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MG MGA - Wiring Diagram needed - Elva Courier

This is a long shot.

I've a friend who's restoring an Elva Courier. He's bought a new wiring harness from British Wiring (plug). The problem is, he has no wiring diagram for the car and, oddly enough, British wiring says they don't have one available either. Must make it hard to supply their harnesses, but what do I know? My friend labeled (fortunately) all the wires on the old harness at disassembly time. He says that he sees some differences in the wiring colours between the old and replacement harnesses. I realize that the wiring involved is probably pretty limited in the number of circuits installd. I'm hazarding a guess that it's probably something similar to an MGA or early 'B. Since I'm the nearest thing to a wiring wizard who is willing to help (and I hate electrics) I thought I'd see if anyone on the BBS might happen to have an Elva wiring diagram in their archives. If not, I'll just have to muddle through with a 'B diagram, a multimeter and fire extinguisher!
Derek Nicholson

What year/model?
If very early, use MGA, otherwise and mostly should be the same as early B, assuming it's generator equipped. In any event, all wiring colors will be the same, and I don't recall anything on the Elva that is any different from any other Britcar of the time. You may find a few things more like Triumph than MG, since they used a lot of Tr components, but again it's all pretty much the same with the possible exception of exact connections at said bits. Wire codes will be consistent.
FRM
FR Millmore

I specifically didn't mention a year or model as I didn't think I'd be given a choice.I'll settle for any that I can get my hands on. I should also mention that my friend claims to have already contacted all the Elva fanaticshe can find. It's rather surprising that no-one amongst them have sat down to draw up a wiring diagram.

I guess I'll try and get my hands on a TR3 & TR4 diagram, just to confuse myself!



Derek Nicholson

Derek,
Have you tried Roger Dunbar at
www.elvacourier.com/
?
regards/ gil
gil

Electrical circuits in the Elva Courier may be dependent on the year of manufacture. It will certainly depend on the style of tail lights and whether the rear turn signals are common with the brake light bulbs or are separate bulbs. Rear lights with a single two-filament bulb require a complex relay to make the brake lights and turn signals work on the same bulb.

From 1955 through the 1960'S the Elva Couriers were built in 1500, 1600, 1622, and 1800 models. The mechanical underpinnings for these cars were largely MGA and MGB parts, similar to the MGs in the respective years of production. Some later models may have used some TR parts, but I'm not familliar with those cars (if any).

The electrical circuits for the Elva are very basic with few unnecessary options. The wiring diagrams for the MGA 1500 or 1600 model (depending on rear lights) should be spot on for the Elva Courier. See here:
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/electric/circ_ts.htm
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/electric/cc102.htm
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/electric/circ_a.htm

Later model Elva may require a wiring diagram similar to the MGB, which might include thermal operated fuel and temperature gauge, electric tach, back up lights, or a few other frills.
Barney Gaylord

This thread was discussed on 21/09/2006

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This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.