I need to take 'little johhny eager' for a 4-5 hour drive but i won't be leaving home till 9pm, currently the lights on him (74 clubman) are s#!thouse.

at this stage the plan is to strap a dolphin torch to the dash or hang it out the window, so it can be turned on or off if traffic comes.

also what else should i take, other than jerry-can, oil, coolant, etc.?

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Daniel the concreter (for now)
1974 mini 1100, fully sick rims, disk brakes, new paint, air conditioning, cruise control,v-tech... wishful thinking

H4 headlights can be had from car and truck wreckers for next to nothing. A pair of 60/90 bulbs and a relay will see you way through the night. Maybe for less than fifty if you shop around.

Mind you thos dolphins have a nice bright zenon globe, they can be rather good.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

For a smaller outlay you could add a relay to the existing circuit - it will probably double the brightness of the sealed beams - and you can change to H4's later.

i could nt beleive the difference it made on my car, i think one of the real problems is the height the mini lights are at, i got the light dishs, lenses and rubber jackets that sit at the back for 10 at the wrecker, out of a landcruiser, then relay and 20amp wire and they were beter than the volvo which are pretty close to plane spotting lights

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any parts for a 76 clubby pm me or ring 0405 329 326

http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=44717

I definitely agree, a relay is the way to go. Just the relay will add a significant amount of light output.

I've got H4's in mine with relays for both high and low beam running 130/100W globes.

For a long trip I'd recommend some spare fluids (oil, water petrol etc.) and a basic tool kit. On a well maintained mini these should get you out of trouble in most cases.

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Mister White Keys
"He who has the most toys, Wins"

1963 Austin Countryman Woody
1964 Morris 850 Van
1967 Austin Countryman
1975 Range Rover 2 Door
2004 Subaru Forester XT
2015 Potts Teardrop Camper
RIP 1990 Citroen BX 16Valve

sealed beams shouldnt be that terrible, maybe the wires need some attention or like everyone is saying a relay might be an idea.

H4's are pretty good value and very easy to change over..
i put some in my mini, and then noticed they were left hand drive lights

H4s + relays are the way to go.

On a roundy you should get the Minisport kit, which has curved glass (not as curved as originalm but very good!) and for a Clubman/Leyland any flat H4 setup will do. In fact I reckon flat looks better on a clubby anyways.

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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

Like everything else a light bulb works best when it is getting the power it needs to work efficiently. Wiring up headlight relays should always be first on the list. Remember Minis are all nearly 30 years old now so one can imagine the state of the contacts in all the switches. Switches pass the current to the lights so if the contacts are not all that good the lights will not be all that good either. Fitting a relay overcomes these problems as the relay becomes the switch supplying the power to the lights. I personally prefere getting the power supply to the relays themselves (Pin 30 on Bosch relays) as close as possible to the Alternator output as that is where the best Voltage on a Vehicle is found. Must remind you here always to fuse a power supply as close to the source as possible. Then what happens is that the original wiring in the car will only be energising the relay coils and the draw through the switches becomes next to nothing. Because of this the switch will last another 30 years too as they will be doing practically nothing from then on. Another important thing is to have an Alternator of sufficient output to cater for all the power demand of your vehicle. Big Sound systems and Amps also need to get the power from somewhere. Original Mini Alternators were not designed with these things in Mind.

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DID I MENTION THAT I AM THE BEST SUPPLIER FOR MINI ELECTRICAL PARTS AND REPAIRS?
"Let us remove your "SHORTS"

The Big issue is Relays. Run decent sized globes (90/100 90/130 etc) without a relay and things can burn/melt really quickly. I used to like the big fused relays that you could get, and made the loom from the relay to the globes from scratch. Use decnt cable and new plugs. I've seen to many burn. Not to mention the sudden blackness when they fail.

As others have said, if $$ are an issue do the relay before a H4 conversion, it will make a big difference to Sealed Beams as well.

what convertible mini said....^^^
... and if getting the power to the relays from the battery cable stud on the solenoid (most convenient source of good voltage) use decent size wire to the relay and the earth from it, and don't forget to fuse the supply.
I like the `New Era' headlamp relays, they have 2 blade fuses (30A) in the front.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

I replaced the headlights in all of my mini's with H4 type from agradepanels for a great price. They work fine, easy to fit and more light output.

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1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

That's them. i couldnt think of the Bloody name. Though when i last used one they had glass fuses in em.

[quote="Spaceboy"]sealed beams shouldnt be that terrible, maybe the wires need some attention or like everyone is saying a relay might be an idea.
quote]

did u do the wiring on the red clubby? that was horendus, cost me 400 bux to get a auto electrition to sort the mess out.

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-jamie-
1963morris 850
1965 solid side van
1994 rover racecar

nope i didnt.

i remember someone had rewired the switches on the dash, and put a blade fusebox in it.

Ok. thanks... so now i need to go out and buy as soldering iron, some wire??? and new globes, sorry guys, i'm a noob. help a brother out or is there a thread i can skip too that has the stupidarse wording to help me through?

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Daniel the concreter (for now)
1974 mini 1100, fully sick rims, disk brakes, new paint, air conditioning, cruise control,v-tech... wishful thinking