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MG TD TF 1500 - Opinion on Wire Plastic Sleeving

I read in past post that plastic sleeving goes over the tach cable by battery and 4 places by fuse box and rear tail lamps. I may not disconnect things, but just slit and glue the sleeving turning it on the down side so it will not be visible. Sound viable?

Here is my question for your opinion. I have braided lines running to license plate light and to the two fog lamps in front. I like the look of the braided. Someone else thought it would look better with the plastic sleeving over it. What do you think?

Keith
K E MURPHY

I guess it depends how important originality is to your TF restoration. The sleeving was used to protect the tach cable etc from battery acid and the rear light wiring from road dirt and stones being thrown up. It was also used where the wiring passes the oil filter. We generally keep our cars a lot cleaner these days and batteries do not leak as often.

Cheers,
Matthew.
Matthew Magilton

Keith,

My British Wiring loom came with plastic sleaving over the fog lamp wire, probably a good idea considering all the oil around there. I agree with Mathew, I don't see a need for it back by the tail lights, however I do notice that my forward harness around the oil filter area forward catches more grime than I thought it would, as well as the harness running past the brake master cylinder. I'm accepting the grime as a consequence of driving the car daily!

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

Keith,
I had a somewhat "hacked-up" harness when I purchased my TF. Not bad enough to go with an all new one ...but was really ugly and bothered me. Made many repairs (not always having "correct" color wire) using:

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=AG110NF18B-100-ND

That is link for 1/8" ..they have other sizes & styles you can search from there.

Although not "correct" from concourse point of view, IMHO it is very "period looking" and looks better than some of the old-school "gray" wires on some of my accessories.

My external drive is down with a power supply failure so the pic attached is not real good ...but if you look close you can see it used on the hunting lamp.

Cheers,
David 55 TF1500 #7427


David Sheward

Thanks all, good suggestions. I will see what looks the best and protects.
Keith
K E MURPHY

Sorry David, but I just had to ask: What exactly are you "hunting" when you are out driving the TF? I have this mental image of a TF with a deer or a grizzly draped across the rear tonneau.

Cheers,
Matthew.
Matthew Magilton

Mat,
Snipes of course, this area of central Ohio is teathing with snipes!
Cheers,
David
David Sheward

David.
Can you SKYPE me a photo of a SNIPE?
Sandy
Sandy Sanders

How many seconds do you get from that light before the battery is drained?
K E MURPHY

Keith,
Depends on how much driving you do.
It is there for protection. Also there is a lot of vibration in these cars and the covering is normally found where there is a "P" clamp involved. I would definitely put a strip below the filter canister on the rail. The braided covering will act as a sponge and that's not a good thing. You can get the sleeving at British Wiring in various diameters. Very inexpensive.

Dan H.
Dan Hanson

Sandy,
Sure ..they are not easy to get a good photo of. This is the rare "nocturnal mop motivated snipe" captured briefly in this shot out of it's natural habitat.

Keith, Early on (before re-wire) I did use the hunting lamp to get home once when headlamps failed. It is very bright! Does come in handy for spotting addresses at nite ..and of course for snipe hunting!

Dan makes a good point about the "old school" cloth braiding acting as a "mop", but I have not had that problem with the Alpha mesh. It actually repels moister.

Cheers,
David


David Sheward

This is a follow up question to last year now that I am actually working on it. Matthew - hope you are out there to follow up - or anyone chime in. The plastic sleeving that goes over the loom to protect it - You say a 14" secion goes by the oil filter. Would that be the loom that runs vertically from the top of the bulkhead to the bottom - in other words at the top of the oil filter- OR the light loom that runs horizontally along side the filter above the chassis rail? Didn't know a simple question could be so complicated did you?

Next, in a picture I see a P clamp secured by the bolt right below the fuse box. It that over the biggest loom, or the sub-loom smaller one?

You talk about the four short plastic protector sleeves by the fuse area. I can't tell where exactly they should go?

I have some hard black plastic that I slit to cover the loom - does this sound like a good way to go? The Heat shrink stuff is a little scary and I don't know how to use it.

Keith in NJ USA
K E MURPHY

Gday Keith,
The sleeving went horizontally along the chassis past the oil filter from near the end of the engine breather downpipe, all the way forwards to nearly touching the horn with a strap (like the thermometer tube straps) at the diagonal firewall support bar (forward end). Probably longer than 14 inches (hard to measure). Hopefully the attached photo will clarify the sleeving pieces by the fuse box. The P clip had the remains of some cadmium plating before I silvered it, as were the P clips along the side panels.
Faults in the picture:
-Red connector should be black.
-Tacho P clip should be black.
-A few extra wires.


Cheers,
Matthew.


Matthew Magilton

This thread was discussed between 19/07/2009 and 11/04/2010

MG TD TF 1500 index

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