Wiring
Mr Lucas, the Prince of Darkness
is persona non grata in this TR6.
Main Wiring Harness and
Fuse Box
When the harness was removed,
the wires looked very brittle and the vast majority of
connectors were rusty. What can you expect from a thirty
year old harness? Since this had "problem" written all
over it, the only way out was to make a new harness. Sure,
there are harnesses available but what fun is there in buying
something that can be made?
To make matters worse, the TR6
comes with a very crude fuse box using glass fuses. This
might have been state-of-the art when the car was new, but
certainly not the case today. Instead, a new spade type
modern fuse box was used. Every wire from and to the fuse
box was replaced.
The fuse box was attached to a
small aluminium bracket. This bracket holds all relays and the
fuse box itself. The entire setup is mounted high on the
passenger side, high enough where feed won't get into it.
One of my pet peeves is crimped
on connections. Plastic crimp-on connectors are a no-no,
so every single connection on the TR6's electrical system has
been hand soldered and shrink wrapped. The type of shrink
used has a special glue that when heated, flows and helps keep
the joint water tight. This type
wiring process is extremely labour intensive, ensures bug free
wiring. In other words, no Lucas gremlins!
Battery
The battery was relocated to the
trunk, with the following advantages:
-
The extra weight is moved to
the back, to better balance the car.
-
Made room for the ignition
coilpacks.
A long strand of welding cable was
used to go from the battery to the fusebox. Another strand
of welding cable was used for ground, and that was bolted
directly to the frame. A custom enclosure was made from
aluminium for the battery. This enclosure is bolted to the
passenger's side trunk area. The battery is a red top
dry-cell Optima. These batteries have an excellent shelf life and
are hands down the best available.
Engine Wiring Harness
One of the things that scares
people about electronic fuel injection is the wiring harness.
When the engine was purchased, the harness came with it. It had
plenty of things that are not required for an application like
mine. These extra circuits were removed and with the aid
of a factory service manual, every wire was traced to the PCM.
Each wire was checked for continuity and labeled. Finally,
depending upon location the different wires were cut to length
and modified so no extra wire would be used. This ensured
a clean and professional looking installation.
Headlights
One big advantage of doing your
own harness is knowing exactly what you have and how each
circuit is built. Since the wiring was sound, the
headlights were changed to high-powered Hella H4's. These
throw an excellent light pattern and are very bright.
Properly aimed they have proven to be an excellent addition to
the car at night.
Horns
The original horns on the TR6
were shot. Therefore a set of Hella orange horns were
purchased. The kit comes with a 'high' and 'low' note horn
and these are mounted up in the original stock locations.
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