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MG MGB Technical - Bullet connectors

I've found this forum to be a great help over the years & want to relate my experience from this weekend in the hopes it may help someone else out there....

I've got a '69 roadster that I drive ~5000+ miles/year. It's a solid if somewhat unattractive car (the summer re-spray got deferred...) and everything generally works. However, this weekend I was tracing down a minor electrical problem (low voltage to blower) and decided out of boredom as much as anything else to check the bullet connector sleeves under the bonnet. They all looked fine on first blush. But when I actually pulled one off, I found I could crush it in my fingers with very little pressure. The metal fractured and pieces fell out. I had some new ones on hand, so I replaced it. Next one -- same story. And the next. Remember they all looked ok and everything worked. I ended up by replacing them all, and all but one or two were bad. For me, this just confirms that a lot of Lucas's supposed bad electricals are in fact the result of years & years of neglect and age. Now my lights are brighter and who knows how much voltage drop I was getting across the old ones?

The moral? The connectors are cheap, and with them, a little steel wool, and an afternoon you can avoid a tremendous amount of grief.
Rob Edwards

A dielectric grease on the connectors transforms them into modern and effienct electrical devices surpassed only by the latest water proof styles such as the weather pack connectors. I am building a V8 and plan to stick with the Lucas system--it is effecient, adaptable and when maintained reliable.
James Johanski

Hi,
Yeah I had the same probablem on my 73 roadster. I got my soldering iron and shrink tubing now every one of those connectors have been replaced with real wire. Everything works great and will continue to work for a lot longer time than the old Lucas system. These were used in order to connect the wiring harnesses together at the factory in a short time. Question: If you are not going to rip out the dashboard or rear body wiring every week, why do you need these connectors?? Look at Ford or GM and you will see real stout connectors that work. Not these itty bitty pieces of cheap aluminum tubing that will over time corrode and fail. (again) Guaranteed!!! Alan
Alan

I hope GM wiring has improved since '79. Once I was driving my old '79 Nova and the floor dip switch nearly burst into flames under my foot, another time the wiring to the headlights disintegrated and fell away from the plug to the actual light; they had no headlight bucket like a British car - the connection was totally exposed to the elements. This was in the late '80s or early '90s. Point being that you can't fault Lucas for not having a system that lasts 20-30 years. Most cars have been recycled into something else way before then. I bought new connectors since mine were 30 years old, used some NoAlox (sp?) to keep them from corroding and everything works great.
Alan, what if you need to replace a light or a switch? Unsolder and then re-solder?
Wade Keene

Hi,

If you have to replace a light or a switch you simply pull the plug off of the light or switch, as you normally would. Don't solder the wire to the light or switch prong!!
If you look closely at the harnesses involved you will see that the connectors are on the bulleted wire endings NOT connections to lights or switches. In fact when you are using the factory bulleted ends connected to each other using the now corroded factory little aluminum tube connectors there is a good chance that, when changing a switch or light in the confined space behind the dash here is actually a better chance of accidentially dislodging one of those bulleted corroded connectors to the point that you COULD create a new bad connection. Now you have to find that new problem connector and get it working again. I think I enjoy driving the car more than fixing wiring problems up behind the dash. Whatever.
Alan

James,

Are you recommending dielectric grease for all the connectors, bullet and spade?

Steve
Steve Lipofsky

Steve -- just my opinion, but I think I'd put some sort of corrosion barrier on the connectors. (I didn't do it when I replaced the tubes under the bonnet, but that might be this weekend's task.) I'd be careful about slathering dielectric grease all over everything, since "dielectric" means insulator (more specifically, "A nonconductor of electricity, especially a substance with electrical conductivity of less than a millionth (10-6) of a siemen") I'd be tempted to try something like seldom-seize -- something with a bit of metal and hopefully some conductivity. On the other hand, while mine were corroded and on the verge of failure, they took 30 years to get that way....

Also, with nice fresh new ones, I don't think there's much danger of jiggling them loose whilst working in the area -- they were a bear to snap together. Very very tight.
Rob Edwards

I was wondering about switches such as the brake light switch, earlier turn signal switch, tail lights, etc. They all have have wires soldered to the switch itself, or crimped to the terminal at in the bulb holder base and are connected to the harness with a bulleted pigtail.
I had my car completely apart so it was just as easy to replace all the connectors with new ones I bought from British Wiring. Bought in bulk, they were very reasonably priced.
Wade

Wade do you have the address or E mail for British wiring. I am in the process of rewiring my car and was going to use the old bullet connectors but after reading the comments I think I would rather put in new ones. Does anyone know of a source for the other 6 or 8 type connectors.
Bill Mason

Bill,
British Wirings web site is;
http://www.britishwiring.com/
Clifton
Clifton Gordon

yep--dielectric grease on everthing.
James Johanski

I fully confess to being a knuckle-walker when it comes to electrical matters. However, with the advice of a good friend who is a qualified automotive electrician, I managed to make and install my own wiring loom and system, complete with extra relays a la Bob Muenchausen (Thanks, Bob. Great idea, those relays.). Using the largest gauge wire that would fit the connectors, I soldered them together and used shrink-fit tubing to support the wires where they come out of the connectors. Everything works fine. No doubt about it, soldering the wires into the connectors is a good idea. If I can do it, there's hope for every ape in Africa.
Steve S.

Even crimped connections can be very good if a genuine crimping tool is used to correctly distort and force together the connector and wire. Studies have shown that they are not really inferior connections. It is usually a poorly made crimp that allows mechanical failure which is often a bigger problem than transfer of electrons in even crummy crimps. Soldered connections are still my preference too, but I have been amazed at the longevity and usefulness of many crimped connections over the years when properly made. However, I am also of the opinion that only connectors designed for crimping ought to be used and most of the bullets we get are not.

And, as Steve suggests, a sleeve of heat shrink is an excellent adjunct to these or any connections to help fend off the corrosive elements and relieve strain on the wire. You can buy some now that is treated with a sealant inside for water-tight connections, and it works very well indeed! Also, for larger scale connections/connectors, the self-sealing silicone tape seems to be very good for things like battery connectors. And there is also a liquid electrical tape stuff which also does a very good job of sealing up these connectors.

Also, you can get very nice bullet connectors and the various connecting sleeves from http://www.triple-c.com at very reasonable prices as well. Just another alternative. I bought a slug of them this spring from them when tidying up the MGA and they appeared to be very well made. FWIW.
Bob Muenchausen

Clifton Thanks for the info. Very good web site. I will be ordering from them Thanks Bill
Bill Mason

This thread was discussed between 12/11/2001 and 16/11/2001

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