Hi Mike.
I've never actually replaced a harness myself, although I do rememer the
wiring being completely redone on my B by a friend of my dad who was just an
electronics and the like guru.....
I've spent many hours chasing failing bits of electrics around what can only
be described as a tired set of wiring! When you're next trying to get one of
those lights working, have a look at the wire itself. Remember that copper is
supposed to be brown and shiny, and not dull and green! If you strip down the
insulation on a wire more than a few CM and are still finding dull looking
wiring, then you're nothing more than a servant of the Prince of Darkness...he
will appear before too long.
I looked at replacing the wiring harness on a car once, a job made doubly
entertaining by the fact it was a carbon fibre body!! I've no specific B
knowledge, as I was only a kid when it was done on mine, but I do know that if
its a lucas set of wiring, you can have such pleasures as brown with a green
stripe and also green with a brown stripe!! If you are planning to get a
purpose built kit then in theory it should be a case of as you remove one wire
you attach the other, but life is never going to be that simple. A wiring
diagram would be a good starting point, and then you can see if its a task you
'fancy' or not.
>From the symptoms you describe, along with the planned work you are going to
do to the car anyway, i'd say it probably makes good sense to replace the
wiring at some point. Bear in mind that nobody said this has to be something
to be done by you and you alone, and if you can find a friend who has done
something similar, even with a different sort of car, this could well be
invaluable. If you were removing the engine, you'd not consider this a one
person job and, likewise, I'd say the wiring, whilst being possible by one
person, is probably much more likely to get finished by two.
As I said, on my car, I just chased dim bulbs and stuff all over the car. I
had to sell the car in the end, but if I'd kept it, re-wiring would have been
pretty close to the top of my list of 'next things to do'
My advice would be to label absolutely everything. What you don't want is a
situation where you can't finish for whatever reason, and you also can't
return it to how it was. I imagine a circuit tester with REALLY long cables
might also be useful :)
I'd say go for it; it'll be hard work but the rewards of doing it will
(eventually ;) outweigh the hardship at the time.
best of luck
Chris
1963 MGB Roadster (complete with broken bolt being soaked in penetrating oil
by a mate on a regular basis!)
>===== Original Message From Michael Jose <mwjose@u.arizona.edu> =====
>Facing the prospect of running through most of the wiring on my 79 B to
>get it running again, I know that I can simply go through and clean
>grounds and look for corrosion, etc. but I still have many things wrong
>with the wiring.
>Has anyone out there completely replaced his wiring harness and simply
>gotten it right from the get-go?
>Is it a good investment to get rid of wiring problems forever as long as
>it's maintained, or is it just a lot of work and money for about equal
>performance?
>As I am planning to keep this car, and redo my brakes and possibly the
>clutch this summer, I don't mind putting in some effort to know that
>things are as they should be. Currently my clock, my courtesy light,
>the light in the boot, and a variety of other "small" things don't work.
>
>Please give me advice, war stories, or caveats before I go and spend a
>few c notes.
>mike jose
>79 b roadster
>arizona
>Ps- anyone know the best deal on wiring harnesses? email direct to avoid
>advertising to the list
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