Alfa Romeo Forums banner

Mystery cable!

3K views 23 replies 12 participants last post by  Bertybuoy 
#1 ·
Can anyone please help me identify what this mystery black cable may be?
It’s located on the passenger side (RHS), has a ‘bullet connector’ end, and is tied off with a cable tie.
Thanks in advance.
 

Attachments

See less See more
2
#3 ·
I think, as the cable is in the proximity to the starter i.e. the RH side of the engine ,that this is the wire from the water temperature sender. I also recall that the oil temperature sender has a white and black wire.
 
#5 ·
This IS fun! Isn't that a HUGE cable? It could be the photo angle, but it looks to be the size of a brake line. Where does the other end vanish too?
Let us know.
 
#7 ·
It's probably the side repeater indicator wire - these were not fitted for US spec cars, but the wiring harnesses available are for the European spec with side repeaters, so they are either cut off or taped back

RHS side repeater wire is black & yellow, LHS is black & white

Same colours as the water temp sensor & the oil temp sensor

Ciao
Greig
 
#11 · (Edited)
USA Spec vs European Spec for 750/101 Giulietta

Carl the Giulietta's were built in 2 (ok, call it 3) specifications, what we generally refer to as US Spec & European or Home Spec + an Export Spec

Basically Hoffman had the clout of buying power and ordered a few changes, so loosely speaking the US Spec is as follows:

1.) No fender indicator repeaters on both Sprints & Spiders
2.) 750 SWB Spider has no quarter light / wind wing windows
3.) Lucas 'Football' oval tail lights with a chrome surround - Early 750 cars
4.) Red/Red/White tail light lenses for Carello/Altissimo on later Interim & pure 101 cars
5.) Imperial MPH Gauges
6.) During '59 the Factory even did a short run of 10104 & 10105 designated Spiders & Sprints - this was the US designation
7.) Sealed Beam headlights - General Electric seems to be the main brand

In contrast the European spec is as follows

1.) Fender mounted indicators /repeaters
2.) 750 SWB Spiders could have been fitted with quarter light / wind wings mainly in '57
3.) Amber/red/white or amber red amber Carello / Altissimo triangular tail lights
4.) Amber/red/white Carello / Altissimo tail lights on later Interim & 101 cars
5.) Metric KPH gauges
6.) Carello headlights with replaceable bulbs

To confuse things even further there's an Export spec but outside the US to countries like South Africa or Oz or Singapore etc

1.) Fender mounted indicators /repeaters
2.) 750 SWB Spiders could have been fitted with quarter light / wind wings mainly in '57
3.) Amber/red/white or amber red amber Carello / Altissimo triangular tail lights
4.) Amber/red/white Carello / Altissimo tail lights on later Interim & 101 cars
5.) Imperial MPH gauges
6.) Carello headlights with replaceable bulbs

Granted there are rats & mice US Spec Giulietta's around the world that escaped this US net just as there are European spec cars in the USA... while the theory of dedicated spec for specific countries was a nice concept in the '50's, in reality Alfa shipped what was in the finished car lot regardless of what the spec was.

SWB Spiders with quarter light windows also slipped across the border from Canada which got the European spec... go figure !! The bulk of Giulietta Spiders went to the USA & the 750 SWB without quarter light windows is the predominant view we have of the car, plus the BB is US based so the view is skewed Stateside. It really only sunk in when we got SWB Spider 02806 with quarter light windows about 8 years ago.

A friend locally has a '62 Giulietta Spider Normale 1300, built on an early Giulia Spider Normale shell without fender indicators... hence US Spec & it was originally shipped to Zambia in the middle of Africa - someone on the copper mines must have gotten a big bonus in December '61 & plunked it down on a Graphite Grey Spider & they dispatched what was in the stock yard at the time

Similarly another friend out here has a '61 Sprint Normale in US Spec, I have a '57 Sprint Normale sold new in South Africa in November '57 with metric gauges even though SA was an Imperial country at that time - again they dispatched the first light grey Sprint that was available & it just happened to be a Home spec model

Fun & games stuff --. The only 'Constant' with Alfa was change

Ciao
Greig
 
#16 ·
Greig,
You forgot to mention the sealed beam headlights for the US market cars.
These look like 750s being prepared for shipment without headlight units, to be installed at the entry point apparently.

Joe


View attachment 1577724
I have a US spec 10104 interim spider built April,1960(titled as a 61'),fitted with 7" Lucas headlight buckets that use replaceable H4 bulbs.BTW,that photo is great.
 
#19 ·
Good idea to split the thread......however what confuses me about the original subject of this thread is that every early Spider should have this mystery wire/s (on both sides of the car) and yet there was no immediate reply. What's going on?
 
#21 · (Edited)
Cable ?

I usually just find out where the OTHER end of the cable goes to to give a clue what it was for. The bullet connector looks HUGE which sort of rules out a standard female Lucas connection IMHO. It does look like original braided wire sooooo it is safe to conclude it was there at the making. If Greig is right and I think he is.. it will be hot with the turn signals on, intermittently. PS the factory didn't have plasti-ties in the 50's.
 
#22 ·
Without further info from the thread originator we're a bit in the dark here, if it turns out to be the turn signal wire, there are 2 possibilities, either the side indicators have been removed and the holes welded closed, hence the wire remains, or a new wiring harness was fitted sometime in the past and it was for a European spec. Alfa had more than one wiring harness and US spec cars did not have the wire in the harness while the Euro spec ones did. There was more than one supplier of most items.

Ciao
Greig
 
#23 ·
Greig is right and the wire appears to be a side marker light for a European delivery Alfa. I have seen Sprints with side marker lights but, Sprints that were sent to the US like my car did not have side marker lights. I know that wiring harness might have side marker wires and you could remove them.
 
#24 ·
Thanks for that insight... a very real possibility. Not too sure of the cars history, but it has no side repeater despite my importing it from the US.
I’m hoping that it’s the oil temp sensor, as currently it is not working. Unfortunately, I’m working abroad and can’t check things out at the moment - just trying to get some ideas to work on once I get back!
Cheers,
Roy
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top