Wiring loom cover

[darcy]

Does anyone have an original of one of these? If so I would love the measurement details that Dave was mysterious about.

Alternatively,has anyone made one? How?

[Danish]

Pretty straightforward to make. Use a copper tube, open it up and work a flat face into it. Width matches column width; runs the length of the column from the bulkhead and terminates where the tube enters the major casting component. Two spring clips as per picture. A cable tidy essentially.

[Phillip]

Yes, I have one!

Time to dig it out and measure it up!

If you want to make it 'as original' it's a bit of a bitch given the folds in the steel. I had contemplated making one out of aluminium. And the spring clips are an odd shape too.

They all seem to break at the thin point near one end. I have the remains of one end from a second cover as well.

I thought I had heard that the Hardwicks were now making these...???

[darcy]

No Hardwicks are not remaking (I understand). If you could provide the spacing of the side holes that would be great, I have bench top 90cm folder so I am hoping it will do the job. It will not give me the full form, but a start I can finish by hand.

I have some thoughts on using bench spring tool clips, but I still need to work though this idea. Unfortunately I am just getting over a knee replacement so my bench time is limited but thinking time is plentiful.

[Phillip]

Hey Darcy,

I'll dig it out and take measurements and some photos this week and post as soon as I can.

This is certainly another piece of Singer "Unobtainium!"

[Phillip]

Hey Wiring Loom Cover Enthusiasts!

Here is a quick sketch with the dimensions for this unicorn of Singerdom. NOTE - the drawing is not to scale:

And here is some detail on the spring clips. These are riveted on top of the cover:

Some Data in case the drawings are not clear enough:

The cover is made out of mild steel sheet, exact thickness hard to tell, but I'll get my calipers on it when I can. It looks like it was cut as a flat sheet and had the edges folded over and was then bent into a U-shape to make the cover. The spring clips are held on with what look like copper rivets. It is painted gloss black straight onto the steel - no primer. Singer did this with many parts of their cars, including floor pans, seat pans and scuttle sides.

The front end is notched 1/4 inch to fit over the top end of the steering box casting and after the lower spring clip there are two holes - one on each side. the width of the cover from the front end to these holes is 1 inch. After the holes the width is 1 1/4 inches. This very thin area is where these covers usually break. About halfway down there is a larger cutout of 3 3/4 inches on one side only.

Overall length: 28 inches
Overall height: 1 inch
Overall width main part: 1 /4 inches
Overall width: lower part: 1 inch

Dimensions are close approximates, but hopefully add up!

I've taken some photos and will try to put these up ASAP. It's not an easy piece to capture!

I'm not sure why Dave was so cryptic about this piece other than perhaps he didn't have one at the time and drew it from memory. The holes in his illustration are not correct so perhaps that may have been the case.

Hope that helps...

[Phillip]

As promised, here are some photos...a bit rough as they were done quickly on my phone:

Here is the overall piece:

Wiring Cover_1.jpg (144.18 KiB) Viewed 3276 times

This is the front section:

Wiring Cover_2.jpg (139.37 KiB) Viewed 3276 times

This is the middle section with the large cutout:

Wiring Cover_3.jpg (143.64 KiB) Viewed 3276 times

This cover came off a 1935 Singer Le Mans 4 seater "longtail".

[darcy]

Many thanks, re the springs - this is what I was hoping to achieve. I might even try black plastic??? If I can’t bend the shape, but 28” will fit my small bender.

[Phillip]

My pleasure!

Here are a couple of photos of the clip:

Cover Clip_1A.jpg (162.82 KiB) Viewed 3261 times

Cover Clip_2A.jpg (165.02 KiB) Viewed 3261 times

[John Simister]

Thanks for this brilliant information. Now I shall have to make an unobtainium cover too.

John

[darcy]

Possibly a stupid question but is the layout above, especially the one side cutout, left or right hand drive? Any difference?

[darcy]

Ok, so today I managed to wash two cars and, then, focus on the Singer. The 28” has me slightly confused. I extracted a piece of sheet to mark up and cut. Then I checked the measurements on the car.
The 28” takes the section up into the cabin, inside the fire wall. Is this correct?

Does anyone have a photo of one in situ?

If I measure from the steering box to the fire wall it is approximately 12”, correct?

[Phillip]

Hey Darcy,

This cover is from a RHD '35 le Mans 4 seater. I assume the only difference would be that the large cutout would be on the other side. That said, the parts catalogs talk about LHD '30's Sports models but I have never seen one!

I have seen a LHD Junior Sports in the USA and a few LHD Bantam vans. I also own a LHD Bantam Tourer chassis, but that's it for LHD.

Hope that helps!

[Phillip]

Hey Darcy,

I will try to fit the cover I have to my steering column on the '33 Nine Sports and see where we end up.

Hopefully I haven't made a mistake in the rush to note down the length. I'll recheck when I get home - I'm still at work!

[darcy]

Here is my first attempt and first effort 6 post knee replacement. I manged to stand for rwo hours and I am now sitting with my knee wrapped in ice.

I have assumed it is 28” from the top to bottom of the steering column, I can cut to size if necessary. I figured the cut outs I will need to do to match my new harness which allows for slc to be an indicator switch etc. the buz saw or dremel should handle that when I get the rest in a trial placement. But not right now.

The bench bender was ok but a little effort on 1/4 folds for edges, I ended up finishing the old fashioned way by hand, dolly and hammer.

Next spring clips and paint! But not today!

May end a little rougher than I would like,but then it may look more old/original?