rewire on the books

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Willem
Posts: 43
Joined: Wed Jun 30, 2021 11:32 am

rewire on the books

Post by Willem » Wed Jul 21, 2021 8:03 pm

Good evening all,
In my recommissioning efforts I found an electrical wire from the head light switch to a junction box to have melted and corroded quite badly, I have now provisionally booked Mathilda in for a complete rewire, extravagant some may say but my knowledge and joy with all things electrical does not have a great track record.
Do any of the much more experienced members here have any suggestions on what else to have changed to make the car more future proof and useable for the foreseeable future (or until petrol becomes such a scarce commodity that Mad Max like adventures are to be had).
Willem
Rover 12 Tourer, 1936
Range rover L322, 2009

TonyG
Posts: 288
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2015 4:38 pm

Re: rewire on the books

Post by TonyG » Thu Jul 22, 2021 9:53 am

Willem,

COA is in great original condition so any changes depend on how closely you want to stick with that. Autosparks can provide a wiring loom to original or original/modified spec. When I re-wired my Tourer I opted for some small mods that facilitated an electric SU fuel pump, a Dynamator (alternator) for better charging and additional flashing indicators. I also converted the car to negative earth, which is easy to do but the Dynamator and pump are polarity sensitive so that decision needs to be taken at the outset.

Other useful changes to consider are things like a stainless exhaust system and maybe better lighting, which can be achieved by changing to brighter bulbs, although that isn’t something I’ve bothered to do yet.

To avoid fuel vaporisation I also re-routed the fuel pipe to the other side of the car, away from the exhaust, and kept the pump and fuel lines on the near side of the bulkhead.

Personally, I believe sensible modifications that make a Classic more usable far out weigh the argument for originality. Your car has seen extensive use in current condition, so clearly very capable. However, I’m with you when it comes to future proofing, as things will only get more difficult as our congestion increases and petrol becomes poorer in quality. Really good to know that you are intending to drive the car for some years to come though. My Father always spoke very fondly of your car when he owned it and would have been really pleased to know it had moved onto another active classic driver. Sadly, he was unaware that it still existed when he died in 2002 but my Uncle, my Fathers best friend back in the 50s, is always pleased to hear about the special cars of his youth. Especially pleasing that both COA550 and TL6200 are both featured in Howard Jones Tourers book, which I bought for him recently.

Tony.
Tony Gilbert

P1 12 Tourer
P2 12 6 Light Saloon
Discovery 3
Discovery Sport

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