1972 Granada Mk1 coupe build - Still going... 14-10-2024

I'm amazed how bad the insulation is, I've pulled looms out of 60's cars stripped them and found the insulation to be perfect, even the stuff in my 80's range rover is perfect by comparisson.

As said above great progress and it will be worth it in the long run, left as it would just get so unreliable you would probably never want to use it.

Alex,
Whilst you have the interior out, is there any worth you looking at alternative front seats that don't require any power to move 'em?
Cannot help thinking that pulling a lever or two wouldn't be better than waiting in the rain for the seat to power forward, then back, before you're even seated.
As you have Passat seats installed I followed the blood line and spied that Scirocco (and Eos) seats are remarkably similar in shape and pattern; Dependant on the runners being swapable - but just as importantly, can be folded forward in an instance - think they may also be heated: if you like that sort of sensation!

So, another little update on the Granada…

I had big plans at the start of this weekend, but I didn’t get anywhere near as far as I had liked, although a major move forward was made…

The weekend was such a blur in a way that I can’t even fully remember why I didn’t really get anything done on Friday other than send out some inquiries into the last of the pins I’d like to have. I also pursued a specific type of pin I’d need for the first bit of Granada loom at a local-ish shop, so I could get stuck in, but struck out so ordered it online after all. I think that sort of blocked me mentally from seeing anything useful to do on the car until I had that pin. In the afternoon I had to take my son to a study fair, to see what kind of education he’d like to pursue after his current (high)school. As it would be hard to do anything useful really afterwards, I opted to watch Netflix with the wife. A bit of us time, lol. Started off the Dahmer series…

On the Saturday I had quite a bit of “James” duties and some small errands to run. It seems to always be like that. I received that one type of pin (although to make the shipping worthwhile I obviously also bought more stuff like battery cable for both positive and negative terminals) reasonably early in the afternoon. Late afternoon I found just enough time to de-pin the EEC-V connector of its 70 pins. Quite fiddly without proper tools, but I managed. I also organized my materials in preparation for using them. Sorted all my connectors, crimps, shrink wraps and wires.
I believe I had a bit of a fiddle with the first bits of loom to make in the evening while getting on with Dahmer. I had cut the old connectors from the car to remake the correct new section. I was very happy that my crimper seemed to crimp these connector crips very solidly. I could definitely not pull them apart. I was also happy that joining two wires in one crimp worked out fine as well. This would make for a much neater way of hooking up some of the BOB wiring.
This section was to replace the burned bit of original wiring. It originated from the ignition switch and had a link to the column stalk, but it’s also where two Bob wires are to be connected. They now have a decent two-way connector instead of a collection of bullet connectors that proved not too successful in staying crimped to the wire as I found out a bit later (I had had my suspicions before on this very crimp). Happy that this all seemed to work out as desired the focus went more to Dahmer…
















Sunday I finally made some real progress. After an initial distraction having to fix the brakes on my son’s bike, I just had more time without interruptions to deal with the car. So having made the first bit of loom the day before I now had to crimp on the terminals for the female end of the connector. This was an in dash in the car situation so less accessible but turned out to be pretty doable. I had four perfect crimps in the right size terminal and it all fit together nicely. I even managed to put all the pins in the right places not cross connecting things! On to the next bit then and again a four point connector to make. It was getting more and more routine and bits of this one could be made on the bench. So far so good.

Now the last bit to get done to repair the loom damage in the car was to remove the remains of the wiring on the ignition switch and replace with the new loom connections. Should be easy right, well it wasn’t. First off my soldering irons both had trouble getting the solder on the ignition switch to melt. I started on the thinnest wire, on my back in the car. They were pretty big blobs, but still. I got that one off finally. Laying on my back I saw two neat little screws that seemed to keep the ignition switch in place. Undoing them meant I could take the switch out and work on the bench. Much more convenient. Then when I did get the old wires unsoldered I noticed that they were considerably thinner than I had expected. I had based my wire thicknesses on the newer 90ies loom section, but apparently in the seventies insulation was much thicker as the inner cores were much thinner then expected. The ignition switch had eyelets but my new wires would obviously not fit being thicker. Drilling them out would leave little to no material. Next tinning the ends of my thicker wires proved challenging as well, balancing the heat required to not melting the insulation. A theme that carried over to actually soldering the wires to the eyelets. It all worked out in the end with patience, but it was a lot more hassle.



















With the ignition switch replaced and the looms connected up I felt I was at a point where I could in theory test the original Granada wiring. Nothing dangerous was exposed. So I plugged in the switches, screwed back all ground connections I’d undone. I reinstated the negative battery cable by making the connections to the body and engine (as it wouldn’t be started I just used my newly added quick access ground point) and then I put the battery back in….

Being careful, I asked my boy to come help me. He’d be tasked with watching for magic smoke escaping and for turning the key and pressing the various pedals and switches for the test. A bit apprehensive but also supported by the fact I had not found any other damaged wiring anywhere on the visible parts of the loom I hooked the battery back up. No magic smoke. Ignition position one, no magic smoke. Ignition two, no magic smoke. City lights on, ok. Main lights on, ok. Indicators left and right, ok… Testing most systems, only one fog light seems to be dead. But is this a bulb issue or a wiring issue (or possible the main relay), that will need to be checked. And I forgot the heater… Dinner was ready and I quickly had to stow the seat and dash bits in the car again and hoist it back into its place.

Anyway, this is all promising!

I hope to hear some more on the last pins this week. If I can’t get them I’ll have to join the ends of the current bits.

Can anyone on here, perhaps kevins, help me find the partnumber from ford for the pins in the C110 connector as shown (from the scorpio cosworth 1995-)? My source has similar but without partno. he's not sure...

If you have to wait for the correct ends, can you not make the new cables 50mm too long and use the original ends until the new ones arrive ??
Then you'll still have enough cable to cut the old ones out and replace with the new,
Nigel

Quick question. Three of the EDIS wires are originally shielded. I've obviously bought the right color wires but these equally obviously do not have any shielding.

Is there an easy and affordable way of applying shielding? This shielding is actually connected to earth in itself.

Any wisdom on here?

Good question, not quite sure of the answer as, like you say, only the non twisted ends are visible. I'll have to strip some of the original shielding. The wires' insulation is cracked right up to where they all disappear inside the shielded bit.

I'd like to try and not buy a different wire. Trying to keep it all color correct as much as possible and I already have the wires. But if need be...

So we're a couple of weeks on from my last update here. With many a side step into other honey do’s and appointments I’m still running wires…

I’d gotten to the point that I had the full ecu wired up to the connector ends. From there I decided to go connector by connector to fill in the missing wires that didn’t have a direct relation to the ecu. These are usually of the type that go from one connector directly to another or go to ground or power.

In doing so I came across some dubiously documented wires. It all made sense when I wrote it down, and it wasn’t wrong, just confusing when it came to the rebuild. It just didn’t seem logical. For instance: a connector of 0.25mm2 wires that would seem to connect to a 2.0mm2 wire in my registration. But when looking at the connector you’d only see the 0.25mm2 wire. Turns out these type of issues occur where these wires join a junction. You basically have a bigger 12v feed to said junction and 5 other wires take off from here. Including the thin one. But I used the least likely connector as the target in my registration.
Anyway, those types of issues take time. I’ve had to double back a couple of times to verify my work just because I found something weird in my registration. But in the end it seems I’ve done everything right so far, there are just some things to be mindful of when it comes to actually adding the connectors, crimping them.

So where am I now? Well, 30 wires away from completing the loom and 29 away from a meltdown. After adding the final wires I’ll be ready to add the connectors. I’ve found and ordered most of the pins I should need. Not all unfortunately, but fortunately those are mostly located in the bit/connectors between the new loom and the “ end user” like dash gauges or PATS reader. Bits that are still fine, that I’ll only rework if necessary for a nicer fit. All the major signal and power and ground carrying wires will have new pins on both ends. I’m expecting them any day now. So I should be done in a week or two.

My goal is to end up with a loom that is partially wrapped so it stays in the right shape and can be fitted for a test. I’ll hook it all up and then pray to whatever entity I need to prevent another meltdown and hope for a smooth fire up of the engine. From day one, the engine has always been good at starting so I hope it will do so after my intervention. In essence I’ve only been remaking what a friend made for me years ago… But the fact I still have no real clue why the ground wires burnt in the first place casts some doubts…

Honestly though, the past weeks it has become more and more difficult to work on the wires. Wet weather preventing me from making enough room in the garage meant working on the dinner table, but slower going. The afore mentioned issues in the registration and the extra checks did nothing for my mental state. Sometimes I felt I was going crazy going in circles checking checks I had just made. The fact it usually had to be done in short stints due to other commitments didn’t help either. The sheer amount of work left felt like a mountain to climb. The fun of it all had begun to make way for a need. I didn’t want to do this job anymore I simply needed to do this job. Like it or not. And I’ve been in an or not period of late. The realization I’m only 30 wires from completion and then a good session of crimping and fitting pins to connectors and soldering or crimping in the bits left came just in time.

So coming weekend I hope to finish the loom. Spending the next week or so crimping pins and transitioning the connectors I cannot re-pin. Then I can work my way to the test run. If successful the loom can be wrapped, the other systems plumbed in again, front end put back together and the interior as well. So still a good bit of work left, but at least there’s some hope I’ll have the car back together again before year end.

Now one thing I’d like is to find someone who can help me with some cad drawing and 3d printing…

Thanks for the support...

Yes, wherever possible I have used a thicker gauge wire for 12v and earth wites. And obviously I'm making very sure my earth points are clean and proper.