After spending another couple of hours painstakingly extracting one wire, and replacing it with another, I have to seek catharsis in writing this blog entry. I am tortured about whether I have gone about this the right way or not, and scope creep is threatening to imprison me.
The story is simple, charging on the car has not been very clever despite the presence of an alternator. I replaced brushes and it was no better, even recognising that the conductor rings are groovier than Austin Powers. But, paying some attention to the wiring, I realised that it still used the original dynamo wires - good for 25A. Then, tracing it back, was able to delve into the darker orifices of the engine comparment and extract great coils of harness wrapped in oil-damped woven covers, joined with a motley selection of choc-blocks, insulated butts and scotchloks. The woven cloth cover rolled off the cables between my hands and revealed half-century old wiring, its insulation withered and cracking after the migration of plasticisers.
I have seen a GRP-bodied car burn and had no choice but to open the harness up and take a further look. I resolved to do just what was necessary in the engine compartment, extracting damaged or previously-repaired wires, replacing them one at a time. But I have just been sucked into what is now a full-scale reharnessing of the frontend.
Below, on the left, is what I have taken out (and replaced) so far. A prize to whoever guesses correctly the number of scotchloks and butts when the pile is complete. Because, as the current underdash shot shows, there seems to be more to do every day....
The story is simple, charging on the car has not been very clever despite the presence of an alternator. I replaced brushes and it was no better, even recognising that the conductor rings are groovier than Austin Powers. But, paying some attention to the wiring, I realised that it still used the original dynamo wires - good for 25A. Then, tracing it back, was able to delve into the darker orifices of the engine comparment and extract great coils of harness wrapped in oil-damped woven covers, joined with a motley selection of choc-blocks, insulated butts and scotchloks. The woven cloth cover rolled off the cables between my hands and revealed half-century old wiring, its insulation withered and cracking after the migration of plasticisers.
I have seen a GRP-bodied car burn and had no choice but to open the harness up and take a further look. I resolved to do just what was necessary in the engine compartment, extracting damaged or previously-repaired wires, replacing them one at a time. But I have just been sucked into what is now a full-scale reharnessing of the frontend.
Below, on the left, is what I have taken out (and replaced) so far. A prize to whoever guesses correctly the number of scotchloks and butts when the pile is complete. Because, as the current underdash shot shows, there seems to be more to do every day....
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