside for the ’76 car.
And after an hour or so I was left with these harnesses that got my approval.
Pictured above is the main harness (PKC 1946), engine
harness (RKC 5511), facia harness (RKC 4348), plus battery lead, battery earth and
rear screen earth. And finally two door harnesses (TKC 3831). Though only one
will be (partially) used as this car will get the early roof mounted interior
light. But the passenger door will get a map reading light. So that is a part
of the harness that will be used after some extra attention.
The gear box harness (UKC
9200) and the body harness (RKC
3630) are not shown above, as these have been prepared already. I even had
a go at cleaning the various connectors somewhere last year, but forgot to make
a mention here. For cleaning I used a solution of salt, dissolved in hot water
and cleaning vinegar. After leaving the connectors in this solution for 15 to 20 minutes they were rinsed of with clean water. And finally dried in the bathroom, being
the warmest and best vented room in the house!
Remains one final task before I commit myself
to changing this car’s wiring to the later layout. And that is to make the decision
if I am going to do a job I should have
done before painting the shell: Enlarging the hole in the firewall, through
which the main harness passes into the engine bay. On this early car the
diameter of the hole is approximately ø43mm:
But on the later cars from which I want to use
the wiring harnesses, this hole measures approximately ø62mm:
I had hoped to get away with “just” using the
earlier grommets for the passages through the bulkhead and into the front wing.
But removing one from an old loom intact has proved to be impossible without
butchering a complete loom. And with no guarantee that the grommets would survive
fitting it to a different harness. So I have decided to enlarge this hole. Remains
to find out how best to tackle this job. For that I will pick the brains of a
few friends as soon as possible!
Another looming challenge are the different
locations for the engine harness to exit the cabin. On the ’76 car this harness
passes through a hole in the transmission tunnel.
Where on the later cars the engine harness
passes through the bulkhead alongside the heater.
As these holes are pretty close together I hope
I can use the original one. Maybe I have to adapt the engine loom a little for
this. But that shouldn’t be too much of a challenge!
And to end this weekend I took my Defender out to play for a few hours in the snow, ice and mud!
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