I've found this guy to be a wealth of information on auto electric stuff. A little on the technical side, but very good detailed information.

//www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html

They are called New Era relays, google the part number to see if you can get them over there, I think Haigh sticks their own sticker over the New Era one.

There are some on Ebay in Aus at the moment.

They are the easiest realys to wire up and fit.

Looks like there is no US distributor for these relays:

arentID=308">//www.haigh.com.au/index.php?option=showproduct&arentID=308

They do seem like a nice tidy package.

Mur, you may be thinking of my connection failure on a relay block(s). It was only my second use, but 6-8 months after the installation of the relays. I found that by hanging the relays by their attached tabs, it allowed the connection blocks to hang freely and wiggle, thereby causing the bad connections and the subsequent relay burnout.

I abandoned the relay tabs and mounted them (kinda mickey mouse style) via a metal plate holding the connection blocks. This way they wont wiggle and the relays most likely wont wiggle much as they're just sitting in the connection blocks now. see pic

miniDave, I like those relays!

dan

This my setup running 2 x  double relays - one for for main and high beam, and one for the extra driving lights.

Nice wiring diagram from Doug, but note that the horn section will vary depending upon whether your horn has a single wire to it (grounds through the horn) or two wires.

Cheapo Canadian Tire relays failed on me after just 4 years of regular use.  erhaps Swift Justice can chime in on how long he went before a wire terminal failed in the connector block he was using and his headlamps failed-at least I think it was his car that had this issue.

Still, this is always a project that I would encourage people to undertake with any hardware, as it will give you a feel for the subtle challenges of making the parts you have actually work together; making things look neat and tidy.  The first several times I did this, by the time I finished and tested the system I pretty much wanted to start over from scratch.

Thanks for all the replies.  I figure I will try and do it myself as relays are pretty cheap.  Thank JEG for the diagram, that is exactly what I was looking for.

My second question is do I need to upgrade/upsize the power supply wires to the lights?  Is it worth my time to do this?

"headlamp relay kit but Moss Motors does. It's their part number 117-515 for $39.95..."

That's a pretty good markup on a relay, few metres of wire and a few connectors....  Bosch 30 amp minirelays were about 8 bucks last week...

Cheers, Ian

DKLawson's diagram:

Ping Joe Schott (Towjoe on here) he makes up a kit that is easy peasy and well put together for a decent price, presuming MM does not sell one.

I'm not sure if our host sells a headlamp relay kit but Moss Motors does. It's their part number 117-515 for $39.95. They just sent me their British Motoring magazine and that was the 1st thing I saw when I opened it. I thought to myself, maybe you ought to get that for the Mini.

Use this and your job will become so much easier and will be a clean installation.  I have used it on 2 cars so far..

//www.britishcarconversions.com/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=66&category_id=19

Pretty easy. You'll need a relay on both the high and low beams so buy 2 ... I use Canadian Tire ones. There is a wiring diagram on the package that explains the spade connectors. You need to find  a blue/white wire and a blue/red as they come out of the main wiring harness on the left (looking in the engine bay) side of the grill. They will plug into a 4-way bullet connector and there will be 2 similar colour wires that go from the connector to the head lights. These are the wires that are the inputs to the relay. The output wires of the 4-way bullet go to output connectors on the relay. For the power wire to the relay (you'll one for each relay) run a wire from the battery side of the starter relay. Put an inline fuse in this wire with a 10amp fuse. The relay has spade connectors so you'll need to repklace the bullet connectors with spade connectors. I usually solder all my connections but a crimped connection is good enough. It helps to have a wiring diagram if you don't one I can send you a scan OR buy a Haynes manual.  Attach the relays to the left side (Looking in the engine bay) inner fender.

Hi guys,

I hope someone here can help me.  I want to add relays switches for the headlights.  I am a bit intimadated by the lucas electrical system as any mods that I have done in the past, which seem simple to me have cause other various items to fail.  I think I know how I will do it but still would be nice to have some confirmed successes.  The mini is a '77 Canadian edition.  Anyway any help is greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Christian