Electrical System Upgrade List

[Bobkat]

Something like 100W H4 was what I meant by "high output".

Great point about the turn signal stalk. I was thinking as much about the headlight switch as the ignition (key) switch. But actually all three (ignition, headlight, and stalk) are at risk of too much load.

Regarding the "flash of headlights" issue. Agreed, the pods are too slow to rise and the headlights are too buried to do any good with the pods down. One possible option might be to install a very small pair of bright LED lights that can be "flashed" instead of the headlights. There's something referred to as "eagle eye" lights (pic below) that would work great for this. I've used them for other functions and they are incredibly effective - very focused and bright. The question is how easy it might be to rewire the feed from the switch on the stalk. I am in the middle of completely revamping the entire wiring system on one of my X's (massive job). And the stalks will be coming up very soon. So I'll try to remember to look into this idea at that time.

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I run these as DRLs. They are very bright and don't stand out like a sore thumb. I 3D printed housings that fit into a factor hole. Would be easy to adapt them for flash to pass.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

I run these as DRLs. They are very bright and don't stand out like a sore thumb. I 3D printed housings that fit into a factor hole. Would be easy to adapt them for flash to pass.

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I've wired them to be both the running lights and turn signals (combined). But I haven't wired them as a "flash to pass" because, 1) it isn't practical to operate as both 'running lights' and 'flash to pass' lights, and 2) the ones I'm using up front (for the 'running' and 'turns') are amber and wouldn't really stand out. However I could add a second pair of white ones for the 'flash' function.

As for mounting, I like to hide everything as much as possible so they will be behind the custom grill.

 

[tvmaster]

@Dr.Jeff

Here's the little headlight schematic. I only have one relay for low beams, and one for high beams - fed with the same fuse (both high and low can't be on at the same time, so all good!) The relays are fed power from one of four fuses on my aux panel tucked beside the fuse panel of my '82 - but secured under the steel cross structure.

I have to double check if this is exactly how I wired it - lol.. I was doing it fairly quickly. So I have a plug that connects into the original headlight socket to get signal for RL1 and RL2 - I didn't want to cut the original harness. I have my own sockets that feed my headlights - and one jumps across to the driver's headlight through the radiator bay. I'll check what fuse size I have.

So if the headlights are off - RL2 has power, fed through RL1 NC (Normally Closed) contacts. If you want to "flash to pass" with the pods down (totally useless on an '82!) - the highbeams will flash, signaling RL2.
When you turn on the headlights, RL1 is energized - closing the NO contacts (Normally Open)
When you turn on the high beams, RL1 is turned off and RL2 is turned on and fed through RL1 NC contacts (if I recall correctly!! - this I need to double check the logic, so I may edit this post later)

Below, you can see that the blue wires are the power feed to RL1 and RL2, and they jump from one to the other.

This is a pretty simple way to get it to work. No need to oversize the wiring, redundancy is nice though - so you could have this on either side of the car - but for me - one relay for high/low was fine.



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So this whole thing works because you added an extra fuse box? Do you know if there's a way to take the lights off the ignition switch by using the existing fuse box (and adding relays I imagine)?

 

[Dr.Jeff]

So this whole thing works because you added an extra fuse box? Do you know if there's a way to take the lights off the ignition switch by using the existing fuse box (and adding relays I imagine)?

I did not add a additional fuse box. Instead I rewired the involved circuits to allow locating the relays at the factory location (in the fuse box). The Fiat relay mounts are modular and clip onto one another. So I clipped additional mounts to allow the extra relays to live there along with the existing ones. However to rewire the circuits so they reach to the fuse box, the dash/steering column controls, the target components, etc, was a massive job. I also had to reorganize the fuse panel to allow fused protection of the added relays. Essentially I rewired the whole car.

 

[tvmaster]

I did not add a additional fuse box. Instead I rewired the involved circuits to allow locating the relays at the factory location (in the fuse box). The Fiat relay mounts are modular and clip onto one another. So I clipped additional mounts to allow the extra relays to live there along with the existing ones. However to rewire the circuits so they reach to the fuse box, the dash/steering column controls, the target components, etc, was a massive job. I also had to reorganize the fuse panel to allow fused protection of the added relays. Essentially I rewired the whole car.

I thought Myron added an extra fuse box? Maybe I answered the wrong post

 

[kmead]

So this whole thing works because you added an extra fuse box? Do you know if there's a way to take the lights off the ignition switch by using the existing fuse box (and adding relays I imagine)?

Yes you can add either two relays (or 4 depending on how you want to break them up) to put the high and low beams on. One could also put the running/parking lights on a relay as well but if you change those to LEDs the load is greatly reduced.

People are replacing the actual fuse box assembly so modern blade fuses can take the place of the old style torpedo fuses to gain reliability and easy replacement of fuses. This entails making some wire jumpers to group the new fuses in the same way the old ones were linked and powered by either constant power or switched power from the ignition switch.

Others are moving some circuits to small satellite fuse boxes to handle specific load elements and have easy access to the battery. The headlights and wipers are the most likely for this addition.

 

[myronx19]

I thought Myron added an extra fuse box? Maybe I answered the wrong post

I did add another fuse box and a direct feed from the battery to it. Works great, headlights are VERY bright! (Hella H4 Halogen). You need to add relays at the very least with a fused line off the battery. There is no need for a fuse panel, however I had other devices I need to power that I do not want on the ignition switch.

I never use my wipers, so I just left that stock - in fact, the wiper motor is unplugged!

 

[tvmaster]

Yes you can add either two relays (or 4 depending on how you want to break them up) to put the high and low beams on. One could also put the running/parking lights on a relay as well but if you change those to LEDs the load is greatly reduced.

People are replacing the actual fuse box assembly so modern blade fuses can take the place of the old style torpedo fuses to gain reliability and easy replacement of fuses. This entails making some wire jumpers to group the new fuses in the same way the old ones were linked and powered by either constant power or switched power from the ignition switch.

Others are moving some circuits to small satellite fuse boxes to handle specific load elements and have easy access to the battery. The headlights and wipers are the most likely for this addition.

I think all I’ll change, or get off the column switch, are the headlights and wipers. Four relays then. LED headlights will go in one day, I’ve got a box of old-style fuses, so the box will stay for now. Running/parking lights will eventually change to LED when the first one blows….

 

[kmead]

I think all I’ll change, or get off the column switch, are the headlights and wipers. Four relays then. LED headlights will go in one day, I’ve got a box of old-style fuses, so the box will stay for now. Running/parking lights will eventually change to LED when the first one blows….

You will be waiting a while the running lights tend to last a very long time.

 

[tvmaster]

I did add another fuse box and a direct feed from the battery to it. Works great, headlights are VERY bright! (Hella H4 Halogen). You need to add relays at the very least with a fused line off the battery. There is no need for a fuse panel, however I had other devices I need to power that I do not want on the ignition switch.

I never use my wipers, so I just left that stock - in fact, the wiper motor is unplugged!

Regarding the headlight relays - I know your car is newer - but if you had to guess, where's the best place to locate the relays if you're doing a headlite mod, aka bypassing the ignition switch. In the headlight wells, or somewhere in the frunk area?
I'm also doing the wiper relay mod, and in a '74 the best place is one firewall just in front of where the washer pump is, so I was thinking a big, four or six relay box would be pointless since the relays may be quite a ways from each other?

 

[kmead]

Regarding the headlight relays - I know your car is newer - but if you had to guess, where's the best place to locate the relays if you're doing a headlite mod, aka bypassing the ignition switch. In the headlight wells, or somewhere in the frunk area?
I'm also doing the wiper relay mod, and in a '74 the best place is one firewall just in front of where the washer pump is, so I was thinking a big, four or six relay box would be pointless since the relays may be quite a ways from each other?

Personally I would put them in a box near the battery. Alternatively they could go in a waterproof box in the headlight wells. You could also use waterproof relays and put them in the wells. Putting them in the wells makes it easy to run basically just the one power wire to the wells, this could be clean and easy to package.

 

[tvmaster]

Personally I would put them in a box near the battery. Alternatively they could go in a waterproof box in the headlight wells. You could also use waterproof relays and put them in the wells. Putting them in the wells makes it easy to run basically just the one power wire to the wells, this could be clean and easy to package.

You mentioned an online site to buy quality relays - care to mention it again, was it Digikeys? If I could stretch the wire length from the wipers, the waterproof box could be positioned between the battery and pump location, but if waterproof relays could fit in the wells, that would be good, especially here were it rarely rains. The only water in there would be when I spill it filling the bag...

 

[pro4art]

Happened to have a "Voltage" problem in my Yugo 1500. I have an extra 3 gauge set in a box, mounted at an angle on the dash top shelf, to read better, one of which is a voltmeter. Always hated using anything electrical extra, beyond just normal lighting at night. My voltmeter would set on 12.5 at speed, and drop down to near 12 with wipers and hi-speed heater fan on. Couldn't use the rear defogger at all, volts went right on 12V. Part of my resto efforts was a full bumper cover, and painting the grille and headlight trim and headlamps. Wanted to get the latest new type of headlights, but had new sealed beams, so passed on the extra dollars and used what I had. I was very surprised I now have 13V at speed with normal lights, I have a hard time believing it, and the only other thing I did was di-electric grease on the connectors. The car already had the BWM, which had made little difference. Now I'm excited to install LEDs everywhere I can, including the turn signal mod.

 

[tvmaster]

I run these as DRLs. They are very bright and don't stand out like a sore thumb. I 3D printed housings that fit into a factor hole. Would be easy to adapt them for flash to pass.

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When you get time, can you post a photo how those 3D housings look from a side-angle? They look great as DRL's for sure. Where and how did you tie these into the electronics?

 

[tvmaster]

@Dr.Jeff

Here's the little headlight schematic. I only have one relay for low beams, and one for high beams - fed with the same fuse (both high and low can't be on at the same time, so all good!) The relays are fed power from one of four fuses on my aux panel tucked beside the fuse panel of my '82 - but secured under the steel cross structure.

I have to double check if this is exactly how I wired it - lol.. I was doing it fairly quickly. So I have a plug that connects into the original headlight socket to get signal for RL1 and RL2 - I didn't want to cut the original harness. I have my own sockets that feed my headlights - and one jumps across to the driver's headlight through the radiator bay. I'll check what fuse size I have.

So if the headlights are off - RL2 has power, fed through RL1 NC (Normally Closed) contacts. If you want to "flash to pass" with the pods down (totally useless on an '82!) - the highbeams will flash, signaling RL2.
When you turn on the headlights, RL1 is energized - closing the NO contacts (Normally Open)
When you turn on the high beams, RL1 is turned off and RL2 is turned on and fed through RL1 NC contacts (if I recall correctly!! - this I need to double check the logic, so I may edit this post later)

Below, you can see that the blue wires are the power feed to RL1 and RL2, and they jump from one to the other.

This is a pretty simple way to get it to work. No need to oversize the wiring, redundancy is nice though - so you could have this on either side of the car - but for me - one relay for high/low was fine.



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When you say the high and low beams aren’t on at the same time….on the ‘74, when you pull the flash-to-pass lever, doesn‘t that engage both high & low beams at the same time, at least before the mod?

 

[kmead]

When you say the high and low beams aren’t on at the same time….on the ‘74, when you pull the flash-to-pass lever, doesn‘t that engage both high & low beams at the same time, at least before the mod?

Yes that is true but how often do you use flash to pass in an X? It will still work that way as you are not changing any of the behaviors of the system. As they are on different fuses and power supply wires it should not be an issue.

 

[myronx19]

When you say the high and low beams aren’t on at the same time….on the ‘74, when you pull the flash-to-pass lever, doesn‘t that engage both high & low beams at the same time, at least before the mod?

Yes, my mod defeats the possibility to have both high and low on at the same time - but that in my opinion makes the flash to pass even more obvious (the flick between high and low is quite substantial even on my H4 Hella lamps).

The original harness would allow you to have both on at the same time - basically melting the headlight and turn signal stalk - lol...

 

[tvmaster]

Yes, my mod defeats the possibility to have both high and low on at the same time - but that in my opinion makes the flash to pass even more obvious (the flick between high and low is quite substantial even on my H4 Hella lamps).

The original harness would allow you to have both on at the same time - basically melting the headlight and turn signal stalk - lol...

Any idea what those Amazon, headlight relay kits would do to this scenario - aka allow or disallow simultaneous illumination? Two relays with those, one for high and low….

 

[tvmaster]

Yes that is true but how often do you use flash to pass in an X? It will still work that way as you are not changing any of the behaviors of the system. As they are on different fuses and power supply wires it should not be an issue.

We actually used it the other night because the high beams aren’t that high? But yeah, unless it were a gang of mopeds, we ain’t passin‘ much. lol.

 

[kmead]

Any idea what those Amazon, headlight relay kits would do to this scenario - aka allow or disallow simultaneous illumination? Two relays with those, one for high and low….

I believe it would behave in the standard OE way as the control signal is from the normal means of operation, meaning it uses the high beam low beam actuation from the existing harness to trigger the relays.

Do you mean to say you haven’t installed that kit yet? What are you waiting for?