XKE Female Bullet Connectors

E-Type
1

All,

I believe by now, we all know that the complete wire harness from the usuals do not include all, any of the female bullet connectors. Not sure why… seems to me to be a business opportunity…

How can we use the new harnesses without a way to connect the various pieces?

Also, they do not supply a complete (seperate part number, more profit) kit for the female bullets needed for the XKE… Why? How do we know what is needed? How many singles, doubles, 4-ways, 5-ways, 10 ways, etc…

Contacted Rhode Island Wiring this morning. They were able to help with saying that their records indicate we need approx 50 singles, 19 doubles, 2 5-ways, and a 10-way.

They were able to supply the singles and doubles…

Just wanted to supply this current information to our group.

If anyone knows any other suggestions as to this dilemma, please let myself and the forum know.

Best,
Bob

2

I’ll add… if you don’t have one and are looking at doing up 70+ connectors you might want to get the pliers made for this:

I thought they were an extravagance until I used a pair - much easier to make the connections, especially in tight quarters.

3

Would you mind telling where you got those pliers?

4

I ordered mine from autosparks.co.uk (along with a harness, bullet connectors and a bunch of other bits). They appear to be the same as George’s.

http://www.autosparks.co.uk/electrical-components/wiring-tools/bullet-closing-tool-snaps-the-bullets-into-the-connector-sleeves.html

I found I had to tweak the arms a little bit to stop the connectors from sliding out of the jaws.

They’re a bit like safety wire pliers, You can get by without them, but once you’ve gone all in and spent the 20$ or so that they cost you’ll wonder why you didn’t get a pair sooner.

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5

These bullet-and-sleeve connectors are common on most British cars of the postwar period. I’ve owned and worked on several (still have four plus the Jag), and have learned a thing or two about them.

Most important is that the sleeves are potentially problematical. With age, it seems that the metal of the inner sleeve gets brittle, and cracks along its length. I’ve seen them actually fall out of the rubber sleeve in slivers! Obviously the grip on the bullets is lost. Of course, the rubber sleeve usually hides the problem, and the result is an intermittent or “flaky” connection, or none at all. A sleeve will often stay intact until the first time it is taken apart, then the problems start.

Therefore, I always keep a supply of new sleeves on hand, and NEVER try to re-use an old one.

They are readily available from Moss Motors (mossmotors.com), which is the main source for non-Jag britcar parts. I actually usually buy from Little British Car (lbcarco.com) using the Moss part number. It’s usually a bit cheaper for small orders.

Bob Frisby
Boise, Idaho
E-type S2 FHC, Healey 3000, Morgan +4, and 2 Daimlers

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6

British Wiring in the U S also carries them. At $30, the best price I’ve seen. NAYYY

7

Moss has them with the big kit or just the pliers (last item) -

http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=101686

I also see a few on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TRIUMPH-NORTON-BSA-LUCAS-BULLET-TERMINAL-CLOSING-TOOL-PN-TBS-8008-/361248498179?hash=item541c16a203:g:NRUAAOSw34FVDaj1&vxp=mtr

Like Andrew says, you can get by w/o it but it is a handy tool.

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8

I also put a thin smear of dielectric grease on the metal to inhibit corrosion and make easier for dis/reconnecting, for this type connector.

My $.02

Huff
69 2+2

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