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MG MGA - Tail light wiring

Has anyone put in a new harness from Moss recently?

Mine has a total of 3 ground (black) wires per side, my original only has one and the wiring diagram I've got (Haynes) only shows one per side.

What gives?

Also my harness doesn't have *any* of the proper wire tips on the tail lights nor does it has *many* of the wire connectors that the full harness is supposed to be supplied with.

Has this been anyone else's experience or did I get a bum harness?

Thanks for any input.

Cheers,
Christopher
Christopher Wilson

I don't have a 1600 but I would think all the black wires connect together at their appropriate place. The 1600 has a total of 6 groundings in the rear. One wire each for signal and tail light plus the license light and the ground to a ring terminal on the bumper mounting bolt.

No bullets connectors were supplied on the light ends on my 1500 harness. You have to solder some on. Salvage bullets and other connectors you need from the old harness. You will probably still have to buy some connectors. Be sure to clean them all well and use some dialectic grease when assembling them. Be sure they fit tightly.
Jim Ferguson

The light "fittings" are just a hollow brass bullet / ferrule with a hole in the nose. You pass the wire end through the hole, bend it over the face of the bullet, and fit the bullet into the light socket contacts.

I would think that more ground wires is a good idea (less likely to have problems with a single point of failure)
dominic clancy

Thanks Jim. It would be great if Moss actually said this on their web site instead of implying that everything was included. The harness that I have looks pretty much like the original but the extra ground wires were a mystery. I guess they simply made a generic rear harness as my original certainly doesn't have these. As for the connectors, well I've an entire old harness I suppose I can rob from, but it is misleading for Moss to indicate parts # 162-200, 162-000, and 161-600 are included with the harness when in fact they are not.

I've called them about this and I hope they will do right by what their web site states. So far they've only told me that I don't know what my car is supposed to be like.

I offered to send pictures and a scan of the factory wiring diagram so they could see the tail lights do need wire tip connectors and they've said they will check the tail lamp parts and get back with me after they've verified what I'm saying is or is not correct.

Basically they are trying to tell me that the tail harness is not supposed to use wire tip connectors at all, which of course I know not to be true. Of course it uses them. Oy.

I'll let you folks know what they say about this.

Thanks,
Christopher
Christopher Wilson

Here is a good shot of what I mean. You can clearly see the original wire tips coming from the tail lights and the single grounding wire connected to the plinth mount.

You can also see the #162-000 wire connectors and the original harness which also has wire tips that connect into those.

The Moss harness does not include the 6 # 162-000 wire connectors you need, nor does it include the proper wire tips.

They (Moss) have so far stated this is correct, but in looking at the factory diagram and my original harness and cannot possibly see how.

Makes me wonder what else is missing on this harness...

Thanks,
Christopher



Christopher Wilson

Christopher, I feel your pain...Dennis

Dennis Suski

I have a box of old wire harnesses. Great source of spare pieces. The 1600 and MK11 harnesses Should be slightly different at the tail lights. But they sell the early one for both. You need to modify. The tips come off the old wires easily with a soldering gun. When soldering them to the new harness strip 1/4 in off the wire. Stick the wire through the hole in the tip and solder from the outside. After soldering clip off the excess wire. I put a eyelet on the ground wires and attached them under the bolts that mount the lights. The wires are longer than a MK11 needs also, as you can see I did not shorten them. Might be a good idea.

R J Brown

Chris, I've just finished wiring my 1600 Coupe. I didn't use the Moss harness, I got mine from SF. On the rear lights I used the crimp on bullet connectors you can get at any auto store and they push into the brass bullet connectors that should be included in the new light units or use the old ones. I don't like the idea of pushing the wires through the hole in the end of the bullet and folding them over.

Good Luck and use the Haynes wiring diagram it really helped me.

Andy 60 Coupe
Andy Preston

1500 and 1600 were originaly push through then bend over as Andy describes. Those connections are inside the light fixture. 1600MK11 was soldered as I described. These connection are inside the truck area. The harness I used last year was from Moss.
All the others have not described MK11 wiring. Don't let them confuse you. The posts did not say MK11 but the picture did.
R J Brown

HI chris I am putting mosses harness in my 1600, and have had to reuses some of the bullet connectors. I have been unsoldering them from the old harness and soldering them to the wires on the new one, then clean them with steel wool. As I reuses the female connectors I clean them with a small drill bit that has steel wool wrapped around it. I have added grounds to the socket for the front turn signal and marker lights. Make sure you clean down to bear metal where ever you attach the ground.
Hope this helps Steve
S E Bryan

And don't forget to add some dielectric grease on all push-connections. This prevents oxidation from occurring over time and the resultant high resistance connection.
C Schaefer

RJ you are right I should have been more clear about the MkII.

The thing that gets me is the harness is sold as being for the MkII, but it is not correct. I can work around that, but the problem comes in when dealing with Moss from a technical standpoint.

They (Moss) tried to tell me most of yesterday that I was dead wrong. Their "expert" knew nothing of the MkII harness difference and Moss was referring to Barney's site, which also doesn't make a distinction between the different harnesses used in the cars and until I directed the tech rep from Moss to this site to have a look at my pic he wouldn't budge. Finally, he saw the pic and agreed the wiring harness isn't right for the MkII and is missing those necessary connectors.

I have no idea if Moss will do anything about it on their site and catalog to make this more clear to MkII owners.

Bottom line, if you are a MkII owner and buy a harness from Moss it will not be for a MkII. It will work, but expect some differences, and expect to need some additional parts that are not mentioned when ordering.

Overall, not a huge deal and Moss is sending me the proper connectors, I just think other owners should be aware as well.

Barney, you might consider making a brief note on your site since Moss is using it for reference.

Thanks,
Christopher
Christopher Wilson

I am sure that the cost to make, inventory and list a third wire harness would not be a good economic decision. With roughly 55000 1500s 35000 1600s and only 8600 MK11s made the numbers don't justify 3. The 1600 harness works just fine in the MK11. All the pieces needed are in the old harness or available separately.
We in restoring our MGAs need to remember how lucky we truly are to be able to get the parts we do. The availability of parts for an MGA is much better than for Datsun 240Z 260Z and 280Zs that are half as old.
Yes Moss needs to provide information when ask that is accurate. Other than the customer support shortfall you found I for one am glad for what is there.
Fortunately we have the internet and are able to help each other. The real wealth of knowledge lies in the community of enthusiasts that love these cars and love to share. Barney is a great example of that love. He has truly "Built" an elephant one bite at a time.
Here is a picture of both original 1600 styles of taillight harnesses. The harness recieved from any of the current suppliers is like the 1600. As you can see there are differences.

R J Brown

Greetings all,

I too advised Moss that there was a "problem" with their 1600 "one size fits all" wiring harness. Since I haven't bought one from them, I can't speak to the ends which they supply. However, I did advise them that the 1600 harness was modified at car #74489 in August 1959 with the change to the Lucar snap connections at the dynamo and control box. At the time they also tried to convience me I was incorrect. Cheers!
Robert Maupin

Folks,

I don't want this to be looked at as Moss "bashing". Believe me I am quite thankful they exist. My MGA is even more so.

What I am saying is that a notation is in order that explains there is a difference in the harness in an original MkII and what you will be receiving if you order a MkII harness from Moss.

As marketed now it appears one will get all that is required to have a correct MkII harness and that isn't so.

They need to make the customer aware of this fact. Just like their tie rod ends must be cut because they are too long. Moss tells the customer this up front. They should be a forthcoming about the wiring harness, especially when made aware of the difference.

To Moss's credit they are sending along the necessary parts for me to modify this harness to become an acceptable MkII harness.

Cheers,
Christopher
Christopher Wilson

This thread was discussed between 07/04/2009 and 08/04/2009

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