577
MGBGTV8 Halogen headlight conversion with
twin relays
Following our recent V8NOTE572 on installing an H4 Halogen headlamp
upgrade to replace the original sealed beam lights, a further
upgrade involving installing twin relays to remove the heavy
electrical load on the ageing main lighting switch and the stalk
dip/main beam switch was highlighted as a very worthwhile
but subtle upgrade. Here Peter Spurrs contributes a note
describing his installation of the relays using individual parts
purchased from an auto electrical supplier.
H4 Halogen headlight upgrade for an MGBGTV8 - see V8NOTE572
What bulbs are suitable for a headlight upgrade? V8NOTE578
Relays - what are they and what do they do? V8NOTE579
What does the headlight relays & wiring kit from Moss
Europe look like? Note
Wiring
diagram & diagram
(Bentley)
Posted: 200220
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Halogen headlights
The photo above compares the main beams with Halogen
bulbs and the original sealed beam units. The offside headlight
is a Cibié H4 unit with an Osram Nightbreaker Laser bulb.
The nearside has the original sealed beam light. The improvement
is obvious. The steps necessary for removing and replacing the
headlights are covered on page 40 of the MGBGTV8 Driver’s
Handbook. Using a replacement H4 Halogen headlight unit is described
in V8NOTE572.
Installing and testing the twin relays
In V8NOTE577 Peter describes the steps necessary for installing
and testing twin relays and he also provides a wiring diagram
showing where and how to make the necessary connections for
the relays in the existing wiring loom. See the full note: V8NOTE577 |
Relays
The advisability of fitting relays to the main and dipped beam
headlight circuits is covered in detail elsewhere. It boils
down to an electrical load of 10 amps being fed through the
very small contacts on the indicator/dip stalk switch. Using
modern relays to switch the load on and off avoids possible
damage to the ageing switches. Approaching 50 years old in most
MGBV8s, protecting that switch using the relays is a sensible
upgrade.
Third party ready made relay kits are available - Moss
Europe has twin relays all pre-wired for installation at £36
(February 2020). Peter went for another option which is to buy
the relays and to wire them oneself. At the time of writing,
a six-pack of five terminal fused relays was available for £12
on the internet. Two are used for the installation and the others
can be carried as spares in case of failure.
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