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Jim Adney wrote: >Is that just on the later (71-3) cars that all the power flows thru the >headlight switch? > >On all cars I'd also worry about the ignition switch. Relays are a VERY good >suggestion. I haven't done it yet, but I've wondered if it would be a good idea >even on a stock car, since we see a lot of ignition switch failures as these >cars get older, and the parts are only getting harder to find. > > > Yes, relays are your friend. I would certainly wire anything that uses a goodly amount of power through a relay, using the switch on the control circuit instead of direct-switching the device. Plus, there's some technical advantages to doing it this way, especially for headlamps where you'd want the highest voltage efficiency to reach it. I've been quoting this guy's site on all the other forums I participate on when there's talk of putting Xenon lamps (real and fake ones) on a car, but he's also got a good technical how-to for wiring your headlamps via relays: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html One of my thoughts based on that how-to is to use the wire that powers the headlamp instead to power the control circuit, and wire the headlamps themselves using a higher gauge wire direct to the battery. This should also give the advantage of a) saving the headlamp switch from wear and tear from running the bulbs, especially if running something like an H4 halogen b) giving the best voltage efficiency to the headlamps themselves and c) solving the problem of voltage drops associated to the age of our wiring. Of course, the diagram on the website presumes an alternator. In our case, I think (and someone with better electrical experience than I can correct) it would be best to wire to the battery, using a ring terminal on the terminal post clamp bolt. It's also smart to do something similar to the starter, as Jim stated. Any time you can minimize the amount of power going through a switch is a good thing- and these 4 terminal relays are a helluva lot easier to find than headlamp/ignition switches for our cars. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~