1970 s2 0453R Reassembly

[Certified Lotus]

Went through the same rebuild as you Dakazman. Use plenty of lubricating grease during your reassembly (the red type that you can use with brake fluid).

[dakazman]

 Thanks certified will do.

Started on the wiring harness and dash separation and rebuilding another heater unit .
Oh what fun finding all the p.o’s debacles, I cannot even call them repairs. I’m also building a
Harness layout board so to build harnesses, at least for an s2 federal.

[Certified Lotus]

British Wiring sells a new harness for $580.  I have bought harnesses from them before (as well as visiting their shop). They are extremely well made and you will be hard pressed to match the quality and have all the right connectors.

[dakazman]

That will be a nice profit then. I counted 20 or so different colors I need to purchase. Normally I deal in one or two. I’m a little picky when it comes to wires.
Dakazman

[Certified Lotus]

Ah yes, I had forgotten what you did for a living. Nice work. Your certainly well qualified to build your own harness! Looking forward to the updates.

[jbcollier]

At one time some French cars used only white wire with identifying numbers printed at each end.  It worked but the numbers tended to fade and disappear over time which made electrical troubleshooting a more involved process on a 15 year old car.  I prefer systems where wire colours and stripes identify specific circuits.  On a British car, green is a fused ignition feed and green with a white stripe a turn signal feed.  Makes troubleshooting pretty easy.

[BDA]

Lucas did us all a huge favor with their wiring color standard. As JB says, if you only preserve the green/white/brown/black part of it you will be miles ahead when troubleshooting.

I helped a friend with a Caterham with an electrical issue (you know he was scraping the bottom of the barrel when he called me!) and the PO had apparently felt it necessary to replace half the wires in the front of the car with red wires. It was a mess and much harder to find out what the problem was. We looked at a rear turn signal and the lamp was grounded with a green wire! Unfortunately, Caterham doesn't publish a wiring diagram. He really needs to rewire the entire car with the proper colored wires!

[dakazman]

 JB ,and BDA,
I will repair with correct color coding entire length.

 I agree, aircraft wiring is labeled every  6” with the wiring numbers,  impractical and to costly for
Cars. Color coding works well is this application.
But some people should not work on wiring! See pictures. My favorite was the red to white to blue repair, and the termination around the fuse.  I can send about 12 more what not to do photo ‘soft more amusement later.This harness is in the condition that I purchased the car 25 years ago for $1,000.
Dakazman

[jbcollier]

+ 1,000,000%

My best how-not-to-repair-wiring story:

Some how a local Toyota dealer briefly was also a Rolls Royce dealer.  An 80s Shadow came in with a rhythmic clicking under the dash.  The "mechanic" found the problem removed the noisy item and bypassed it by joining the two wires together.  Well, it was a self-resetting circuit breaker -- i.e.:a very expensive fuse.  The car got 500 metres down the road and burst into flames, total loss.

I have lost count of how many times well-meaning owners have hooked up their jumper cables or batteries backwards.

[Bainford]

Some how a local Toyota dealer briefly was also a Rolls Royce dealer. 

Well, at least we know how it ceased to be a Rolls Royce dealer

[dakazman]

JB, great story, I almost thought you were joking.

Bainford, Lol, like your humor.

Dakazman

[surfguitar58]

I would love to see a wire harness drawing (schedule of wiring?) that shows the actual gauge, length and routing of each wire the for the Fed TCS (or any Europa, for that matter). The schematic only gets you part way there. I sorted my wiring to the point that the essentials work and I can get my MA inspection sticker, but there are still dead-ended wires hanging everywhere.

My favorite car electrical story is the guy who used a .22 caliber bullet in his under dash fuse block. (Fits perfectly, btw.) This was reported in the Darwin Awards. He didn't kill himself, but he did take himself out of the gene pool, if you know what I mean, thus securing his place in the annals of Darwinism.

Tom

[Bainford]

British Wiring sells a new harness for $580.  I have bought harnesses from them before (as well as visiting their shop). They are extremely well made and you will be hard pressed to match the quality and have all the right connectors.

Are these harnesses an exact replica of the OEM, including wire gauge? Presumably they are made to order; can 'one gauge larger' be specified?

I suppose these are questions I should ask British Wiring directly. When I eventually tackle the job of upgrading/improving my electrical system I think I would like to 'up-size' the wire gauge in some parts of the circuit for a little piece of mind. Perhaps it isn't necessary to do so, but I occasionally wonder if some parts of the system utilises marginal sized wiring for the task at hand, given some of the other weak points in the electrical system.

[Certified Lotus]

British Wiring asks if you uprated your alternator, starter, etc so they can supply the proper gauge wire in the harness. They will custom make anything you like (for a price).

[dakazman]

 I’m so glad I decided to inspect the complete harness. Completed the tear down and marked all breakouts, flagged the concerns, and did some preliminary cost assessment and I’am finding out for what certified stated is well worth it .
   I am identifying some buried wire runs, cut and hanging  runs.

A big , Thank You for the color coded schematic of the federal S2.
Dakazman