Should I be suprised

[Dave-M]

Having had the opportunity to remove the complete wiring harness from a 1970 plus2 with the intention of using it in one of my non Lotus project cars I was amazed at what I found.
Over one third of the connections were either not properly crimped in the bullet connectors or were loose in thier connector.
This harness did not come from a scrapper but a quite nice car where everything appeared to work prior to stripping.
The upshot of this is that I will now buy a load of solder type bullets and replace the connectors as I do various jobs on my car.
No wonder the cars have a reputation for unreliable electrics.
Regards
Dave

[tower of strength]

Dave,

I made the looms for a plus2, an S3S/Efhc, and two Europa twinks, I was in those days able to rob donor wiring from S2 XJ6 Jags and Series 1 SD1 rovers as these were the right guage and colour, I used to excessively tin the bare ends of the wires(too long), crimp on the bullet then heat to melt the solder, the excess poking out of the end was then trimmed and tickled with a file, Very labourious, very satisfying when every thing worked (bar upside down switch connections!!LOL) and long lived I hope!!! My mum ran a 1967 plus2 for about 6 years as a daily driver and never had electrical issues.
One of the problems with old looms is that the heat generated in the wire causes the insulation to shrink back in time, exposing bare wire, an effective repair for a good loom with this problem is to use heat shrink sleeving, simply slide half an inch or so over the barewire/insulation with 1mm or so over the bullet, apply heat from a lighter and "Robert is your Mothers Brother" . Have fun

Mark

[Dave-M]

So thinking about it why not do away with the bullets and connectors?
Just solder and heat shrink the lot, after all the connectors are only there to enable easy assembly at the manufacturing stage. How often do we have to split a joint? and if we do just snip and resolder/heatshrink when done. Total reliability? Might take a bit of time but in the scale of things during a re build it might be worth doing. What do you think?
Regards
Dave

[tower of strength]

I get your drift re soldering, I just have vissions of doing that then having to remove the heater!!! DOH!!! Have a look nat the various elictrical suppliers and get a multiplug, (modern type jobbie) solder that up and end of problem, or change the bullets for insulated lucar spades, a bit bulkier but easier to separate without loom damage.trouble with soldering is the potential dry joint giving iffy continuity. If the wire and connector are clean and well fluxed you shouldnt have a prob. Heat shrink is avail in various colours now adays from the likes of Europa spares or Demon tweeks. DT also do non adhesive pvc loom tape, so you can modify your loom (extra wires for relays etc) then hide them inside the loom. better than a bay full of loose wires!!

Mark

[Emma-Knight]

...I found a general problem with bullet connectors is undoing them. This often moves the wire away from the bullet terminal and crackes some of the small copper strands.
The design of the sleeves is a bit irratic: the bullet when fitted has to klimb a ramp to snap in. Backwards there is a vertical "wall", holding too strong, even with clean well oiled connectors (bench tested). The ramp should be shallower and angled both sides.
So I was thinking about a kind of "undoing-tool": for single connectors slide back the rubber sleeve, take a screw driver that fits in the center opening of the brass sleeve and carefully lever back the bullet. When travel ends, take a small
"shim", insert through the center opening and push back with screw driver again. Mabe a second shim is needed. After the bullet has freed the ramp, it can be undone by pulling.
For double connectors, I'm experimenting with a 1.5mm wide screw driver like wedge: slid in the connector between the two bullets to lift the sleeve halves up, freeing the bullet. I do a photo when proof of regular function...
Maybe a little fussy but saves time when reassembling and nothing damaged.

Anna

[miked]

At the risk of being shouted at, I find that with new bullet ends of the right size and the proper crimping pliers that they do attach well. I used a combination of new and old harness and cut off and recrimped anything which did not look totally well fastened on. As I recall "vehilce wiring products" supplied the bullets and pliers etc. There was another company who did the harness (have it at home). May have even been the same. This was correct colour and all ends were well on. Some of the Lotus suppliers can end up with some poor harnesss.

Mike