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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - Winter job, wiring harness

Hi All,

Getting ready for those winter jobs on the V8 conversion, want to re-wire and do the hidden wiring in the engine bay work, has anyone else used the Advance Auto-Wire's "PowerBlock" wiring kit? I seem to remember a thread a while back about these harnesses and i think they were positive.

Any feed back on both the harness and also some advice on the fitting and the best way to hide all this wiring?

Also must get around to changing the rev counter to V8, again i remember a quick fix with some soldering to the standard rev counter?

I am in the UK so if i get one is there a distributer here or do i just order it from across the pond?

Thanks in advance

Graham
Graham Lavis

Graham,

I have the wiring kit from Advance Auto-Wire, and the extended block for A/C. The quality of the kit is exceptional. It's obvious from the time you open the box.

I have mounted the blocks under the firewall tray on the passenger (right) side where the brake assembly would be on a right-drive setup. I used stainless fasteners with hard rubber washers top and bottom, so as to avoid splitting the new paint, and seal the holes. The harness wires were then divided into the 3 main runs of engine compartment, cabin, and boot.

I've never understood why BL routed the wiring underneath the car. So, I am routing to the rear within the cabin, along the passenger inside doorsill. I have available here in the States a flat, slotted conduit that I will attach to the sill. Then I route up to the hole in the body near the folding top mounting, and then over the rear wheel well to the boot, taking precautions to protect the wiring from metal edges.

The cabin just mostly runs to the area behind the dash. I have a stripped body so all this is fairly easy to route. The only question in my mind, as you have, is how to route the wiring forward as to be hidden.

Let me know how you progress,

Michael
Michael Willis

Michael, could you elaborate on that conduit? Perhaps even a photo?

One accessory I found very helpful was a junction block made of phenolic and stainless carriage bolts In fact I have five of them in the car. One under the hood, one behind the glove box, one near the trunk hinge and one at each tail light. Makes it very easy to splice in multiple runs. They are easily made up with different sizes and numbers of studs. The one under the hood has a larger studs for the main battery connections for instance, and the one behind the glove box IIRC has 8 3/16" studs. I primarily use nutserts and 10-32 stainless socket head capscrews to bolt them to the bodywork.

Jim

Jim Blackwood

On the RV8 the wiring runs inside the car along near the top of the tranny tunnel, held in place with special clips.
Mike Howlett

Graham,

I've used - and modified - one of Dan Masters' kits. Truly, an excellent product. Please contact me off line for more information. I wouldn't use anything else.

Regards

Peter Hills
Peter Hills

Hi

With my North American car I installed a new fuse block and relays are behind the glove box and the wiring runs under the passengers fender.
The wires to the coil and alternator etc. I drilled a hole in the transmission tunnel and ran them up through the hole and under the intake and to the various components. Also I ran the rear wiring through the same transmission hole.


Bruce

Bruce Mills

Graham,

Since you're on that side of the pond, you can check with www.autosparks.co.uk

These folks make the harnesses for Moss and will modify a harness to your specs if you need it.

I used them for my V8 and got another one for the GT I'm finishing.
Simon Austin

Bruce, that must be the most uncluttered engine bay I've ever seen. There's so little in there it doesn't seem possible it could work!
Are there many V8 MGBs in Vancouver? My wife and I will be visiting your lovely city next June - tickets already booked! (It's my retirement treat.)
Mike
Mike Howlett

Jim,

That flat channel is available here. See part number GS-10. Other cool electrical stuff on this site too.

http://www.ronfrancis.com/

Michael
Michael Willis

Bruce

Good job, thats exactly how i want mine to look.

Thanks everyone for you input, seems the way to go.

Graham
Graham Lavis

Hi Guys

Thanks for the kind comments

I actually live on a Peninsula west of Vancouver, accessible by ferry and I am the only V8 in my area.

Simon Austin might have a better idea how many V8's are in Vancouver.

Bruce
Bruce Mills

I know of four others near Vancouver. A factory GT V8 converted to LHD, brought over a couple of years ago; a factory GT V8 currently under construction (owner plans to keep it RHD); another GT (conversion)and an MGC with a Ford 302.

Mike, you'll have to let us now when you're in town. We'll try to plan a get-together. Maybe we can convince Bruce to come on over.

Cheers
Simon
Simon Austin

Michael / Bruce...............

Did you folks run your battery cable in the cabin too?

Thanks
Steve LaGoy

Graham
The Advance loom is very good, but if you are going for a truly bespoke clean shaven look, you will really have to start from scratch - which is what I am doing with the aim to achieve exactly what Bruce has there.

The Advance loom does not have a dealer here, but it is not difficult to start from scratch, providing you have some basic auto-lec savvy...

However, I have injection, EDID, PAS, aircon etc but it can all be routed into the back of the engine and up under the bonnet drip rail, using thinwall cable.

You can get everything you need from Vehicle Wiring Products up in Derby.

We should get together and swap notes.
Hal Adams

"...if you are going for a truly bespoke clean shaven look, you will really have to start from scratch..."

Both of these cars have an Advance Auto Wire kit installed:

http://www.britishv8.org/MG/TerrySchulte.htm

http://www.britishv8.org/MG/DonColeman.htm

They look pretty clean under the hood, they both have A/C, and Schulte's car has fuel injection.

Coleman decided to mount the power block under the hood, but Schulte opted to mount his under the dash, inside the car.
Dan Masters

Dan
please do not think that I am decrying the Advance loom - far from it, it has changed the B from being pretty useless on the electrical side to something quite managable, and I would be the first to suggest its use (and often have in the MGOC BBS).
Sincere apologies if my comments sounded negative, it was certainly not intended!

Schulte's car is up there at the top yes, maybe I will be there one day, maybe not!

I actually weighed up the cost of using your core as a basis for mine, but I have to be mindful that something like this coming in may well attract a hefty import tax, which made it more economical for me to go my own way.

regards
H Adams

"Sincere apologies if my comments sounded negative, it was certainly not intended!"

Hal,

I didn't take your comments as negative at all. In fact, I appreciated the nice comment you made about it. It's just that not everyone is up to making a harness from scratch, and I wanted them to know that they could get a clean engine bay without having to build from scratch.

I sincerely regret the high cost of getting a kit from here to there.

As for Schulte's car, well, that's out of reach for most of us. It's sure over my budget. It is nice, though.

Best regards,

Dan
Dan Masters

Thats good Dan!
The 'high' cost is not you, its our unpredictable tax parasites. You never know when they are going to strike - they nabbed me on a used sat nav ordered from Canada, and hit me with 40% on some Akebono pads (you cannot get them over here!) yet, they overlook a woodworking machine I brought in...

As a matter of interest Dan, do you make just the one size of relay board? I need about 17 relays for my plan, hence my doing it from scratch.
regards
H Adams

"do you make just the one size of relay board?"

Hal,

No, we just make that one size. You could do what I did in the beginning to make your own mounting board. Here in the States, our building supply stores sell 16ga sheet metal in small sizes - 6x18 and IIRC, 12x 18. I cut these to size, drilled holes, and mounted the parts with SS screws and nylock nuts. This required nylon spacers to mount the panels with, to provide clearance for the nuts (or rivets, if you use them). These spacers are also available at the building supply stores.

I'm assuming you would have similar stores over there, with a similar product line.
Dan Masters

Hal,

Been there; done it - as Dan knows. Modifying or supplementing Dan's excellent basic system is not difficult but is very rewarding.

Contact me off line if you need any more information.

Regards

Peter
Peter Hills

Well Guys,

After careful concideration i have ordered the Advance Auto-Wire's "PowerBlock" wiring kit,

So here goes!!!!

Thanks for the advice, look forward to the consealed wire engine bay (plus a lot of swearing)

Graham
Graham Lavis

Graham
You wont regret your decision, I installed this wiring in my B V8 conversion 2-1/2 years ago and have been very happy with it in alll aspects.On top of that Dan Masters is a big help if you run into any problems or need tech advice.
All the best
Gil
Gil Price

This thread was discussed between 12/10/2007 and 15/11/2007

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