As part of the on-going the re-assemble, I installed the restored grille,
parking and turn signal lights and the headlight buckets today and checked
out all the all the cars electrical functions with the new harness. I
installed these new Sylvania X-travision halogen sealed beams. They are
modern 55/60 watt units instead of the original 30 or 35 watt ones. I
found that when I drove at night I could not see well enough for safe
driving. It was a combination of old low wattage (and old guy) and dirty
contacts and grounds.
I was concerned about whether the old electrical components would carry the
load of the new sealed beams. I tested them by running the lights with a
separate battery using the new harness wires and tested for any signs of
warmth in the wires. Absolutely no reaction after 5 minutes on the high
setting. I had purchased two relays to rewire the circuit but I am so
sure I need them now.
I hooked everything up through the dash switch this time and still no
problem. Although I noticed the headlight-on position of the switch was
loose and intermittent. So without regard for good sense I decided to take
apart the light switch to see if I could fix it and to see if there was any
damage from the new stronger lights causing the problem.
WELL... 3 hours later I was still trying to figure the sucker out and how
to reassemble it. I cleaned all the contacts and finally got it back
together after at least 20 runs and it is working fine. It has this
elaborate setup that depends on these little springs that flop the contacts
back and forth. But... I would strongly recommend not going down this
path unless you have a spare switch or one on order. It would be very
easy to be caught in the "I can't get it back together" mode.
Do I need to wire in the relays or will the old switch and the new harness
carry the load.
Brian Sanborn
62 TR4 CT16260L - Groton, MA
My TR4 Restoration Web Site
http://www.net1plus.com/users/sanborn/Triumph.html (under construction)
E-Mail: sanborn@net1plus.com
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