Just a couple of additional comments about olde englishe car wiring:
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One of the sources of the oversized myth about the unreliability of
brit-car wiring, is the insulation (or lack thereof) on the wiring
in many old (pre 1960) Brit-cars. Many makers in those days used wire
with "natural" rubber insulation. Those were the days of the twilight
of empire and there were still lots of plantations full of rubber trees.
Time and heat is not kind to real rubber. I had a couple of late '50s
Jags. The insulation had become so dry and brittle that any flexing
or movement of the harness caused insulation to fly like shrapnel and
furlongs of bare wire to short circuit. (Thank god Triumph changed to
modern insulation fairly early) I would not be surprised if an MGTD
had this kind of problem. Running a modern wire to the head lamps may be
fine, but be careful about any splicing into the old harness. If you
install new wires or a new harness, make sure you use proper connectors.
If soldering is required use an iorn with enough heat to make the solder
flow on the parts so they look wet. Nice new clean wire is easy to solder.
It is offen hard to get old wire clean enough to wet well with solder.
NEVER use acid or acid-core solder, use flux-core. If you have to splice
into old type wiring, consider using solderless (crimp-on) connecters.
If you haven't done this kind of thing befor, try to find some one nearby
with experiance to advise and look over your shoulder from time to time.
good luck/dickn
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