Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi all,

Ok, I have to admit it. Bit of way more of the cherry this time. I've stripped out all the wiring to my car with an idea to re wire with extra fuses and relay. I now need someone to do this for me. Anyone know of a good sparky near Portsmouth/ southhamton?

Many thanks,

Paul

As I'm not that far away and can't work on the car at the moment I'd be interested to find someone near dorset too.

Sean.

I sent my original wiring looms to Autosparks in the UK. With the original loom in hand they will be able to provide the proper harness for your car. Mark the locations on the loom where you wish the relays and fuse block is to be positioned. Then you can install a proper loom with the updates you want. Dash rewire is a bit tricky but much easier with the correct loom.

Not easy to install but worth the effort.

Bob

DONT PANIC!!!!! its an easy but time consuming job. Just take one circuit at a time and start from the back ---Power one heavy gauge wire line from the starter power lead to the fuse box to start things off and run leads from there to rear lights -brake switch -rear brake light - front lights etc etc use logic and thought -and please use more than one colour wire --red is power black for ground blue high beam and then you can be creative say yellow all lights green ignition --etc etc -run the wire with an eye to bundling them and wrapping them in tape --- easy really use low temp soldier and shovel connectors male and female and dont tighten one battery cable in case things go wrong you can pull it off quickly . I wire a master off on the neg battery cable --there is also the painless wire harness where each wire is marked as to the destination ----fuel pump -head light s tail brake ignition etc etc -use a 12 v trouble light with a clip end and a length of wire to check that the power is going where you want it , this saves hot wires -ed

Twincam,

The problem I have as mentioned in previous posts is my original electrics were a mix of 40 years of other owners work and just poor earths allover. I have two wire diagrams and neither of them look like mine. I don't really have anything sound to go by. I'm also trying to introduce the required wiring for me to install the EFI. Not being an electrician, but willing to learn. I do think I'm a bit out of my depth,

Does anyone have a diagram of a single fusebox system? Mine is a 1970, but looking at what I have that doesn't mean much.

Looks like it will be expensive!!!



Paul

Paul

I agree with Ed - it is actually pretty straightforward job but a bit of a daunting puzzle to begin with.

The electrics on my Sprint were a bit of a mix of original and "modified" - the dash wiring was ok but I had to rewire 80% of the engine bay and rear light circuits. I added a fuse box per this wiring plan http://www.lotuselan.net/uploads/elan_m ... iring.pdfl - I appreciate this is for an S4 but the principles of fusing the various circuits are the same as it would be for a +2. I also improved the earthing - if you search back through the posts I did post details of how I did this.

You will need to get handy with a soldering iron and a crimper for the spade terminals - again there are a few previous posts on these subjects.

When you get hold of a wiring diagram [not sure if there is a +2 one under the technical section on ElanNet] - I found it helpful to enlarge the diagram and print it off in sections onto a few sheets of A4 which I then laminated. Otherwise you will need a magnifying glass! This makes it much easier to trace the individual wires.

Its actually a very satisfying job but time consuming. Paying someone else to do it may be expensive!

Richard

Richard,

Thanks for the link,again its a bit different to what I have,but I supose everyone will have the same problem these days.It seems to be close enough to use with the others too.I got a quote in the region of 1500 of the good Queens finest pounds to do a re-wire up to modern DIN standards,which I take it means more than 2 fuses and more relays. Too rich for my blood.Maybe with that link I can do it myself.

Thanks,

Paul

Hi Paul

My suggestion would be to find out which car you have. ( sorry if that sounds a bit daft) A check on where all the electrical bits are located should help in this. Does it have the 4 fuses in the dashboard or the fuses relays under the bonnet for example. Once you have a good idea of which electrical set up you have I can scan the appropriate wiring diagram from the lotus manual.

In terns of guidance on wires terminals and so on Vehicle Wirng Products or Polevolt can supply bits U will need and their catalogues give invaluable info.

Wiring is not difficult but can be long winded ( and expensive if you pay someone to do it) and I think it is a job you can do yourself as it requires just a lot of planning out. Rather than be put off by car circuit which do look daunting remember that each individual circuit is usually quite simple--it is just that there are 20 or so of them.

Anyway best of luck I am sure U will get plenty of help on this forum

cheers

Bob

Bob,

I have a 1970 plus 2S, registered Jan 1st. It has 1 fuse box that has only 2 fuses. It is located front left just other side of bulkhead. All relays front left wing, strangely they are right next to the alternator and almost in contact.1 more relay/block was mounted on the rad frame. This is no longer on the car as the new rad is in position.

Hope this helps and thankyou for the offer,

Paul

my Europa was wired COMPLETELY WIRED IN GRAY WIRE every wire no matter where it came from or went to every wire was gray what a week that was . you need a wire with bare wire at both end s put one end at power the other brush the wire quickly at he connection a light says hook it up a spark says WRONG ---simple , fun and exc
iting ---bring your friends and make some bets as to spark or light ,----- Really its not hard its just a bit daunting I mean your genes built an empire and your going to be put off by 12 volts ? The ferad was discovered by an Englishman .giving us the 1st rule -'-When an iron rod is passed through a magnetic field a voltage is induced ' .why an electric motor or generator works -[unless its Lucas and then it wont work long ]----.ed

Good old Michael Faraday, Einstein kept a photo of him on his study wall, alongside Newton and Maxwell.

Isn't the rule you refer to John Ambrose Fleming's Left Hand Rule? Also an English Physicist though...

SHOULD BE using the first rule [--or something about Lucas divided by the pressure of smoke escaping times spark intensity ] ---Ambroses law has to do with friction of the left hand ....ed

Does that mean TVR used Lucas based looms?

Sorry TVR owners.