8 replies to this topic

[Mito]

Whilst welding in the windscreen corner support panel, i didn't realise that the metal was so thin on the inner wing. Smoke started to emanate from underneath the bonnet and upon opening the bonnet , there were some nice warming flames. After a mild bit of panic and whacking it with my welding gauntlets, the flames were put out.

Do i now require a new loom or how could i go about repairing it? Some of the insulation on the main loom has burnt away.
 WP_20170401_10_30_21_Pro.jpg   71.36K   51 downloads  WP_20170401_10_30_06_Pro.jpg   68.57K   35 downloads

Edited by Mito, 01 April 2017 - 09:42 AM.

[whistler]

You could try using shrink wrap insulation that Maplin sells. I recently used some to insulate wires that I had soldered together. They have different diameter tubing available so you could double or treble up the thickness.

[RooBoonix]

Whilst shrink tubing would work, it's not really a nice way to repair it. I would really suggest chopping the damaged sections of wire out and soldering in new pieces of wire using good quality joints and then protect them with smaller lengths of shrink wrap. You can also get shrink wrap with adhesive so it helps prevent it slipping once shrunk down onto the wire.

 

If the runs of wire are short, you could also just replace the whole piece of wire. Loom tape could then be used to bundle all the wires together and make it into a loom again.

 

Places like Auto Electric Supplies can supply pretty much every colour combination and wire gauge you would ever need to repair the wiring on a Mini, so you can make it a proper repair using the correct colour wire.

 

Hope that helps,

Cam.

[whistler]

That's what I meant. Use the shrink tubing for the soldered joints after replacing damaged sections.

[Mito]

Great, I'll give that a try. I didn't want to have to buy a new loom for it just yet.

Any recommendations on a decent soldering iron? Mine can't melt butter!

Edited by Mito, 01 April 2017 - 08:43 PM.

[Icey]

Great, I'll give that a try. I didn't want to have to buy a new loom for it just yet.

Any recommendations on a decent soldering iron? Mine can't melt butter!

 

You don't need a lot of power, I do all of my electrical work (with the exception of large wires) with a 12w Antex iron with a 102 tip.

[mk1leg]

yes I just repaired Fire damaged fires I used a spare old loom and used the correct coloured wires

[RooBoonix]

Antex make good irons. I've got a Antex Gascat 40, which is a gas one. It's great, as you have so much freedom of movement with it.

[Compdoc]

You can get the correct colour wires and cable sizes from somewhere like http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/ so there is no need to spend over £200 on a new loom. The classic mini is woefully lacking in fuses and relays, as most classic cars are. I had a near miss in my last Mini which caused me to run up a steep kerb and strip the insulation off the battery cable and pull out the fuel line, not a good combination!

When I decided to completely rewire my current car, I threw out the fuse box with four fuses and purchased a BMW 3 series fuse box from the breakers for £12. This gives me over 70 fuses allowing relays and each circuit to be fused separately. The battery cable comes straight into the fusebox and no wiring leaves the fusebox without being fused. It all fits behind the dash out of sight and worked out much cheaper than any alternative method. It sounds like overkill but it's so nice to have a spare fuse every time you want to add something to your car.

I also purchased a battery cable connector with a 250 amp fuse, to fit in the boot (also BMW second hand £8) to protect the battery cable running under the car. You can get 500 amp fuses to fit depending on the current required for your starter.

Edited by Compdoc, 02 April 2017 - 01:08 PM.