Well, it could have been worse, but I took the Midge out for a little
shake down run the other night just to be sure it would be ready for a
three day trip ove the 4th of July weekend. I was thrilled that the car
had never run so well, the temperature was fine and all was smooth
sailing.
Then, the headlights dimmed, the cockpit filled with smoke and a fire
broke out under the dash! I got it stopped at the side of the road and
smothered the fire with a towel (thank goodness it was there, because the
trunk was locked and that's where the extinguisher is -- I didn't want to
waste a second).
Apparently, the center bundle of wires that houses the guage lights, fuel
guage wires, headlights, etc... was scorched. I performed laborious
surgery by cutting back the remaining braided sheath and re-wiring
everything that had been burned.
However, it's a no-go. No lights, no starting, no juice, no guages, no
nothing. I assume at this point I'll need to replace the whole harness.
Also, I hotwired the starter to see if it would turn over and it sounded
awful and spat out copious sparks. I guess it's dead too.
Any advice -- besides dringking lots of homebrew after giving up (I
managed that one already). Please let me know what diagnostic steps to
take with any ancillary equipment. The guages look fine, only the
harness burned. Also, could my regulator have bitten the dust? What
about my coil and condenser. Are they toast too. Please let me know
what I should do.
Thanks in advance!
Andy Ramm
'67 Midget Mk III -- Toasty
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