Leoni headlight relay kit and fog lights

[Mike Wilson]

Question:

I have Joe Leoni's headlight relay kit and the car, a T-6 coupe, has fog lights. On his diagram, it states that the kit is to be used without the fog light relay. I'm assuming that using his kit negates the need for the fog light relay. However, I'm completing a restoration and, trying to be authentic, I installed a fog light relay in it's proper place above the fuse block. I had the headlight relays mounted behind the firewall inside the car, routing the wires through to the fuse block.

Is there a way to use both Leoni's relay and the fog light relay?

Thanks in advance.

Mike

[John Brooks]

Mike

You can take the output from the original relay to the coil on Joes relay. But why? If you original relay works, wire it to the lights like the factory did.

[Mike Wilson]

Thanks for the info, John. To update, Ed Rutherford of Klasse 356 worked on it most of today. Not only were the relays mis-wired (fog lights staying on with the high beams, etc., etc.) but it was missing the power wire from the battery to Joe's relays.

Everything now works as it shoud and a huge thanks to Ed!

[Al Zim]

Zim's sells a relay kit for both 6 and 12 volts that is mounted inside the headlight bucket. There is a power wire from the battery to power the relay inside the headlight bucket. Everything else operated through the controls that are original to the car. While you are thinking about it, consider changing your car to 12 volts using a VW alternator. This is a bolt on swap for the engine then a lot of light bulbs for the rest of the car. We have everything in stock. Currently there is a shortage of 6 volt armatures made in Europe. We can modify the alternator to be a 6 volt item. With 12 volts and 60 amps you can run the car with everything on and still charge the battery. We will be glad to answer your questions regarding conversion and other more obscure situations. al zim

[Bruce Smith]

Does anyone have the wiring instructions for the relay kit?

[Al Zim]

Type: Wiring Bosch Relays into Google. This will give you the reference to what the contacts do. The Bosch Handbook is excellent in this area also unfortunately it is expensive and contains more material than you will ever need. al zim

[David Jones]

Bruce, PM sent not sure if it was the right E-mail, I have three for you.

[Greg Bryan]

Here's a schematic for the relays

[Harlan Halsey]

The problem with the 6v headlight system is that the current path is quite long: power current flows from the battery to the fuse block, to the light switch, to the dimmer switch (located on the floor of an A car), back up to the fuse block, through a fuse, then to the headlight on the front of the car. This long pathway resulted in about a .5 v drop which significantly dimmed the headlights because you only had 7.2 v.to start with.

The old school solution, which my Convertible D had in 1970, is to locate a relay as close to the headlight as possible, and run a 12 ga. power wire direct from the battery to the relay, and from the relay to the headlight. The original headlight power wire becomes the relay control wire. Thus the original circuit carries only the small current to energize the relay, not the headlight power.

Back when they did the Convertible D, relays were large and wouldn't fit in the headlamp bucket so they put them in the corners of the battery box area. Today, I think relays are available which can handle the current and fit behind the headlight. I think this is a better solution.

[David Jones]

The answer is LED lights. Lower amp draw therefore less volt drop so brighter lights along with less load on the generator.

[Al Zim]

Harlan: Zim's has been selling the kit you describe for over 5 years. I am too old to remember prices so give us a call and we can ship the same day. al zim

[Neil Bardsley]

Currently there is a shortage of 6 volt armatures made in Europe. al zim

Are you sure this is correct? The chap that rebuild my 6v generator found it was actually 12v with a 6v regulator so they just had the armature rewired/reworn to 6v. They are happy to do this for anybody.

[Al Zim]

Neil: We only use new parts in our generator rebuilding. The downside for the customer, if generator problems exists is a considerable amount of time and or money lost to rectify the situation. If you break down in Lukachukai, New Mexico there is no one to help you. al zim

[Wes Bender]

Beg to differ Al. Lukachukai is in ARIZONA, in Apache County. I'm in Apache County in the summer months and am listed in the TAN, so I guess I'm here to help them..........