4 replies to this topic

[Prawn]

hey guys, as you know im well on the way to flip fronting my mini
the front is all off, and inner wings are cut back, and as soon as my bracebars and subframe mounts arrive ill be fitting them.
my next question is wiring....
from looking at it,it appears that i need to connect 8 wires, 4 for the headlights, and two for each indicator....
ive noticed that most people use a trailer socket and plug fo the connection, but these are only 7 pin so i dont see how it could work....
any help would be great, as my wiring is really a huge great mess right now, i have a feeling ill need to rewire the front lights totally, as my loom is the biggest mess imaginable
but
how do i connect it all up with a trailer plug?
from what i can see, it looks like each light has an earth, and then 1 wire for sidelights, 1 for dipped beam, and 1 for full beam, i know i can connect the two lights together, meaning 4 wires in total,plus 2 for each indicator....
how do i get this down to 7?
help!!!!
thanks
nick

[siggy]

From memory you need to have a common earth, ie all the light earth to the body and one earth wire from the body to the plug.

One for each light

Dip beam
Main beam
Side lights
LH Indicator
RH Indicator

Thats 6 in total

Siggy

[Woody]

the first mini i "fliped " i used a large multi plug i found under the bonnet of an old audi my Dad was striping for parts , this worked well , it had about 10 or 12 connections so i was able to wire my spots as well , whatever you use try and place it out of the splash area and use a sealer like white grease or something simular as my problems were with terminals in my plug going green and causing bad contacts .

[Dan]

I know a lot of people do use trailer connectors for this, but they really are rubbish. They are only rated at about 8 amps per terminal continuous ( the dip and main lamps draw at least 10 if they are paired) and suffer terribly from terminal corrosion. They aren't designed for continuous service really either. Check the catalogues of people like Vehicle Wiring Products, Premier Wiring or Demon Tweaks and you will find much more suitable connectors. Also try searching the web for hot rod electrical sites as they sell some cool things.

As Siggy says, you only need a single common earth and one core for each lamp group. Remember to put any extra driving or fog lamps on their own feed and not share the terminal with the main or dip beam. Also remember that the terminals and cables used need to be adaquate for the load you will draw accross them. The earth terminal especially needs to be able co carry the total load of the front end. Which could be as much as 530 watts from time to time, depending on how much lighting you have. That means around 45 amps, which is why the earth is usually carried straight through the body shell. You can always split the earth load back onto two terminals if you can't find a connector which is man enough for that.

[Guess-Works.com]

This is something I've been looking at for Petal, having two connectors ( one for the lights etc on the flip, and one for the engine ) Going to put the loom in-board rather than along the top of the bulkhead.

I've got a pair of these, 8-pin Mains plug