tr7triumph.com

Popped into Halfrauds for an oil filter for my V8, on the way to the petrol station the car died completely, (400 yards from my house but a set of lights and two 90 degree bends away). Worse still, there was smoke in the cabin and burning odours, I lifted the bonnet and it was clear, I fumbled under the dash and it was clear, there was absolutely no melted wires, nut no electrics at all to anything.
After being barked at by a passing constabulary representative that I couldn't use the tow rope I was planning to use, illegal now apparently, I resorted to the AA membership card and they turned up within 20 minutes, decided to tow it to my house and set about it.
His words, "sort the wiring and you'll have a fantastic car"
The source of the problem was really quite scary, The positive feed from the boot to the front of the car has to travel through three bulkheads, two of them had grommets, but one of them had collapsed, and one hole had none. The collapsed grommet had chafed through and was shorted out through the body. Hence the smoke and the now destroyed battery.
My next job then is to widen the holes in the bulkheads and put some proper sized grommets on them, I also have to reroute the cable around the engine as it currently chafing on the steering column.
This is a voyage of discovery for me and it may be a while before I can trust the car over a distance, still, it looks great and goes like stink.[8D]
Calvin

I don't waste time with mere grommets I prefer to use proper cable gland fittings these days!


80'Triumph TR7, , 73'Land Rover (Ford 351. V8),
'89 Ford Fairlane
85'Alfa 90, 69'Ford F250.
76' Ford F100

Nice, where in England can we get those?
Calvin

Any electrical wholesaler or B&Q or Wickes should be able to supply these

A very good suggestion

Cheers

Ian


Ian Freeman
1979 TR8 DHC California car that never crossed the pond, started life as KDU 315V.
1962 Triumph Courier

Calvin - As you know I normally would love to gloat...

However, my car is at the auto electricians having the entire loom checked and all the ends remade etc. [V]

http://persistentworktriumphs.blogspot.com/

Tow rope should be fine for an 'emergency' recovery - the cops have a cheek..... You were lucky the battery didn't actually explode - and cover the boot area with acid. It may have destroyed the alternator too......

Simon, I am considering a new loom, for peace of mind really, I think I will be chasing someone else's mistakes otherwise, let me know how you get on.
As for the battery, I am lucky, and the alternator has been checked and is working. I consider myself quite fortunate. Calvin.

I did get a complete 2nd hand loom from Robsport - and handed that to the auto electrician along with a towbar, spare dash and various other spares.

They are going to remove the old loom completely, put the new one in and replace every connection as they go. Where possible they will improve the loom for the spotlights, stereo etc.

It's not going to be cheap, but hopefully it'll stop the annoying intermittent failures. I could have done a lot of the work myself, but late nights due to the day job and busy weekends meant this would have taken months.

Then it's only a new mohair hood and some minor bodywork tidying to go. (Fingers crossed).

http://persistentworktriumphs.blogspot.com/