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Lights and Wiring

Headlamp end:
Blue/Red is high beam
Blue/White is low beam
Red is running lamp
Black is ground

Harness end:
Green/Black is low beam
Red/Black is high beam
Black is ground
Tan/Orange can be the running lamp (fog lamps) from donor (connect to the red lead)

Head lights
R/B Hi beam
G/B Low beam
BK Grounds

BRN= running lights
BK= grounds

The tan wire is the "side marker" light from the original Mustang harness.

[WD] "All the black wires in the lights are grounds. Thus you can wire these all together and then ground them to the frame. If you want a good ground, solder them and then scrape the paint off the chassis and secure with a screw and star washer.

The red wire from the turn signal light is for the running lamps and will go to the brown wire. Again, these can be connected by soldering together. If you wire this to the red wire from the headlamp, you'll have a running lamp on all the time in the headlamp along with the low and/or high beam lights. IMO, not a good idea. If you want just a running lamp in the headlamp, wire a separate wire to power it and run it from a toggle switch.

The green wire is for the turn signal light. The left side is a green/white and the right side is a blue/white. So, connect them to the red wire for left and right turn signals.

As for the tan/orange wire you don't have, that was a fog lamp circuit and as Roger said, must have been deleted. That's why I suggest running a separate wire for that lamp or just leave it alone."

[Roger] "The the supplied lights with the kit have a Red, Green and a Black wire. All the Blacks are a ground. The problem with the Red and Green wires is I have found many of them reversed, in other words the Red wire may be the bright filament or the dim.

I use male female bullet connectors to wire up the lights, makes for easy future body removal and it also lets you easily figure out which is the correct wire for running lights, brake or turn sigs. Plug em in and visually see if they are correct, if OK tape them up and you are done."


Headlight Circuit

lights2.gif (14274 bytes)
- Click to enlarge -

Question: "I am using Richard Oben's turn signal assembly with the switch on the end wired for the high beams using the Volkswagen relay recommended. The wiring harness I'm using is by Painless Performance. Has anyone done this out there? I can't seem to get it to work for the life of me!"

[RR] "There is only one relay as shown in Steve's diagram. The black and orange wire goes to the headlight ON/OFF switch (S1 in Steve's diagram) and from there on to terminal 56 of the Volkswagen relay. Terminals 56a and 56b connect to the low and high beam wires of the harness. Another fused line goes to the relay coil terminal 30. Finally the wire from the dimmer switch (S2 in Steve's diagram) on the turn signal assembly gets connected to terminal S on the relay which is the other side of the coil. I believe the switch in the turn signal assembly is grounded at the housing. S1 turns on or off the headlights. When you pull/push S2, the dimmer switch, it provides a ground path and causes current to flow through the relay coil which toggles the relay to the other position. This switches the headlights from low to high or visa versa. Sorry if I've oversimplified.

What Wade is talking about is another high current relay that does the job of S1. He now has a low current circuit connected to his headlight switch which drives the coil of the high current relay. This lowers the current handling requirements of the headlight on/off switch and, depending on where he has the relay mounted and sourced, keeps the higher current circuit out of the dash and the cockpit."

[RR] "I retract my last post. I tried the part number on the schematic in the Bug City search engine and it came up with the $18.95 part."

[WP] "The VW part # is 111 941 583"


Mini Back Up Light by Randy J.

I just installed my Mini Cooper backup (reverse) light yesterday and if I didn't have to look around for the tiny terminal connectors, it would have been about an hour's job. It's really inexpensive, easy, and looks great!

Anyway, I took a bunch of pictures and decided that I would post a 'howto' here just in case those that follow us can use it.

Thanks to Tony A for the initial information!

Stuff you'll need (or want)

- Mini Backup light

- Tiny push on crimp terminals. I think they're used for small car speakers. (I got mine at an auto parts store. Radio Shack and Home Depot didn't carry them that small)

- Dremel with the sanding drum on it.

- Sabre saw

- Drill motor and a large sized bit or a step drill.

- Sharpie (or equivalent marker)

- Silicone


Step 1.

Get a Mini Cooper backup light assembly from a Mini dealership.

The part number is: 63-22-1-477-678

They cost about 10 dollars depending on where you go and are a really nice part. The pricing has to be a mistake as there is no car part ever that was this nice and cost so little.

Step 2.

Prep the light. As you can see in this picture, there are these little 'ribs' on the light that would prevent you from inserting it in the hole you're going to cut in your body.



30 seconds with the Dremel sanding drum and they're gone like in this picture:



You'll also notice that I cut the plug. My original intention was to solder wires onto it but the lugs are chrome so push on terminals had to be used instead. I put a dab of silicone on top of them to keep corrosion down.



Step 3.

Locate your hole. Make sure you don't hit the trunk floor and that you find center. I decided center was the middle between the two lower quickjack mounting bolts. It may not be exactly center when paint is applied and if not, I'll have my painter move the hole. ...but you get the idea.

Step 4.

Set the light, face toward the car and use a Sharpie to trace around the lens, essentially making an oval the shape of the light.

After you've traced the outline, you need to 'freehand' another oval inside the first. Keep in mind that your actual hole has to be smaller than the outside oval on the light. This will keep the light from pushing right through. Instead, it will stop at the 'flange'.

Here is a picture of the two ovals on the car with a sharpie:



Step 5.

Drill a few holes inside that are big enough to get your sabre saw blade into.

Step 6.

Cut the oval with your sabre saw but leave yourself some room. Don't cut right up to the line, you'll sneak up on the actual size with the dremel.

Step 7.

Use your dremel again with the sanding drum to open up the hole. Keep putting the light in the hole and open it up so that it's a snug fit but not too tight. You'll use silicone on the back side to keep it in.

Here's a picture of the hole all finished:



Step 8.

Wire it! I picked up a frame ground right near the light and soldered my reverse light with a piece of shrink wrap.

Step 9.

Push the light all the way to the 'flange' and put a bead of silicone on the backside to keep it in.

Step 10.

Have a beverage of your choice! Like I said, it was really easy and one of the funnest projects of the build so far!

Here's a picture of how it looks finished:



 

 

 

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