POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE EARTH?

Can someone please let me know the battery connections on my mk111 1967 elf with dynamo.Is it + or - earth,thanks,Swiss.

Negative - (Earth)
My 1964 Elf Mk2 is one of the last positive + earthed cars.

TONYELF wrote:Negative - (Earth)
My 1964 Elf Mk2 is one of the last positive + earthed cars.

Really? My '68 Elf is positive earth and original dynamo...

Jase

And my '69 mk3 is also positive earth.

As you can see, it's difficult to say what it was when built and what it is now, as it is relatively easy to swap.

Theoretical the battery terminals are different sizes, so measuring the size of the clamp on the lead that attaches to the boot floor might give you an idea.

Does it have a more modern radio fitted? If so these are usually negative earth, although it is possible to still wire them into a positive earth car, so isn't a definate answer.

Swiss,

As built, your car would have been positive earth. The change to negative wasn't made until the introduction of the ADO20 cars in October 69, by which time the Elf/Hornet range had been discontinued.
As indicated by others, it may have been changed over the years to accommodate newer, negative ground items like radios, most alternators, etc.

cheleker wrote:Swiss,

As built, your car would have been positive earth. The change to negative wasn't made until the introduction of the ADO20 cars in October 69, by which time the Elf/Hornet range had been discontinued.
As indicated by others, it may have been changed over the years to accommodate newer, negative ground items like radios, most alternators, etc.

Thank you all so much for your kind input i was worried that i might blow a fuse or cause melting wires by fitting the wrong way round as i am so close to finishing restoration,regards,Swiss.

TONYELF wrote:Negative - (Earth)
My 1964 Elf Mk2 is one of the last positive + earthed cars.

Cobblers - both my very late Mk3 Elfs are positive earth.
Come to think of it, all standard un-monkeyed Elfs/Hornets I've played with are positive earth.

my 69 m111 elf was positive earth from new !!!!!!!!

Alex is right, no elf was produced with negative earth, all elfs/hornets are positive earth, general rule of thumb, i did say general, if its got a dynamo its positive earth, if its got an alternator it negative, but there will always be someone out there who will argue the fact,
There was also a major reason for changing to negative earth, but its far too complicated to go into detai on her, suffice to say it involve positive and negative charged ions and accelerated carbons, not what most people think that it was to do with parts availability and trendy aftermarket products

Out of interest what would happen if the battery was connected up the wrong way? blown fuses? Would it still turn over?

to clear up, All Els and Hornets are positive earth from factory, no exceptions. May 1969 saw the introductin of negative earth, by this time Elfs and Hornets had finished production, it also was at the same time the engine numbering system changed, from 9FA, 9SA, etc etc, to the new system 99H, also at the same time, gearboxes changed, from 22G68 TO 221148, 3 SYNCRO TO 4 SYNCRO, hope this clears it up,
Great forum by the way
Dave

[quote="onza100"]Out of interest what would happen if the battery was connected up the wrong way? blown fuses? Would it still turn over?
the car would still turn over, i think the only thing to happen would be NILL charge until you reflash the dynamo, its been many years since ive done this, so cannot remember to correct procedure for doing it, what i do remember, it was a simple job, 2 minutes if that,.
Bulbs etc are not earth sensitive, meaning, you can connect them up either way and they will still work, just very confusing later on if you have to do any electrical work, you will have coloured wires to earth and black feeds, i would change them all round, last thing to do is alter the coil, swap the wires round on it, if its coected the wrong way round, you will get a realy reduced spark size, on the crypton tuner you can easily see this, it will be reduced by some 7-8k, this shows up as reading around 8kv instead of the usual 14-16k on standard points system,
God this is taking me back some years, its all modules and CAN network now coupled with ecu,s, thing were far simpler in the days of the elf-hornet