Wacky wiring

Back in 2006 we decided to drive an old truck to Florence, Ore., to purchase and pick up some parts for an MG Magnette we were working on. The front tires on the truck were a bit marginal, so we stopped at a big box store in Minnesota to buy two front tires and a spare. When the (supposed) auto techs installed the spare tire under the pickup bed, they inadvertently cut all the wires.

The next day we drove from Minnesota to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, without blinkers or taillights. People beeped and flashed their lights all day, but we didn’t realize we had a problem until after dark, when we stopped to eat and saw the truck reflected in a restaurant window and noticed it had no tail lights.

This was in October, it was cold, we had run into some other problems and we were tired and frustrated. We called a friend in Oregon to unload and he said, “Stay calm. Go outside, slide under the back of the truck and see if it isn’t just a case of connecting the red wire to the red wire and the green wire to the green wire.” He was right on with his advice and we soon had the lights working.

Fast forward to 2014. We’re working on a 1974 Triumph Spitfire and trying to wire the headlights, front blinkers, front parking lights and front side marker lamps. There are three green wires coming out of the firewall and only one of them is hot. Up front there are wires of two or three colors running in front of the radiator from side to side. There are red wires hanging off the side markers. The headlights are not installed.

Guessing that it’s going to be easier and faster to buy a headlight wiring kit, we do so. It comes in. It has red, green and black wires and another wire that is multi-colored. Except for green, and red, we have no color matches. We know the black wires are grounds, but there is nothing on the car that matches the multi-colored wire. And there is a long distance to cover between the new headlight wiring bundles and the three green wires coming through the firewall.

We’re not sure where to go with this wacky wiring. It’s definitely not going to be a case of connecting the red wire to the red wire and the green wire to the green wire. Maybe we need to call our friend in Oregon again. He made it seem so simple the last time!