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As they are not desperately expensive, I grabbed a new wiper switch from the interwebs and fitted it, which was all straightforward - 3 bolts. The only difficult bit was getting the two plugs to line up. It took significant time due to the pins in the male part of the plug not quite lining up. Eventually, it played ball. I then decided that I would replace the temporary big fuse. Tink had put in a spare from his stock (which he wanted back), and as it was only in there as a bit of borrowed equipment, he'd used a chocolate block to chuck it in. Horrible things. On removing it from the wiring loom, there was a problem. It was black. Not green and slightly flaky, but black. I hoped that it would just be a couple of inches' worth, but stripping back the wiring loom showed that it was likely that I would need to replace the whole lot. Joy. I don't have any wire that thick in stock so I've ordered a couple of metres of new stuff. I've shut the garage door and walked away. I don't like wiring at the best of times, but this loom is trying my patience. Grrr. New wiper switch, in a proper Prince of Darkness box...  The problematic plug that took some time line up. Pins kept moving!  Ah. This should not be that colour....  Further investigation revealed more of the same. Garage door was shut after this.  |
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Went out to the garage to deal with the not very fun job of removing the bad wire, in order to replace it with something that will actually conduct. This was fiddly - why? I had to extract it from the wiring loom which was all taped up. This ran only for a short part in the engine bay - the rest of this was under the driver's side wheelarch. After several minutes of slightly bad language and struggling, this then escalated to seriously bad language. I jacked up the car, and took the wheel off which did help a little bit. After what seemed to be about 5 hours* of it fighting me, the tape was off, and I was able to remove the offending wire. It was about a metre long, and there was a soldered join about halfway down. I decided that I would remove the insulation to see how bad it was. The other half past the joint toward the fuse box was ok. Past the join? Oh dear. I shall let the pictures do the talking. I am now waiting to see if Tink has any spare the same size, or if not, what size I should be using to replace it. Like I have said on many occasions - I am not an electrics kind of guy. Don't know if this wire is correct or what size it should be. It's at times like this I feel a bit helpless - bolting stuff together? No problem. Putting a new fuel pump on, yup, not an issue. Electrical stuff? I am totally lost. It's such a shame that Tink has so little spare time... I shall have to pick his brains over the phone. * it took about 45 minutes...Got the wire out and chucked it on the bench.  This is NOT copper-coloured. That ain't conducting like it should. New wire DEFINITELY needed.  |
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jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,219 
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Solder joints like that on main power cables aren't a good idea (certainly not a method I've ever used in my job)
The commonest reasons for copper cable going black like that are moisture and/or overheating.
If that's the main battery lead you may want to consider increasing it's size (i.e. bigger csa) to eliminate any chance of overheating (bear in mind that main earth return to the battery should be the same size.) Is the battery in the engine compartment or the boot ? If it's not near the engine, then that would be another reason to increase the cable size as voltage drop can come into play.
Does the cable have any markings on it to indicate size ? If not you can measure the overall dia (including insulation) and get a rough idea from that. A 35 sq.mm cable is normally around 12 - 13mm dia.
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Last Edit: Nov 7, 2024 20:15:35 GMT by jimi
Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
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Solder joints like that on main power cables aren't a good idea (certainly not a method I've ever used in my job) The commonest reasons for copper cable going black like that are moisture and/or overheating. If that's the main battery lead you may want to consider increasing it's size (i.e. bigger csa) to eliminate any chance of overheating (bear in mind that main earth return to the battery should be the same size.) Is the battery in the engine compartment or the boot ? If it's not near the engine, then that would be another reason to increase the cable size as voltage drop can come into play. Does the cable have any markings on it to indicate size ? If not you can measure the overall dia (including insulation) and get a rough idea from that. A 35 sq.mm cable is normally around 12 - 13mm dia. Hi jimi It's not a main power cable, no - just a live feed. We need a cable to cope with 30 amps (that's what the inline fuse is) so I have acquired some 33amp cable to go in (brand new). I don't know whether the cable that was used was already there (likely given the amount of issues this car has thrown up since I started tearing it to bits and putting it back together), or whether Tink just used it as a temporary measure - it was after all connected to a "chocolate block" which he personally HATES! However, given that it had sat in a front garden for 11 years before I bought it, my guess is that is where the damp came from! The battery is in the engine bay; I have decent sized and new cables of about 12mm diameter, so this shouldn't cause any problems. I'm getting there - I just don't like wiring because I don't understand it much, and the way my mind works, I HAVE to be certain I am doing it right... Thank you for you assistance - it's greatly appreciated! |
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jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,219
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Sounds like you have it all in hand  11 years in a garden would certainly account for the cable damage, from the looks of it damp has worked its way down the cable from one end by capiliary action. That joint has probably been there for years hidden away in the loom, good that it's found and replaced. |
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Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
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spacekadett
Part of things
F*cking take that Hans Brrix!!
Posts: 838
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Great progress as usual. You have my sympathies dealing with the wiring, having attempted to sort out various issues we had with our McCoy kit car. I intended to tidy up the wiring behind the dashboard. Having spent an afternoon trying to fathom how the builder had wired it I decided to put it back together and just accept that it worked 😂
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Mechanic's rule #1... If the car works, anything left on the floor after you finished wasn't needed in the first place  |
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Great progress as usual. You have my sympathies dealing with the wiring, having attempted to sort out various issues we had with our McCoy kit car. I intended to tidy up the wiring behind the dashboard. Having spent an afternoon trying to fathom how the builder had wired it I decided to put it back together and just accept that it worked 😂 Thank you! I don't understand wiring at the best of times, so have to have any instructions written down with careful step by step directives! Did you see my recent post in the Abandoned thread? Found a McCoy (I think!). |
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With all the old wire thankfully binned, I moved on to sorting its replacement. Tink suggested putting 2 wires in, as it'd be useful for any additional items needed and much easier to splice in. I soldered them together, added a ring terminal and some heatshrink, then taped the two wires together. I've fed this back through the hole in the inner wing, but have yet to tape things together and properly clip the wiring in place. This will be done soon. I needed to find somewhere for the fuse to go. It has two very helpful holes mounted in it. I would have used the inner wing, but the Midas has a very tight engine bay. I couldn't easily put it on the inner wing as somebody had put a big bracket with two horns there instead. I also wanted it to be easily accessible if needed. Under the horns is quite a far way from accessible! I settled on using the crossmember that the master cylinders sit on as there was a convenient space for it there. Two holes, two screws, done. I need to do some tidying to the wiring and pop on some P clips to secure it. Then that area should be finished for now. This car is SO good at making simple jobs into difficult ones... New wires soldered on to ring terminal and added to fuse holder.  A convenient home was found for the fuse holder on the crossmember by the master cylinders.  And all in place (wiring still to be tidied and taped).  |
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spacekadett
Part of things
F*cking take that Hans Brrix!!
Posts: 838
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Great progress as usual. You have my sympathies dealing with the wiring, having attempted to sort out various issues we had with our McCoy kit car. I intended to tidy up the wiring behind the dashboard. Having spent an afternoon trying to fathom how the builder had wired it I decided to put it back together and just accept that it worked 😂 Thank you! I don't understand wiring at the best of times, so have to have any instructions written down with careful step by step directives! Did you see my recent post in the Abandoned thread? Found a McCoy (I think!). I’ve just had a look and that’s definitely a McCoy. Ours didn’t have the 80’s tastic skirts and bits but it looks identical to the other one the guy we bought ours from had ( which had a MG Metro turbo engine in). That one rings a vague bell that I saw it on a hoarder type program a year or three ago. My ears pricked up as it was relatively local and I was like WHOA! A Whizzkid! And a McCoy!! 😂 Mrs was nowhere near as impressed, but did have to concede that, on reflection our place ain’t that bad 🤣  |
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Mechanic's rule #1... If the car works, anything left on the floor after you finished wasn't needed in the first place |
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Thank you! I don't understand wiring at the best of times, so have to have any instructions written down with careful step by step directives! Did you see my recent post in the Abandoned thread? Found a McCoy (I think!). I’ve just had a look and that’s definitely a McCoy. Ours didn’t have the 80’s tastic skirts and bits but it looks identical to the other one the guy we bought ours from had ( which had a MG Metro turbo engine in). That one rings a vague bell that I saw it on a hoarder type program a year or three ago. My ears pricked up as it was relatively local and I was like WHOA! A Whizzkid! And a McCoy!! 😂 Mrs was nowhere near as impressed, but did have to concede that, on reflection our place ain’t that bad 🤣 That Whizzkid in the photo is the better of the two. Parts cars only unless you're super-brave/a bit silly. If I had the space I might enquire about the McCoy, but I already have an A series fibreglass car causing me issues. |
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Nov 10, 2024 20:24:08 GMT
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Another quick update. I did some tidying up under the wheelarch - I have re-wrapped the wiring loom with black PVC tape so it's not just a load of random wires hanging down. I was planning on not doing much else, but I was looking at the negative terminal and a couple of the ring terminals from the earth wires were crimped. "Well, this just won't do", I thought, and immediately removed them. I got some heat shrink and some new terminals, and a bit of solder. These have now been correctly attached without the space issues. There are 4 ring terminals so space is at a premium - much like everything in that engine bay. However, it all looks much tidier. I changed the bolt as well, as the original was a bit short. I am much happier with the way this now looks. Small steps, but good ones. My cheapie heat gun though is rubbish - plug it in and it's now permanently on - must be a switch issue. I will have to investigate... Ring terminals re-done with heat shrink.  And all bolted up. Tidy.  |
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