New wiring harness, vinyl top, alternator, etc

So, the wiring harness arrived from the UK, and I began the install.  First off, I needed a layout area for the harness so I could organize a method.  I set up a table in the garage, and began by installing the new rubber grommet the seals the hole in the firewall that the harness runs through.  By looking at the grommet and then the GIANT harness- I had no idea how it would actually fit through the tiny 3/4" hole.  I had the company install a set of relays for the headlights (which are big plastic boxes) so I knew I had to start feeding from the other end.

my office

headlight relays

this alone took about 30 minutes

almost there!

Once the grommet was on, it was time to cut the old harness right at the firewall.  That way I could work from both sides and leave the old connections attached and simply remove an old one and attach a new one matching the wire colors. It really wasn't too complicated, it just took a long time and I really had to focus (muttering to myself the entire time when I do jobs like this.....).  Any connection remaining on the car received a scrub with some emery paper (fine sandpaper) and a coat of dielectric grease (combats corrosion).  I installed the engine side of the harness first and worked from the firewall forward to the headlights. I won't go into details of the actual connections because it would be very boring and long-winded.  Lets just leave it with "after dozens of cleaned connections, it was done!!"  I used a good wiring diagram to confirm that what was originally there was correct before replacing it.  I only found a couple of errors )headlight switch, brake warning switch) and they were minor.

feeding the harness through the firewall.  I put the tape there to protect the new wires

....keep feeding.....

new harness coming through into the engine bay

new harness on the seat, and the old still attached to the dash supports

It actually fits through the grommet!

engine side in progress

more engine stuff

cleaning the old connections- this one is for the right parking light

So, once the engine side was all installed, I started connecting the dash side of the harness.  I just hung the dash off of the steering wheel and worked my way across the dash over to the end of it above the drivers left knee where all of the steering wheel controls (turn signal, horn, windshield washer, etc) are connected into the harness.

new harness behind passenger side dash. I installed the windshield wiper motor at the same time.  You can see the headlight relays I had installed dangling into the footwell- I screwed them into the firewall later.

working my way to the end.  I also had to install the ventilation tubes since they were missing from car because someone installed a/c

test fit of the dash and center console.  It was at this time that all connections were made, so I hooked up the battery and started to check components, and then fired it up.  Every thing worked!... except the interior lights.  I worked through the diagram and found my error.  At the same time, I decided for just a goof to install footwell lights.  You can see one through the glovebox in the above photo.

Finished!!  Just a quick vac and another check of the brake lights, and she was out one road!

So, it was time for some driving- and that what I did.  See, I don't just work on this thing....

Next up, was a new convertible top.  The car didn't have one at all when I bought it, but at least the frame was there.  I had cleaned and painted the frame over the winter, so all I had to do was bolt on the frame to the body.  My family was in town, so my brother and dad helped with this one.  Thanks folks!

the frame going on- we protected the top of the windshield with a towel to keep the scratches at bay

So, once we had a nice sunny day (aren't they all during a Maine summer?), we installed the new vinyl.  I ordered the top from the UK (Prestige Auto).  It took about a week to arrive, which was surprising.  On an MGB, the only place the vinyl is permanently attached to the frame is at the head rail above the windshield.  The rest of it attaches with snaps.  We just attached the rear snaps, lined up the front of the vinyl with the frame, and glued it on.  No real problems, just some waiting between steps for glue to dry.  Photos show the process better than I can describe the process- so here goes:

laying it out- the top is shipped with paper to prtect the back plastic window

more progress- you can see the head rail attached to the top of the windshield

using chalk to layout the head rail for glue location

clamping the top to the rail while it dries

the other side getting glue

final alignment and fittment

Finished!  The top needed to stay up for a couple of weeks so it takes shape

another finished photo

not too bad- and it leaks just like a real MGB top.....

Finally, a few miscellaneous things

I replaced the alternator.  It had been slowly dying for a couple months.  The car has an ignition light on the dash that in only supposed to light when the ignition is on and the car is not running.  Once the car is started and revved above 1200 RPM, it is designed to go out.  My ignition light had started to act up and flash when the RPMs dropped too low, or I had too many electrical draws running (brake lights, turn signal, headlights all at the same time for example).  So, the alternator finally gave up while driving to work.  I ordered up a new upgrade alternator with more output and reliability (No more Lucas Electrics alternator!) and installed it.  No real drama there, other than needing to buy some marine grade connectors to try and help it last as long as possible.  Here are a couple photos:

the old tired alternator

the new unit installed.

The last thing was to repair the dash mounted brake test/warning lamp.  Just some more emery paper and dielectric grease and all was well.

brake test switch

It actually works!!

So, that's it for now.  I'm starting to think about winter project, but I bet the car will make that decision for me....

Some miscellaneous work in prep for a new wire harness.....

Next on my agenda was to pull the dash to clean up all connections, properly align the windshield, install a new choke cable, replace the broken/cracked windshield washer hoses, and clean up the guages.  So, removal of the dash is really not difficult on paper, but once you try and stick a big hand up there behind it- the problems become obvious.  It's attached to the car with 6 ( I think ) nuts across the top and two on each side of the bottom.  I started by removing the glove box and two main guages to get at the upper nuts. After that- it's just trying to figure out what needs to come out of the dash to get to the upper nuts.  Next out was the center air vents.  Finally, I could barely get to each nut and completely removed the dash.

various vent and heat hoses behing glove box

glove box and dash vents out of the way

getting at the upper nut above the oil pressure guage

almost there......

It's out!

back of dash

This is the point in this job that it chaged direction dramatically. So, I started to notice a recuring melted strip spiraling around the main wire harness, so I decided to pull off some of the blue wrap- and this is what I found.  Two of the brown wires (always hot on this car) had melted into the surrounding wires for at least 36" of the harness.  The more blue tape I peeled off, the worse it became.  Obviously, I came to the realization pretty quickly that I would be needing a NEW complete main wiring harness for this old girl.

uh-oh- this looks troubling

you can see here some of the other wires a melted brown wire took with it.

I'm suprised the car actually ran/drove with this mess

So, while I waited about 8 weeks for the harness to be made and shipped over from the UK, I started in on some of the other projects that might as well get accomplished while the dash is out.  I removed the wiper motor so I could disassemble it and replace the old grease inside it.  I also removed the wiper  drives for all three wipers and cleaned/lubed them up as well.  Replacing the windshield washer hoses are simple with the dash out, so those were replaced as well.

wiper motor with broken ground wire

wiper motor and mount is out

old grease inside motor

these are the metal vents that are behind the dash.  The thin ones are the pieces on top af the dash that the defrost air comes out of.

clear tubing is the new washer tubing- the old stuff was crumbled and cracked

behind the dash with new washer tubing.  I obviously labled the wires as I pulled them off.
You can also see the brass looking thin tube which is the feed for the mechanical oil pressure guage.  Below that is the end of the speedometer cable that has the silver sleeve on the end.

(3) wiper drives

wiper drive close-up

three wipers.  One of the wiper drive chrome covers is laying next to where the drive was.

So, I also needed a new washer fluid container since the original was a weird gray vinyl bag that was cracked and torn.  I remembered that i had removed a coolant overflow tank from a car a sold a few years ago.  I dug it out and figured I could just use that instead of buying a new bag.  All I had to do was make up a bracket for it so you can just pull it out instead of actually boltong it to the car.  No real reason for that- it just seemed cooler and I had some time to kill.  I bent up and riveted together some scrap aluminium and it seems to work just fine. The original hose connection actually fits perfectly in the top of the old cooland tank.

it's a little ugly, but that is some yankee thrift right there.....

instaled- looks like it's always been there..... I guess.

 

I was also able to get an original plastic fan from the gentleman who sold me the rear leaf spring- so I went ahead and cleaned it up and installed it.  No big trouble except I had to move the radiator forward a little bit to get to the bolts that hold it on to the end of the waterpump.

old and new- the metal one was aftermarket.  I assumed it was installed with the air conditioning to provide more air movement

cleans up pretty well

installed!  Now that is starting to look like a proper MBG powerplant.

That is good enough for this post.  Next up- I install the new wiring harness.

Here in the new harness in the first pic and how I felt with this daunting task in front of me (fyi, the install itself took approximately 20 hours...) in the second photo:

new harness- I had already started to tag some of the wires to help me later

Help!!!