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MG TD TF 1500 - Speedometer Cable Routing

In reviewing the archives and numerous pictures I've seen the speedometer cable routewd numerous ways through the firewall. I routed it through the R/H wire bundle grommet but it just doesn't seem right. It is so stuffed tight in there I not sure I get get the grommet mounted and I still have the horn wires and choke cable to push through. Did the factory route it in this manner and with the choke cable in the same hole?
Mike


Mike Hart (52 TD 16378)

Mike my car was assembled in exactly the same manner. I didn't like the idea of the wire bundle possibly chafing against the grounded speedometer cable so I changed it. I used the larger hole for the wires only and drilled a separate hole with a grommet for the speedometer cable. Not concourse but I felt it was safer in the long run. It looks much neater too.
Probably not much to worry about for most owners.
Jim Merz

Another question on the routing. On the frame (under the R/H side of the foot well)I have two clips with one installed directly above the other. One is for the fuel line the other I'm thinking to support the speedometer cable?
Mike


Mike Hart (52 TD 16378)

Mike - Can't help you with the routing along the frame, but for going through the firewall, see http://www.mgcars.org.uk/mgtd/mgtd_firewall.htm Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Thanks Dave. I think the new harnesses are somewhat thicker from tight to what it is. If routing the harness, speedometer cable and choke cable through the one hole was assembly line standard, it sure seems to be from an after thought. Was the rubber grommet on the initial installation? It would be great to go back in time and see the assembly line process.
Mike
Mike Hart (52 TD 16378)

Dave, other than the horn and fuel pump holes, is the TF the same? That's an excellent drawing. PJ
P Jennings

My car (which looks like a TD, but has a TF firewall) has three separate holes for wiring, speedometer cable and choke cable. Not sure if these have been cut specially (on the attached image the choke cable can't be seen because it is lower down. Matt.


Matt Davis

PJ - "other than the horn and fuel pump holes, is the TF the same?"

I don't know. The drawing I linked is on the Orignal MGTD midget web site at: http://www.mgcars.org.uk/mgtd/ There is an Original mgtf Midget site at: http://www.mgcars.org.uk/mgtf/ but there is no corresponding drawing on it. It looks like there was intended to be a page for it, but it never was used. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Hi PJ & folks, I have a pic of the TF bulkhead, from Malcolm Green's book "T Series Restoration Guide". It is different than the TD one, there's a separate hole for the speedo cable, plus it shows the holes for teh wiper motor mounting.
Al


A W Parker

Dave it looks like your diagram is for RHD, and there seems to be a symetrical hole on the left firewall as well labelled for the "wire harness" were these two labels just exchanged for LHD I intend to replace my broken speedo cable and would like to route it properly the PO drilled a hole in edge of floor board and brought it up to dash that way
Jon Levine

Jon, the L/H hole is a larger hole for the main wire harness. The R/H is for the smaller harness to the horn, fuel pump, ground and starter (from sitting in the car view L/H drive). I have seen a few installations where the speedometer cable is routed through the grommet with the thermocouple wire for the temp gauge.
Mike
Mike Hart (52 TD 16378)

If your not overly concerned with originality, I rerouted my speedo cable to avoid any small radius curves. I notched the wooden floor board to allow the cable to come up behind the passengers foot rest and inside the firewall. This allowed for nice large curves of the cable up to the speedo. A much better path than the original route. It never entered the engine compartment and remained a lot cleaner. If something works better than "factory", I'll try it.

George
George Raham [TD4224]

I really like that idea George!
Richard Taylor TD3983

This thread was discussed between 28/11/2010 and 29/11/2010

MG TD TF 1500 index

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