4 replies to this topic

[MiniMonty]

Hi all,

I need to pull off a few electrical projects on the Mini and don't know much.
I want to:

1) fit a "false" alarm flashing light which only comes on when the key is out.
2) fit a starter button.
3) remove the standard switch panel for lights, hazards etc and fit a custom one.
4) fit a light in the glove box, boot and under the bonnet.

I reckon these are all pretty simple things if you know what you're doing - but I don't
so can anyone recommend a good book or web site for me to learn my way around
basic auto electrics (or specific to the Mini) ?

Best wishes
Monty

[Ethel]

Since the only thing that excites a geek more than computers is a soldering iron there's loads of stuff related to electronics online. Some of stuff aimed at school kids and teaching resources would give you a bit of background knowledge. I've found that googling what you're actually after making usually chucks up something useful - often froma TMF style forum for transistor heads.

If you've got a bit of spare time to invest you could see how far you can get with a downloaded free trial of Yenka in the 2 weeks they give you. You might be tempted to be more ambitious.

[daemonchild]

I've got a fake alarm in the blue one.
It's a 555 timer, battery and a couple of other components and an LED.
It's all built into the ash tray on the top dash rail.
Just swing it out - 'turn on the alarm' and swing it back in.
Genius!?

I can't claim credit though - my mother in law's other half put it in.
But I could build replicas if you're interested?
Or at least show you photos and give a circuit diagram?

[SurreySprite]

I've got a fake alarm in the blue one.
It's a 555 timer, battery and a couple of other components and an LED.
It's all built into the ash tray on the top dash rail.
Just swing it out - 'turn on the alarm' and swing it back in.
Genius!?

I can't claim credit though - my mother in law's other half put it in.
But I could build replicas if you're interested?
Or at least show you photos and give a circuit diagram?

Although not directly auto electric related, this is a great website for getting schematics of circuits. I am sure with a bit of imagination and you could adapt to your mini

http://www.discovercircuits.com/

You might want to start with a few basic tools as well. I would say:

Multimeter
Soldering Iron
Spade connectors
Wire stripper
Heat Shrink (Keeps things tidy)

[dangregory007]

This is a really good website. Its more angled towards car audio, but it starts off with basic car electronics, and has a few circuits that you may find useful.

As for the flashing false alarm light, you can buy flashing LEDs for a couple of bucks so you don't need to build an oscillating circuit with a 555 timer or anything, just connect a resistor and hook it up to a constant 12V wire and you're sorted! The Haynes manual has all the Mini wiring diagrams to help you find a source of constant 12V.

For lights in the boot etc, you want a 'push to break' switch, which means when the switch is pressed the circuit won't work, but when its released then circuit will work. Fit that in a place where the boot will press the switch when closed, so that when you open the boot it'll come on (then just wire it to a light and a source of 12V)

The starter button isn't too hard to do, there's plenty of specially made switches on the net now that are rated to handle the current requirements of the solenoid. Just google 'push button start' or something and you'll find it. I made on for my old legacy so that I didn't need a key at all (was alarmed and immobilised), except you still needed a key to disable the steering lock! I think its a bit easier on the mini if you just remove the whole key barrel assembly (if thats what you're wanting to do)

Good luck!