7 replies to this topic

[critchie2006]

Hi any advice would be much appreciated. I'm not a mechanic but do know how to work on my cars, I'm just not clued up on the wiring side of things. The guy that I bought the mini from used it as a track car therefore snipped away all the wiring that he didn't need (thanks for that) I have changed the clutch, put a new inlet manifold on, tuned the carbs, new tyres, in the middle of sorting the interior, can't finish the dash until I sort the wiring Anyway am I better replacing the whole loom or trying to fix what I've already got? Thanks.
Chris

[charie t]

It depends how much was removed from what model.
Blaming somebody for cutting unwanted wires from a race car, you knew its history before you bought it

[critchie2006]

I just wanted some advice thanks charie t, obviously I knew the history and I bought this as a project so I was expecting to get stuck in and get my hands dirty, just that I'm not clued up on the wiring side of things. Basically wanted to know how easy/hard it was to replace the loom???

[critchie2006]

1986 mini ritz

[Skortchio]

A new loom is about £200 inc. postage from Minispares, obviously cheaper 2nd hand. It may sounds expensive but it depends how keen you are to start chasing wires and trailing new connections not to mention those 'fun' bad earths that pop up here and there.
From experience I'd probably buy a whole one and be done with it.

If the car is fairly stripped they aren't a massive job to fit just don't hold your knuckle skin too dearly

[Tamworthbay]

Fitting a new loom is the second worse job I have ever done, the worst was trying to fix the old one first! I am not keen on electrics to be fair, but you save a world of grief getting a new one.

[rally1380]

Got to agree with people saying 'New one'. They are expensive, but if you do get a second hand one make sure its from as young-a-car as possible as the wires and connections corrode soooooo badly and will cause issues all of their own.

Looks like a great project though and fingers crossed you can solve this electrical issue. Don't go at it like a bull in a china shop. Auto Electrics require a little finesse, but fitting a complete loom is fairly straight forward. Remove as much as possible (dash, headlining, fuel tank (if standard)) from the car and go at it in a methodical fashion....perhaps making notes as you strip out stuff from the car...even label stuff if unsure

Follow your trusty Haynes manual and you shouldn't be far off....good luck

[jamesmpi]

As said above, I would label each connection as you remove it making note of the wire colours (if visible) as you go,