S3, sort of? Dash and lighting anomalies

PostPost by: fattogatto » Thu Dec 26, 2019 11:58 pm

I have a 1967 RHD UK S3 (VIN456208). Purchased a new dash and front wiring harness. I am wondering if the factory often used what parts they had. The anomalies are . . . .

According to the pictures I can find (Bucklands) of the S3 dash, I should have an ammeter hole to the left of the radio cutout. I have a cigar lighter hole there. I have no ammeter provision. I also have a large (1.5" diameter) hole to the right of the steering column that was not in my original dash. (parking brake light?)

According to the wiring diagram from the Lotus workshop manual, I should have 4 individual wires running to the wiper switch and wires running to the washer. I have the old style manual operation washer and only two wires to the wiper switch, which rotates to turn the wipers on.

The instrument lights are of a mixed bag. The two instrument lights for the tach and speedometer are the large, push-in type, properly color-coded red/white. There is no provision in the harness for an instrument light for the fuel gauge. There is a different plastic fitting (smaller with a copper receptacle inside) for the ignition light, high beam light, and oil pressure/water temp gauge. On my original harness it came with small bulbs. These will not fit the black plastic fittings on the new harness. Also, the harness has the larger push-in light fitting for the turn signal warning light but the gauge requires the smaller fitting.

It seems I may have a mix of several items. I can not vouch for the originality of the car as the PO had butchered it quite extensively. (Hence the need for a complete wiring job.)

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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PostPost by: billmoore42 » Fri Dec 27, 2019 3:49 am

Charlie:

I have a Federal 67 Elan FHC and it has three wires coming from the manual pump style washer switch. It also has a cigarette lighter to the right of the radio cutout instead of an voltmeter/ammeter hole.

My wiring harness (which looks original) has a coded red white lighting wire for the oil/temp gauge and fuel gauge, the same as for the tach and speedometer, both of which have bulb holders that attach by pushing them into a hole. On these smaller gauges, the light is mounted next to the gauge so it shines into the smaller gauge through a slot without actually being inside the gauge.

My car does not have the 1.5" diameter hole to the right of the steering column. I hope this helps a little.

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PostPost by: StressCraxx » Fri Dec 27, 2019 5:20 am

Charlie,

I don't recall ever seeing an Elan S3 with an ammeter that the owners hadn't added themselves.

There were four openings for instruments, Oil pressure/Water temp combo gauge, Tacho, Speedo, Fuel Gauge.

The ignition/dynmao light in the tach told you whether you were charging or not.
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PostPost by: fattogatto » Fri Dec 27, 2019 2:42 pm

StressCraxx wrote:Charlie,

I don't recall ever seeing an Elan S3 with an ammeter that the owners hadn't added themselves.



I was just going by the picture of an S3 in the Bucklands book that shows an ammeter.

Thanks for the input.
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PostPost by: fattogatto » Fri Dec 27, 2019 2:54 pm

billmoore42 wrote:I have a Federal 67 Elan FHC and it has three wires coming from the manual pump style washer switch. It also has a cigarette lighter to the right of the radio cutout instead of an voltmeter/ammeter hole.


Thanks Bill. My pump/wiper switch only has two terminals, and the switch only has two positions - I assume ON & OFF. Ergo one speed wipers.

My wiring harness (which looks original) has a coded red white lighting wire for the oil/temp gauge and fuel gauge, the same as for the tach and speedometer, both of which have bulb holders that attach by pushing them into a hole.


My new harness has the red/white wires for the tach and speedometer, with the large push-in light sockets.

On these smaller gauges, the light is mounted next to the gauge so it shines into the smaller gauge through a slot without actually being inside the gauge.


The gauge holder I have for the fuel gauge is like that, although the harness does not have a lead for that light. On the oil pressure/water temp gauge I have a smaller (.500" diameter?) black plastic receiver that takes a strange plug with an insert that I assume holds some sort of bulb. It's the same as the fixtures for the ignition and high beam warning lights.

gauge-light-fixture.jpg and


My car does not have the 1.5" diameter hole to the right of the steering column. I hope this helps a little.


Thanks. Probably a PO add-on.
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PostPost by: Matt Elan » Fri Dec 27, 2019 3:23 pm

Sounds like the new harness has some modern updates. The bulb holders are for modern push in bulbs with exposed contacts on the side of their base.
I'm also certain that the ammeter hole was a previous owner addition - albeit quite useful and a common modification back in the day.
I suspect the loom actually an S4 one with all the extra bits and pieces the later cars had, but is probably still suitable for an S3 with some redundancy. For the missing instrument bulbs you can reuse what was there before, and daisy chain them from the speedo or tacho lights.
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PostPost by: pcarew » Fri Dec 27, 2019 7:47 pm

When I re-wired and installed a new dash in my '67 UK RHD S3SE last year, I came to realize that the wiring harness was actually a mixture of S2 and S3!

I found referring to the S2 wiring diagram extremely relevant for all of the standard car circuits and the S3 diagram for the S3 additions such as electric windows.

Clearly Lotus did use up remaining stock (as has been reported many a time), while transitioning models

For what it's worth, my S3 did *not* have an ammeter

Here is a link to my dash rewire post which includes a spreadsheet of the dash wiring connections.

I also elected to add 4 multi circuit connectors for easy future dash removal.
http://www.lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=42528&p=300971#p300971
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PostPost by: fattogatto » Fri Dec 27, 2019 10:17 pm

Thanks Paul. Very helpful.

Would you have any idea where I can source light bulbs for the socket shown in my post above? I'd like to keep the pre-wired sockets instead of butchering the harness.
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PostPost by: pcarew » Fri Dec 27, 2019 10:59 pm

fattogatto wrote:Thanks Paul. Very helpful.

Would you have any idea where I can source light bulbs for the socket shown in my post above? I'd like to keep the pre-wired sockets instead of butchering the harness.


Hello Charlie,
To be honest, I don't recognize that type of bulb holder.
You might try British Wiring http://www.britishwiring.com/

Best
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PostPost by: fattogatto » Sat Dec 28, 2019 12:09 am

Thanks Paul.
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PostPost by: RichardHawkins » Sat Dec 28, 2019 3:17 pm

Charlie,

I think that the lamp holder you show in your photograph is for a capless wedge lamp. Here in the UK I have bought these lamps and holders from either Auto Electric Supplies Ltd or Vehicle Wiring Products (not sure which supplier I actually used). I assume that there are similar companies supplying such things in the USA. My Elan is an early (1968) S4 and has a few items usually found on an S3.

Hope this helps,

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PostPost by: fattogatto » Sat Dec 28, 2019 4:02 pm

Thanks Richard. In the colonies we usually call those landscape bulbs. They are quite available and cheap. I'll try various wattages.
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