Morris Minor Owners Club

Having arisen from my medicinal stupor - what day is it? Thought I'd better post an update on the loom.

Decided to see how bad the damage really was. I cut the loom about a metre past the point where it goes under the car so that I could join it again, if I had to, if the loom could be repaired. That way, the repair would be invisible from above too Took the rear portion of the loom out of the car and onto the bench. Cue cup of tea. Stripped back the braiding to reveal wires and get a closer look at the damage. Basically, the wiring up to the point where the fuel gauge circuit goes of to the tank sender unit is fine. All the wires in the loom are separated and free with no sign of fusing/melting together. Wires at the point of cutting are also fine so this time I managed to stop the whole loom being affected by the short. Past this point, where the loom splits to go to the rear lights and tail light, the wiring is basically toast.

Having discovered this, I'm pretty sure I can now effect a complete repair without having to buy a new loom Relief all round - cue another cup of tea. Never really bought wire before so what spec should I look for? Will need green(white), green(red), green(purple), red and black.

At the same time I tested the switch and, as far as I can tell, it works as it should. No definitive evidence of a short circuit on the power side but will check more thoroughly once I have repaired the loom and fitted the necessary in-line fuses to protect the rest of the circuit.

I feel the evening cold symptoms coming on again so will now finish off the bottle of Islay Lagavulin 16 year old that a good friend bought me a couple of Christmases ago. See you in March

Full respect to the Lagavulin...very peaty - ideal for a 'cold' ! Just add a tiny raindrop of water in the glass.... Can you not salvage cable from one of the earlier looms ?

Not sure I have quite enough Roy. The original loom I took out when stripping the car was the original '59 and VERY tired. It's replacement - which burnt out in Italy took most of the wire I need with it as all the rear wire and indicators became one big morass and what I could salvage isn't quite long enough. I do have a 'new' series 2 loom I bought about 30 years ago and which the Lincolnshire mice enjoyed chewing through the braided outer but this loom has no circuit for the flashing indicators so I would still need to find that.

Maybe someone has a good secondhand rear loom - that you could strip out for the correct colour cables?

No need to worry now - I have just gone ahead and bought some new wire to the correct spec. Have bought much more than I need for this job and some other bits and bobs. Eighteen quid delivered is a whole lot more palatable than £250

Brucek,

Just noticed you are in Lincoln - have just booked a place with MG's on Track at Cadwell Park in April. Never driven it before, but see it is called the 'mini Nurburgring', so that should be an interesting comparison, as we have driven the 'real' one on a couple of occasions (in the Minor) as part of the MSA Euroclassic.

Cadwell is 'interesting' - never driven it - but have mechaniced there at Rallycross events many moons ago =-Works 4WD Minis in action etc....great fun - in the snow.... Well done buying the cable etc - can you tell us all where please??

Richard - Cadwell is an EXCELLENT circuit My Dad was a keen race and rally fan and, back in the day, was a marshal for Formula Vee/Super Vee/Ford/Clubmans etc. and Formula 3 when they held races at the circuit. As an equally keen 11/12 year old I would go with him. My job was to be a gofer between the paddock and pits during morning practice and then line the cars up on the grid in race order prior to the start (Health and Safety?? - nah - not a hi-viz in sight ) .In those days, Tiff Needell, Nigel Mansell, Derek Warwick, Martin Brundle et al were competing. My claim to fame??? being asked by the one and only - the late great Ayrton Senna to run back up the hill to the paddock to fetch him some anti-fog for his visor which he'd left behind and for which his mechanic weas too busy to fetch. Let me tell you - I FLEW up that hill REALLY would love to drive the real 'Ring' in my minor too.

Here's some video footage of the Lincs Branch 'Drive It Day 2013' trip to the HSCC Wolds Trophy meeting which I organised with the circuit. My convertible wasn't quite ready in time so I borrowed my good friend Roger Buck's black Traveller (again) - you can just see me running to it at the beginning of the clip 'cos we had lost our branch secretary and he would have been sooo disappointed if he'd missed the laps. Fortunately we found him and his wife just in time! We managed 3 parade laps but I was one car from the rear and slowing down as much as I could so I could get a run into the bends Fantasic fun. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaI54gFB-G4 Thanks to Mike Dean (theminorsite) for the upload.

Here's the link to the site Roy. http://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/p ... ategory/11

OK so here is my rear loom replacement kit all required wires and terminals ready to go. Insulation tape to bind the new wires together and loom tape to finish the job once built. Will need to get some proper crimpers for the brass bullets though

Bring on the weekend - and hopefully an end to "frying tonight" [frame][/frame]

Brucek,

Thanks for the insight into Cadwell - looking forward to it.

I would suggest soldering the brass bullets, they are not really designed to be crimped and can split/crack. With solder you can be sure of a good mechanical AND electrical connection.

...and a bit cheaper too looking at the price of the crimpers

Why didn't I see this earlier - it would have saved a lot of hassle [frame][/frame]

Well, it's taken a while - but am pleased to report that my car is now back on the road and, so far, all appears well. I repaired the damanged section of the loom myself and it only cost £20 in bits so happy with that. Next few days will be spent with the hood down and putting in some test miles to make sure all is properly fixed. Happy bunny tonight

A few shots taken today in Minster Yard at Lincoln Cathedral [frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

Just seen the post further up about crimping vs soldering of bullet connectors. They are designed to be crimped, even the brass ones. Soldering might create a good connection inside the bullet but the solder will wick up the copper wire, even by a few mm. This creates a brittle area which will fail over time. ANy professionally made loom will have every connection crimped.

Alex

I have some early Lucar bullets,I have never seen them crimped. The later 'wobbly/knobbly' bullets I guess could be crimped, what do I need to do crimping, is my £2.95 practical electronics magazine give-away from a few years back thin black multi-tool not up to the job(I note for stripping wire that 1mm bit too narrow-removes wire strands, 1.5mm too wide, strips the colour off the insulation. I am trying to get the Son's 1960 to some kind of original spec, though the 1964-> lights set up does not look out of place on a 1960 number plate.

Alex

Solder bullets are NOT suitable for crimping. Bullet connectors are available which are suitable but are described as such..

When soldering a bullet the tip is cleaned and heated quickly with a large soldering iron or solder pot .. the solder may be drawn back along the wire but not more than the approx 10mm length of the bullet there is therefore no brittle area...

Taupe

Taupe, I apologize. I should have said the BEST bullet connectors are crimped. This is on the grounds of reliability. I would use:

Bullets
http://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/p ... category/6

Crimp Tool
http://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/p ... ategory/87