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Battery fitted in boot well - click for larger size

17. Electrical System

Power Supply

The electrics would be nothing without the battery and the main supply of power to the front of the car. A battery well is moulded into the floor of the "boot" but this will only take the slimmer Japanese type batteries. After hunting around a bit, the highest capacity battery I could find to fit was a 45 amp hour one. Mine is from Halfords, model no. HB053 and has a cold cranking capacity (ccc) of 380 but other manufacturers do similar ones.

NG supply an electrical kit which includes the main supply cables, an isolator and a 3-piece wiring loom as well as lights and many other bits and bobs. The isolator is a battery cut-out with a key and is fitted into the rear nearside foot-well. A short supply cable is run from the battery positive to the isolator, then a long cable runs from this to the starter motor at the front. The supply cables must be clipped at least every 300mm for which holes are provided in the chassis but some additional holes are needed in the underside of the body for further p-clips. To complete the circuit, earth leads must be fitted. Both the battery and the isolator connections also needed some work. I fixed an acrylic packing piece (10mm thick) behind the battery and powder coated the clamp to provide protection against accidental shorting of the battery terminals. The fuse box is fitted to the nearside of the bulkhead.

Washers and Wipers

Wiper motor components - click for larger size The supplied windscreen washers are quite straight forward to fit. The washer bottle fixes to the nearside of the bulkhead, the jets fit in the scuttle and a tube links the two through a hole in the bulkhead.

The wiper motor was dismantled, cleaned and the brushes renewed. NG supply a replacement drive gear to reduce the angle of operation of the wipers. The wiper spindle holes were drilled in the scuttle using a small hole saw which makes it possible to drill through the GRP at the required angle. NG also supply a special mounting bracket for the wiper motor.

Wiring Looms

Dashboard loom - click for larger size The supplied 3-piece wiring loom is designed to make the electrics easy and the colour coding is explained in the manual. I recommend taking time to study the loom and the associated diagrams so as to fully understand all its functions. While there are a few minor anomalies and modifications, in the main it saves a lot of time and head scratching. The main problem I found was deciding how best to route and secure the loom.

The first section (dash loom) fits behind the dashboard. It carries the electric supply from a fuse link and fuse box to all the switches and instruments. There are 5 multi-way (Ripaults) connectors which link it to the other sections.

The second section (front loom) connects to the dash loom and serves the engine compartment, front lights, etc. It also brings the main feed from the starter motor to the main fuse link behind the dashboard.

The third section (rear loom) connects to the dash loom and serves the gearbox switches, handbrake switch, fuel pump, tank sender and rear lights.

Other Electrical Details


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