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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - 58 Frogeye Wiring

I am adding a new wiring loom to a 1958 Frogeye which I didn't take apart so looking for a little guidance on correctly wiring the windscreen wiper switch.

As per the photo its a simple on off switch with the Black with Green wire going to one terminal and three Black earth cables going to the other terminal. As there are no marks on the terminals how do I find which cables go to which or does it not matter with being a simple on off switch?

It may be a simple question to many but at this point best to be safe!

Thanks
Tim





Tim Lynam

Hi Tim, I would have said it doesnt matter as it's a simple make/break switch. But from the photo it looks like the terminal on the left is either connected to, or very close to the metal switch casing, so would also potentially earth through the metal dash. I would use that one for the 3 earth connections
GuyW

Thanks Guy, I had not noticed that both terminals were not central, thanks for pointing that out.
Tim Lynam

Are you making your own loom Tim?
When I made mine I added a multi plug where the bonnet wiring joins the rest of the loom near to the offside bonnet hinge. It means that if ( I mean when!) I have to remove the bonnet I can just unplug it there rather than having to disconnect all the lights, etc.
GuyW

Tim
I agree with Guy - it doesn't matter. The motor has a permanent earth to facilitate wiper parking
and a switched earth to initialise the motor. The motor has a permanent battery supply with ignition on.
Bill Bretherton

Guy, No I took the easy option and purchased a ready made loom and so far I am happy I did as there is no way I would have fancied making my own but its a good idea of yours to add a multi plug.

Bill, thanks for the info which helps to understand the electrics.

Tim Lynam

Another query regarding the wiring, the heater control switch has two black earth cables and as there are no spare earth cables left on the new loom I presume these attach to two separate earth connections on the car somewhere, should one attach to the heater and the other somewhere else, can anyone please confirm?

Tim Lynam

Tim, although the switch "tails" are black, they are wired into the "live" side of the battery so there should be a green supply wire available to connect to in the loom via a bullet connector. The other side of the switch connects to the heater motor via a green/brown wire (according to wiring diagram).

It is an odd switch with those flying leads - I had to rebuild mine as one of the terminals had broken away. I secured the leads to the switch body as they're a bit vulnerable imv.
Bill Bretherton

Thanks Bill, that makes more sense, strange why the switches were produced with black wires but now hopefully another problem resolved, one black wire to the green with brown wire and the other to the spare bullet connector as per photo.

Tim Lynam

As the heater was an optional extra and the switch is just for continuity, was it cheaper and easier just to use black rather than colour code the seperate flying leads. Just a thought.
Bob Beaumont

This thread was discussed between 21/12/2023 and 24/12/2023

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