MG Sports Cars

I also posted this on the MGexperience website but thought I would see if I got a few more answers here.

The wiring is finally moving along at a somewhat brisk pace. In hindsight a plug and play harness would have been sooo nice. But I'm sure I will be happy with the Advance Autowire harness in the end.

I am now ready to wire in the Rover EFI harness I have. Ideally I would like the engine bay to look as tidy as possible so I'm interested in seeing what you guys have done to run the EFI harness from the engine bay to the cockpit (where my ECU will live). The obvious choice is through the rubber access panel beside the heater box but I want other options.

I was wondering if I could somehow run it through the firewall near where the speedo comes out. I would have to cut the harness because the ECU wouldn't be able to fit through the hole I would have to make although I am getting very good at soldering (tinning)! This would avoid having a garden hose diameter harness messing up my 'wireless' engine bay.

Thanks in advance!
Chris

Can you route it behind the dash to the passenter side Chriss? There's access from the cockpit to the engine bay there with existing large rectangular shaped holes. That with some nice cover plate for the engine bay side (which could be fabricated after you have the car running & are enjoying it) wouldn't mess up the clean look.

Hey Chris,

I have a 78 on the hoist right now. I can see several rubber plugged holes in the forward part of the trans tunnel.
If you have the room you could run the harness down the back of the motor and up into your console and mount the ECU there.
The harness would be almost completely out of sight.

Cheers
Fred

Rob, are you talking about the access panel with the rubber 'door' beside the heater box?

Fred, I think I know what you are talking about. Some people are suggesting I don't mess with the harness (e.g. cut it) so now I don't know what I'll do.

Hey Chris, no guts no glory.

Cutting the harness is no big deal. It's done all the time.
It will allow you the option of shortening or lengthening as needed. And removing redundant wires etc.
Make sure your splices are secure and moisture proof. Soldering with coated heat shrink would be appropriate.
Another option is to remove the pins from the connectors and then reconnect them when the harness is run.
I should be able to dig up a wiring diagram for you if you don't have one already. What fuel injection are you using?

Cheers
Fred

RE: Rob, are you talking about the access panel with the rubber 'door' beside the heater box?

Not that one Chris. If you're in the cockpit looking at that opening look a bit further to the right (passenger side). There's an access hole to the inner fender that leads to the opening on the inner fender just above the shelf on the firewall. But, I like the idea of going straight back from the motor to the trans tunnel -- less noticeable there.

Or is it the right hand drive pedal box plug

Rob, I got it now. I don't want to use that opening because it will mean running the large EFI wire in a less direct and possibly more uncluttered route to the cockpit.

Fred, thanks for the advice. I do have an EFI diagram for my Rover system (from a 3.9 1989 model) but it is a bit fuzzy so if you have a non-scanned version I would definitely take you up on the offer.

I am contemplating removing some of the pins and either running it into the passenger footwell (transmission tunnel side) or up through the original MG tranny dipstick location. The goal is to obviously not create any tight bends so those might be out. I might install the engine and take a closer look at my options given the space requirements.

Hi Chris,

I can't seem to get the harness info into an E mailable format.
So shoot me your address and I'll mail it to you.

Cheers
Fred