[TR] tr3a tail light wiring

[Andrew S. Mace]

 Extra ground wires can't hurt. But one reason why there is provision on those
lamp units for a separate ground connection is that the L549 lamp was used on
a wide variety of British cars in the 1950s and early 1960s as original
equipment and for accessory/updated lighting as well. Some of the cars they
were used on had fiberglass bodies, so the lamp unit wouldn't ground simply
through a mounting screw to the body. Others had the lamp units mounted on
plinths that, in turn, mounted to the car body, and the plinth alone might not
provide sufficient ground (particularly if made of a pot metal or
plastic/fiberglass).



--Andy Mace

*Mrs Irrelevant: Oh, is it a jet?
*Man: Well, no ... It's not so much of a jet, it's more your, er, Triumph
Herald engine with wings.
-- Cut-price Airlines Sketch, Monty Python's Flying Circus (22)

Triumph 10 / Herald / Sports 6 vehicle consultant, The Vintage Triumph
Register: http://www.vtr.org

Check out the North American Triumph Sports 6 (Vitesse 6) and Triumph Herald
Database: http://triumph-herald.us




-----Original Message-----
From: George <geomurphy at windstream.net>


I have started to install all new tail light hardware on my tr3a.  I find
that each light fixture has a place to attach a bullet end ground wire.  My
new wiring harness does not have a ground wire for these lights and the
wiring diagram I have does not show an actual wire going to a ground.  I
assume that all are grounded through the screws that attach the fixture to
the body.  The hardware that I removed did not have ground wires.  The
question is;  Should I run a ground wire to each light?  Why is there a
place on the fixture to ground it if it was not supposed to be used?