Wiring the TR4 from scratch. What's a good source for quality electrical wire?
Sub'd for interest. I know Amazon and eBay should be avoided. It's not AWG. It's Chinese metric garbage and the insulator doesn't flex well.
In reply to Trackmouse:
Automotive wire, wrapped with cotton braid. As was used on American stuff well into the 1950s.
Being that the O.P. has a TR4 and I don't know how long they used cloth covered wire in British cars, I thought I would ask.
We go through tons of it at work.
We buy from Brillman and Company, Rhode Island Wiring or Restoration Supply.
If it's just the good quality nylon jacketed stuff, we just get that from our local FLAPS.
I completely rewired swmbo's TR250 using the harness Dan Masters developed. It's available from Advanceautowire.com Dan's book, electrical Handbook for the TR-6 is available from Britishwiring.com. Some large % (90) will be the same as TR-6 stuff. Let me know if you have questions or I can help.
I think Waytek is supposed to be a good source, but I don't even recall where I got my wire when I Megasquirted the 2002...
I've always used DelCity for all my wiring supplies unless I needed the cotton jacketed stuff, in which case Rhode Island Wiring
I have placed many orders from each over the years.
I think the first question should be, is it a restoration, a daily driver, or a race car? Restoration, go with Trans Maros recommendation. Daily driver, buy a hot rod kit from American Autowire or such, and get rid of everything that has ever had the stink of Lucas or Britain attatched. Race car needs a roll of red wire from the napa store.
Make your life easier in the future, use the proper colours. I did not do that with my Land Rover, and I regret it 15 years later.
It's a race car with about 5-6 circuits. There is not a single wire in it today. Relocated battery, master cutoff... the only unusual bit is running an electric compressor which is just a switch through a relay. I do want headlights or the option for them, so a second relay.
In reply to Trans_Maro: Was thinking a bit more grassroots/homebuilt than $400 but it does look like an easy button
I use this stuff. Nineteen cents a foot! I can usually find 4 or 5 different colors on Amazon. If I need a heavier gauge, they have that too, in the same brand, same specs, for like forty cents a foot for ten gauge, etc.
This place has you covered. Right colors and proper circuit design. Think of it as painless wiring for Brit cars.
http://www.advanceautowire.com/
The new harnesses that are being sold by Moss and some of the other suppliers are a bit suspect. Wire gauge is smaller to the point where thr harness diameter is too small to fit the P clips.Sockets for the dash/instrument bulbs don't seem to match either what was in the car or any other format sold i NA. Had to cut all the bulb holders out of the Bugeye's old harness and solder them into the new one. Same for the 68 MGB.
I had some really lousy experience with DelCity.
For a simple system - NAPA actually carries some really nice wire with super flexible insulation.
Wanna go truly grassroots? Go to the junkyard and strip the wire out of anything American. The only reason to avoid Euro or Japanese is that you probably don't have metric wire strippers.
Take wire from the interior or trunk. The stuff from under the hood has had a hard life.
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