Breathing Life Into a Neglected '75

Decided to finish up the wiring with a BWM. Looked at all the posts and grabbed an idea or two from each, so this was a kind of "best of" mashup. Ran an aux. 10ga. to the fuse block and a relay to unload the blue/white and pink wire on the ignition switch. The main 8ga. feed wire took 8ft. to the inch. It takes quite a bit to run it in the tunnel, but it keeps it out of the way and doesn't interfere with taking out the heater box. Ran out of steam today, so later in the week I'll add another relay for the starter solenoid to unload the red wire on the switch.

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Hi. Kind of turned around regarding location of photos three, four and five? Is that a relay of some kind, and where’s it located exactly? That 12v patch panel - if your plan was to get straight, uncomprimised 12v power to the two 12v power leads used by most modern stereo headunits (switched and unswitched) would this be a good way to go?
 
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Hi. Kind of turned around regarding location of photos three, four and five? Is that a relay of some kind, and where’s it located exactly? That 12v patch panel - if your plan was to get straight, uncomprimed 12v power to the two 12v power leads used by most modern stereo headunits (switched and unswitched) would this be a good way to go?
The relay is for "unloading" the ignition switch and not related to your stereo question.

This set-up gives you pure unswitched 12V. Hooking anything up to the buss bar is the same as connecting directly to the positive battery post. On a head unit, the unswitched circuit is a low draw, "keep alive" for the memory, so this would be way overkill for that purpose. Switched 12V will have to come off the fuse block, but you can always use a relay powered off the buss bar if you have the need.
 
The relay is for "unloading" the ignition switch and not related to your stereo question.

This set-up gives you pure unswitched 12V. Hooking anything up to the buss bar is the same as connecting directly to the positive battery post. On a head unit, the unswitched circuit is a low draw, "keep alive" for the memory, so this would be way overkill for that purpose. Switched 12V will have to come off the fuse block, but you can always use a relay powered off the buss bar if you have the need.
hmmm...
 
On a head unit, the unswitched circuit is a low draw, "keep alive" for the memory, so this would be way overkill for that purpose. Switched 12V will have to come off the fuse block, but you can always use a relay powered off the buss bar if you have the need.
That depends on the head unit. Many head units use the unswitched circuit for power, and the switched circuit just as an ignition sense. Convenient if you want to listen to the stereo with the ignition off.
 
That depends on the head unit. Many head units use the unswitched circuit for power, and the switched circuit just as an ignition sense. Convenient if you want to listen to the stereo with the ignition off.
I'm not a radio person (at least not in an X). Seems counterproductive to have to turn the radio off separately every time you shut the car down, but who knows. If my wife's car was setup like that there would be a dead battery in my future on a daily basis.
 
I'm not a radio person (at least not in an X). Seems counterproductive to have to turn the radio off separately every time you shut the car down, but who knows. If my wife's car was setup like that there would be a dead battery in my future on a daily basis.
The stereo turns on / off with ignition either way. A stereo that takes power from the switched circuit will, of course, power down when ignition is turned off. Stereos that take power from from an unswitched circuit, will use the ignition sense input to decide when to turn on and off, but with the benefit that you can override this and turn the stereo on even if the ignition is off.
 
The stereo turns on / off with ignition either way. A stereo that takes power from the switched circuit will, of course, power down when ignition is turned off. Stereos that take power from from an unswitched circuit, will use the ignition sense input to decide when to turn on and off, but with the benefit that you can override this and turn the stereo on even if the ignition is off.
Now that makes sense.
 
My radio uses unswitched power for everything except turning it on. I've got the switched power lead connected to the center terminal of a SPDT switch with the two other terminals going to unswitched power and the ignition switch respectively. The SPDT switch is for activating the radio when the ignition is off since the X does not have an "Accessory" position on the ignition switch.
 
I like the VW approach, it can stay on for an extended period after shut down or any time you hit the power button. This is nice for working on the car out in the driveway without having to have the key in the ignition and in acc mode. It also doesn’t care about the door being opened...
 
Excellent now.
Damn. What exactly did you do? For the first time since last year we drove the car at night, and I’d forgot how practically near to useless the center console illumination is. The level of brightness is so murky, the words on the heater display are barely readable. Care to post anymore info or photos?
 
Damn. What exactly did you do? For the first time since last year we drove the car at night, and I’d forgot how practically near to useless the center console illumination is. The level of brightness is so murky, the words on the heater display are barely readable. Care to post anymore info or photos?
Don't have any photos beyond what I've posted, but this thread has most of the info you need:

 
One of my cars has the stock fiber optic system, with the dimmer bypassed and an LED replacing the stock light bulb. It works very well. I don't need any additional illumination to see the switches etc. YMMV?
 
One of my cars has the stock fiber optic system, with the dimmer bypassed and an LED replacing the stock light bulb. It works very well. I don't need any additional illumination to see the switches etc. YMMV?
I did the same thing - bypassed and tried both LED bulbs, and a brighter incandescent. My problem could be dirt in the one thread that feeds the heating control light. Inspection to follow.
 
I did the same thing - bypassed and tried both LED bulbs, and a brighter incandescent. My problem could be dirt in the one thread that feeds the heating control light. Inspection to follow.
If you are talking about the slider controls, they use a tiny bulb, not a fiber.
 
If you are talking about the slider controls, they use a tiny bulb, not a fiber.
The one bulb feeds ALL the center console lights, correct? Including the large, center display that notes the heating/defrost/air words. That's the display that's partially unreadable. The four other buttons/switches have enough light to be clear, as does the the "Close For Max Def" display. Just the lower 'AIR <> HEAT" display is mucky.
Oh, wait a second, there IS a separate bulb for that one, lower display - correct? I purchased some LED's from superbrightleds for that socket, but they didn't work for some reason.
 
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