Let the wiring begin

[mongoswede]

So I have this 109 sitting quietly in my garage. it runs and drives but needs a lot of work. Its solid enough to play with but rough around the edges. I've had it for sale for a while but I removed all the wiring as it was beyond bad. I am going to rewire it over the winter so I can drive it and maybe make it a little easier to sell. I also need a template for the harness that will go into my 73 SIII. So I ordered about 2500 feet of SXL wire in 14,16, and 18 gage along with a good fuse panel from Waytek Today. The min order on length is 250 foot spools...hence why I have so much. Considering I need to wire up at least 2 rovers and a Saab rally car I won't have trouble using it. Total cost for this order was about $280.

:thumb-up:

[TeriAnn]

So I ordered about 2500 feet of SXL wire in 14,16, and 18 gage along with a good fuse panel from Waytek Today.

Not all in one colour is it? You ARE going to follow the Lucas wire use colour code ... right? If not your rewiring may make the truck even harder to sell.

http://www.tjwakeman.net/1dancing_santas.gifhttp://www.tjwakeman.net/1dancing_santas.gifhttp://www.tjwakeman.net/1dancing_santas.gif

[mongoswede]

Not all in one colour is it? You ARE going to follow the Lucas wire use colour code ... right? If not your rewiring may make the truck even harder to sell.

http://www.tjwakeman.net/1dancing_santas.gifhttp://www.tjwakeman.net/1dancing_santas.gifhttp://www.tjwakeman.net/1dancing_santas.gif

I have about 6 colors to start with (black, red, green, blue, white, gray, brown too). My goal is to make the truck work with proper modern circuitry. Not sure if I'll bother following stock rover colors but there will be wiring diagrams and labeling as needed. The harness that was in it was so butchered it was impossible to tell what anything did...mostly because nothing actually did what it was supposed to. I have a full autosparks replica harness but it annoyed me too much and I want a truck with more than 2 or 3 fuses :D

As far as sellability....well if the truck runs and drives and all the circuits work as they are supposed to then it will be 100% better then it is now. The supplier I get the wire through has a min order of 250ft. After looking around a bit I found they had very good prices so i don't mind having the extra wire. If someone else is interested in wire I am willing to split up an order and buying more colors to match a lucas wiring scheme will be easier.

[SafeAirOne]

Eh. Aircraft wiring is often color coded. It's an easy code too: White. That's it.

All you need to do is label each end using a Dymo label printer on heat shrink wire label tubing: http://sites.dymo.com/solutions/pages/Labels.aspx?cid=1025(DYMO)&SegId=Office(DYMO_US1)&gid=1005(DYMO)&Stype=solution

[westcoastkevin]

Mongoswede,
Where did you buy your wire?
Kevin

[mongoswede]

Mongoswede,
Where did you buy your wire?
Kevin

waytek
http://order.waytekwire.com/cgi-bin/lansaweb?procfun+wordpr01+webfunc+M50+FUNCPARMS+WE BCMP(S0020):01+WEBID(S0020):01

I am open to suggestions for other locations. Just have good luck from waytek. The only local place is radio shack and they are not so good.

[Walker]

Has any one tried British Wiring (britishwiring.com)? I understand they have the correct color coded wire for most Brit. vehicles. There is also Rhode Island Wiring that will build up a complete loom. I've no experience with either firm but will be doing the same project on both the '72 S3 and the '71 MGB-GT.

Art

[SafeAirOne]

Has any one tried British Wiring (britishwiring.com)?


Sure. Lots of folks have bought wire by the foot from BW. I made a new harness for my 2.5 using their wire. Don't quote me, but I think they also sell full harnesses for Series Rovers.

[albersj51]

Sure. Lots of folks have bought wire by the foot from BW. I made a new harness for my 2.5 using their wire. Don't quote me, but I think they also sell full harnesses for Series Rovers.

They do. Just call them up, give them your trucks specs and they'll quote you a price on a full series loom.

I plan to use EZ wirings 21 circuit mini-fuse universal harness.

[4flattires]

Has any one tried British Wiring (britishwiring.com)...

Yep, enjoyed replicating OE colors, gauges, and connectors on my 88. Their vinyl tubing (but not shrink tubing) is great for matching the OE Rover coverings. I've used that on non-British wiring projects as well.

:thumb-up:

[TeriAnn]

I have about 6 colors to start with (black, red, green, blue, white, gray, brown too).

Black = ground connections

red = tail lights, instrument lights & side lights on the newer Series rigs.

solid green = Ignition controlled wiring for auxiliary devices, switched 12V to individual wiper motors, switched 12V to brake light switch, switched 12V to the flasher unit.

Solid blue = the wire from the light switch to the dimmer switch. Hardly any solid blue is used. Blue/while is high beam wiring & blue red is low beam wiring.

White = power to the ignition coil and power to an electric fuel pump if used. Again hardly any solid white wires are used.

Gray isn't a colour normally seen in SI or SII trucks.

Brown = main feed from battery with now switches or fuses.

If you use the British standard colour code anyone familiar with wiring on British cars can quickly identify most any wire in a harness bundle. It makes trouble shooting or reconnecting wires after some vehicle work a snap.

I rewired my truck with approx. 10 fuses and 12 relays using the British standard wire colour code. So it is possible and and made things a lot easier to hook up.

But it appears that you have already committed a ***** of money to non standard wire wiring. Oh well.

[greenmeanie]

...and anyone with half a brain cell who can read can trouble shoot a loom made from all white wire when it is labelled at each end and if you want to be terribly fancy, each connector. A good wiring diagram also has pin out diagrams for each connector and a good wiring diagram is far more important than all the colours of the rainbow in your harness. As pionted out, it works for aircraft with considerably more wire and complex circuits.

In the US, if you have to have a mechanic work on the electrical system of a vehicle YOU rewired, then I would imagine the standard Ford or Chevy colour system would be more useful as there are far more experts on those systems than the BL codes.

Even LR has gone to using coloured rubber rings on each end of all black and white harnesses on a lot of their more modern stuff. Then they threw canbus into the mix.

Oh well.

[mongoswede]

cost is really not an issue in this case. the wire i bought will get used for 2 rovers, 1 saab, and several motorcycle projecs. it works out to about $50 per harness to cover wiring. I have not decided whether to follow the rover standard or something else. the truly amazing thing is that if i need another color....i can order it.






Black = ground connections

red = tail lights, instrument lights & side lights on the newer Series rigs.

solid green = Ignition controlled wiring for auxiliary devices, switched 12V to individual wiper motors, switched 12V to brake light switch, switched 12V to the flasher unit.

Solid blue = the wire from the light switch to the dimmer switch. Hardly any solid blue is used. Blue/while is high beam wiring & blue red is low beam wiring.

White = power to the ignition coil and power to an electric fuel pump if used. Again hardly any solid white wires are used.

Gray isn't a colour normally seen in SI or SII trucks.

Brown = main feed from battery with now switches or fuses.

If you use the British standard colour code anyone familiar with wiring on British cars can quickly identify most any wire in a harness bundle. It makes trouble shooting or reconnecting wires after some vehicle work a snap.

I rewired my truck with approx. 10 fuses and 12 relays using the British standard wire colour code. So it is possible and and made things a lot easier to hook up.

But it appears that you have already committed a ***** of money to non standard wire wiring. Oh well.

[TeriAnn]

...and anyone with half a brain cell who can read can trouble shoot a loom made from all white wire when it is labelled at each

My very first wiring job on my own car I did in all white & carefully labeled each end. I discovered that after a few years the tags mostly were off & figuring out which wire in a harness bundle went where took a lot of work & alligator clip leads for extra length to ring out. I vowed never again.

But sure you can look at a diagram and put a clip on one end of a wire and check all the other ones at the other end of the bundle but it takes a while. And back before computers became personal a hand drawn wiring diagram can become lost & did.

Following a standard is not essential, it just speeds things up dramatically.

I don't think there is a Ford Standard nor a Chevy standard as I have looked at wiring diagrams that had different wire colours for each use between years. But the British have a national standard what all the manufacturers followed.

Again, not essential but it makes later reassembly and troubleshooting a whole lot faster.

I'm not say he HAS to follow a standard. I was just suggesting that doing so makes things a lot easier and quicker down the line. I'm all for easy and simplicity.

Got stopped for having no tail lights a couple years back. While the officer was running my license & registration I opened up my instrument panel, pulled out my voltmeter, found a connector connecting 2 red wires that looked a little grungy, sanded the connectors and had the connectors reconnected and the tail lights working before the officer handed me the fix it ticket.

Something you can do if you knew red wires going anyplace beyond instrument lights were tail light wires. Not doable with a bundle of white wires. Of course it helps to have the tools behind the passenger seat and good lights inside the truck.

[msggunny]

Thats why i ordered my loom from these guys: http://www.hotrodwires.com/

The wires are labeled all the way along the wire.

Easy way to go tell Sir Lucas to go stuff himself......

[73series88]

this is what it looked like when i got my rover.
lots of hours sorting with a color schemAtic.
aaron

[mongoswede]

this is what it looked like when i got my rover.
lots of hours sorting with a color schemAtic.
aaron

whats the roll cage like tube in the first photo?

[Mercedesrover]

Good for you. Rip everything out the resembles Lucas and start from scratch. Rover electrics aren't any better than any other British car and the more you can eliminate the better. I rewired my 109 from scratch and aside from the turn signal switch it's all been replaced with a home-made harness and common switches and relays. I wouldn't worry too much about what colors you use and though the Brits may have a national standard, it doesn't work anyway. (They also do stupid things like run full current up to dimmer switches. Don't use them as a model and you'll be fine.)

Dream it up yourself, make good connections and use good components and you won't have to work on it again anyway.

My dash: (Teriann doesn't like it much)

http://seriestrek.com/109/body14.jpg

My power dist. center:

http://seriestrek.com/109/body11.jpg

[greenmeanie]

My very first wiring job on my own car I did in all white & carefully labeled each end. I discovered that after a few years the tags mostly were off & figuring out which wire in a harness bundle went where took a lot of work & alligator clip leads for extra length to ring out. I vowed never again.

I'm not say he HAS to follow a standard. I was just suggesting that doing so makes things a lot easier and quicker down the line. I'm all for easy and simplicity.

.

It sounds like your labelling was poorly applied.

I'll think you'll find that Safeairone is pointing out a standard that is far more internationally recognized than the LUCAS colour codes. MIL-W-5088 describes a lot of stuff about wiring harnesses but has specific paragraphs dealing with harness marking for that most common of all harness colour - white. Oh, they also have to last decades in typicallymore harsh environments than a civilian Land Rover.

Build it the baast way that suits you. It is the computer age so spend some time documenting it and enjoy a reliable vehicle.

[TeriAnn]

My dash: (Teriann doesn't like it much)


You are right. I do seem to have originality hangups that seem to be based around the "look" of the vehicle.

For someone with a 1960 LR that has a 1968 Mustang 302 with 1991 EFI, custom radiator, NP435 gearbox, Series transfercase with Ashcroft high ratio kit, custom prop shafts with long spline high angle yolks, a Salisbury with ARB in back, the rear axle moved 1-1/2 inches to the rear. Front axles assembly with SeriesTrek 24 spline axles, trutrac, 4.75:1 R&P, front disc brakes, Scout II power steering, Disco I steel wheels, 3 fuel tanks , built in 15 gallon water tank, built in 5 gallon propane tank, SIII left side inner wing panel, One-Ten outer wing panels, Defender wiper motor assembly, door hinges, door latches, door & tailgate seals and seats. Plus a custom wiring harness with a blade fuse block, about a dozen relays, I do seem to be hung up on wire colours and anything that affects the Land Rover "look".

My wire colour hangup came from my first rewiring attempt (bought a car with a melted harness). I got this really great roll of white wire for free and did the hole thing in white. Back then good labeling that would stand up under the bonnet was not readily available.

It is just my own failing I guess. I'm hung up on the "look" with the bonnet down and always scour the LR parts books for solutions before adding non-LR parts.

So you are right. I don't like your instrument panel very much. But it is my problem, not yours. The important thing is that each of us are happy with our own trucks.

[cedryck]

The wonderful thing I have appreciated over the past 20 years of being a roverphile, is that each truck in unique, and sometimes better than what came with it from factory. Cheers and hats of to those who modify to make better, the electrics, brakes, windows and what not. I love that creativity. :thumb-up:

[rwollschlager]

Thats why i ordered my loom from these guys: http://www.hotrodwires.com/

The wires are labeled all the way along the wire.

Easy way to go tell Sir Lucas to go stuff himself......

which package did you end up going with?

[msggunny]

which package did you end up going with?

I ended up getting the 12 circuit one: http://www.hotrodwires.com/12Circuit.html

Only thing it doesnt have that I wanted was a circuit for the electric fan, but I will make do.