Wiring looms

[Sidney'61]

This may sound like a silly question to some of you but what will I get with a new wiring loom?
As I've got to repaint the engine bay on Sidney I'm going to have to take out all of the wires (the remaining ones that havent already fallen out!) so I think I new wiring loom will be a good idea, but, what bits will I have to leave in and which bits will come with the loom ready to replace?

[bigginger]

The loom should include all the connectors, but hang on to all the double ended female bullet connector sleeves, and the bulb holders from the back of the speed. In fact, hang on to anything you can take off the old loom They're bound to be of better quality than what you can get these days...
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[aupickup]

yes and you may find that the new looms speedo holders are really poor quality, and so]meti[mes the bulbs do not go in, and also sometimes the holders fall out of the speedo sockets, so keep the old ones to wire in

[bigginger]

My point exactly My latest ones don't fit the holes - bleeping annoying...
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[aupickup]

so another crap item from suppliers

[bigginger]

Yup - at least I found out before I'd put it in the car. Lawks knows what else'll be wrong with it
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[les]

Well I did quite a bit of phoning around on this very subject, and found out that the speedo bulb holders are not original, and could not find a supplier of this type. I got to thinking that there were probably a few other undisclosed variations as well, so in the end I renovated the original loom. You know, it seems to me that the best way to get a decent product is to find original s/h and renovate. There is also a certain amount of satisfaction that way as well. Why do people make stuff that is almost the same as original but never quite? It may be a bit longer, a bit shorter, bent at the wrong angle, thinner or a slightly different radius!

[bigginger]

Be much easier if they simply didn't bother, and pointed out the necessity to keep the originals. I've had the same sort of 'slightly different' problems with bullet connectors before now too
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[Peetee]

You can make the job much quicker by cutting the existing wires an inch from each end and leaving the end on the consumer/switch/whatever. It makes connecting the right new wire much easier and any bullet sleeves you need are in the right place.

[bigginger]

'swot I did this time, and why I said "hang on to anything you can take off the old loom" to the OP
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[Sidney'61]

I tried to undo all of the wiring today, got most of it sorted except that big clump of wires behind the speedo, how do I undo the speedo so that I can pull it out and actually see where the wires lead to?

[bigginger]

A cross headed screw either side, access through the glove box liners (should be a hole there) and loosen - DON'T remove entirely, you'll lose it - then it pulls straight out, albeit with the drive cable connected, which can hinder things

[RogerRust]

Come on time to be honest has anyone ever managed to loosen the screws through the glove box liner holes?

I admit that I always have to remove the liner to do it! To facilitate this I only tighten the passenger side screw and leave the drivers side loose.

[bigginger]

Nope
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