The Case of the Missing Bullet |

How do electrical connections in classic cars mysteriously get disconnected?

When those connections are made using bullet connectors, it’s actually pretty easy. All at once on the MG, the windshield wipers and heater blower didn’t work. There is an inline fuse for the wipers, but that was in good shape. It turns out the wipers and blower motor and were on the same circuit, sharing green/pink wires joined with bullet connectors behind the radio.

Bullet connector contacts fit one inside the other. While it usually takes a pretty good yank to do so, it’s possible to pull the connectors apart. That must have happened the last time I checked the gearbox oil. There’s a dipstick located right in the middle of things back there, and it’s easiest to pull and relocate it by feel. I must have caught the wires up in the process.

Thanks to Rick Astley’s excellent book MGB Electrical Systems and a quick Google search, I was able to confirm the wire colors and their location. I easily located and mated up the wires, restoring the circuit. While I was neck deep behind the radio, I managed to solder an extension wire to the cigarette lighter, restoring that to rude health. I spliced the extension wire into the middle of the original wire, so that the original color could be easily seen at each end, keeping color codes traceable. If I can keep myself from rummaging around behind the dash, things should be good, for a while, at least. Based on the photo, a little vacuuming is in order. That’s next.