Fri, 21 Mar 1997 Nolan Penney wrote:
<< If you've got the time and ability to spice in pieces from other harness',
I'd
<< say youve got the time to make your own as well. In fact, in my
experience,
<< making your own will save you time over trying to assemble one out of
several
<< pieces, especially when at least one of them is all screwed up. I've
rewired
<< quite a number of motorcycles front to rear over the years. It's really
not a
<< difficult job to do. Spitfires have a very similar harness in that it is
very
<< basic and accessable. I'd say get thee to a parts store for spools of
various
<< color wires and a booklet of wire tabs, and do the job. Start to finish
will
<< probably take you less then a day. Vs, several days trying to put
together a
<< new harness from bits and pieces.
Nolan:
If you can wire a Spit in less than one day, you are one hell of a man. I'm
not saying you can't, mind you, I'm just saying I sure can't! To do that, you
would not only have to be a very fast worker, but you would also have to know
the wiring of the car like the back of your hand. If you can, I sure envy
you.
I agree whole heartedly that it is better to get or make a new harness than
trying to patch up old ones. If you patch them up now, you can be sure you
will be patching them up as long as you own the car - which might be only til
the first fire!. Besides, it takes a lot more knowledge to splice one than it
does to do it from scratch.
I would not recommend going to a parts store for wire. They only stock about
4-5 colors, and there are at least 50 different colors used on a Spit (at
least on my TR6 and MGB there are). Troubleshooting later on would be a real
chore. I would contact:
British Wiring,
20449 Ithaca,
Olympia Fields, Ill 60461
708-481-9050
They stock a complete selection of the proper colors and sizes of wire for
british cars, and I think they may even have harnesses for Spits. The only
problem is that wire is special ordered from England, and may take a while to
get if they don't have it in stock.
For most people, if they don't have a strong electrical background, I would
recommend buying a complete harness. While it is possible to rewire a car
without a deep knowledge of wiring, Too much time will be spent wondering and
worrying if it has been done correctly or not (this wire looks like it goes
here, but I can't be sure, maybe it goes there?). This can lead to extreme
frustration, maybe even causing cancellation of the project.
Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN
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