Plug for the GS Headlight Relay Kit

[ventura ace]

I can see clearly now! That’s right, the Gregory Smith Headlight relay kit. My family surprised me with the kit on Christmas. For those of you that may not know what I’m talking about, our Fiats come from the factory with headlight wiring that goes through the ignition switch (even though you don’t need the ignition turned on to power the lights). The problem with this is that the electrical contacts in the ignition switch and headlight switch degrade over time, especially with the arcing from the high current needed for the headlights. The headlight relay kit changes this in a good way. It uses low current thru the ignition and headlight switches wiring to open and close relays that provide a direct path of high current from the battery / alternator to the headlights.

Whereas the voltage to the headlights was probably down around 9 – 10 volts for my 39 year old original headlight wiring, the relay kit jumps the headlight voltage right up to almost full battery / alternator voltage (13+ Volts). The increase in headlight brightness was remarkable. Used to be, I’d have to turn the headlight switch on / off just to assure myself that the headlights were indeed on, and it didn’t really matter how the dim/bright switch was set. Now, I’ve got beams shining brightly in front of the car. Cars coming toward me are actually flashing their lights to let me know the brights were bugging them!

I’ve read about this highly recommended modification many times over the last several years, but didn’t do anything because I’m not all that keen on electronics or knowing how to find the correct stuff to do the job. There have been several threads offering good instructions and links to sites for buying relays and such for about $30 - $40, but I was still overwhelmed with the challenge of finding the correct wire, the correct end connectors to mate with existing wiring, making good crimp connections, figuring out where to put all that extra wiring without cluttering up my clean engine bay, etc. Then, I saw Greg putting in the mod for several folks up in Oregon and was surprised with how easy he made it look.

Greg’s fantastic price of $70 (including shipping) gives you everything you need, including a set of very clear, complete instructions. The parts are rugged and suitable for the operating environment. The kit includes an in line fuse for convenience and safety. The wire lengths are perfect for anywhere that you would want to mount it. The product worked exactly like it should the first time I powered up. The kit looks very neat for prominent display, or if you like to keep things looking original, it’s small enough to be tucked away and out of sight, like so:

(click to enlarge)

Can’t find it, huh? It’s in the little access cavity for the top of the passenger side front shock. You can see the red and black power and ground wires disappearing under the WW bag, and the black wireloom routed behind the battery that takes the juice over to the driver side headlight. On the driver side, the pic shows my stock headlight cable in front of the horns, connecting to Greg’s kit wires out of sight in front of the radiator.

(click to enlarge)

You can contact Gregory at gfs@gregoryfsmith.com. Thanks Gregory!

[mdrburchette]

Very nice, Alvon. I've been going back and forth on whether to do this upgrade on my cars and you've got me convinced that it's something I can handle. Thanks to Gregory for putting all we need in a pretty little package!

[ROOK1]

I did this upgrade using the plugs and a couple of relays from my parts car, but for $70 I would have probably just bought the kit. It is amazing what a difference it makes. Does this kit plug into the harness in the engine compartment or at the headlight ends? It's hard to tell from the pics.

[So Cal Mark]

$70 sounds steep to me, The relay has a list price of about $14 (but can be found for about $7) but I suppose if it makes the installation easy it's a good deal for a diyer

[ventura ace]

I admit that $70 sounded steep to me at first, too, which is one reason that I took so long to take the plunge. But after I studied it for a bit, I realized that $70 was saving me money, and headaches. 2 Relays at $14 each (or as low as $7 if you shop around to find a discounted offer). Wire. What size? Stranded, . . . solid, . . . what type of insulation? How much to buy? You probably need to buy a small spool of it anyway, to get enough for the job. If you want different colors to make it color coded, as Greg's are, then you need to buy several spools of wire. Connectors. What size? Probably need to buy a package of them unless you can find some place that sells them singly. In-line fuse -- now where do I get that, and for what size fuse? Rest assured that it would take me at least 2 trips, and to several different stores before I could find all these parts. How much time and gas for all that? Crimping the connectors: need a proper tool for that, or the connector may not stay on the wire. If you don't have the tool, then that's another expense, or another trip to go somewhere to ask somebody to crimp it for you.

I imagine it takes Greg about 1 hour to measure out the wire lengths, strip the ends, solder and shrink wrap the appropriate wires to connect the fuse holder and relays together, install the connectors, wrap it up in a nice package, along with the instructions, and get the package sent out.

Since electrical stuff is not my forte, and I don't have many electrical items laying around. I saw the $70 as a bargain for me. I didn't have to reinvent anything. It won't necessarily be a cost saver for everybody, especially if you are more familiar with the in and outs of what to buy for electrical projects, and have some of the items in house already.

Regardless of whether you buy a prepackaged kit, or use your own skills to put one together, you'll really appreciate the difference in lighting when you are finished. And your ignition switch won't be as likely to die an early death!

[kristoj]

Alvon,

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Time is money. Looks like a nice clean, stealthy installation. How long did it take you?

[ventura ace]

John,
I would guess about 1/2 to 1 hour for installation. I took a good bit more time than that, though, for a minor complication I found when routing the wires over to the driver side headlight, in front of the radiator. First, I loosened the 2 upper radiator support nuts and tipped the radiator backward so I could route the wires. Then, I saw the bug collection in there, and decided to pull the front grill, which meant pulling chrome in front of the grill, which meant pulling the bumper overriders . . . . you know how that goes!

Here's the bugs we collected in crossing the country twice last summer:

and that's a new radiator that I installed in June '08!



Ya think the big ones are from Texas??

[htchevyii]

I've been meaning to order this $26.00 kit from Classic Industries. I like the factory style plugs.
http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll ... Z50000136e

[Flyingthere]

Great looking engine compartment, as for the bugs, they looked a little small to be Texas bugs! or were you real close to the boarder they may have been strays from New Mexico.

[jimincalif]

Let there be light!

I installed the GS relay kit tonight, what a great improvement! I can actually see! And the hi-beams actually make things brighter, not darker anymore. Two thumbs up!

[joelbert2k]

When I first got my spider last year I had been reading all about the electrical problems that our cars have. So 2 things that I did to help remedy things right away were the "brown wire fix" and install relays on the headlights. The only time I drove the car at night was when I brought her home, and that was in the rain. Only 1 headlight worked and it was pretty pathetic so I don't really have anything to compare to but they are nice and bright now.
I used most of the original wiring and came up with a very compact setup that mounts near the fuses. The only wire that I had to run,of any length, was the main power line to the relays. I pulled that off of the alternator. I did not put a fuse in it a I worry about that. Could you tell me what size fuse is in the GS kit, Alvon? If I had to guess I would think that it would be around 20A or so since the fuse panel has 8A per light.
Joel

[ventura ace]

Greg's kit has a 30 amp fuse. The relay kit makes a night and day difference in the lighting!

Alvon

[spiderrey]

so does anyone have a pic of this kit, and whats the brown wire mod?

[joelbert2k]

Thanks Alvon. I'll make that fix as soon as I can.

Spiderrey, if you search the electrical section you can find numerous post about the brown wire fix.
Here's a link to a FLU procedure that details it pretty good.
http://flumichigan.italiancarclub.com/T ... urgery.pdf

Joel

[ventura ace]

Sorry, I didn't think to take pictures of the parts before I installed it, and I installed in a way that it is hidden (see pictures of hidden instalation at the start of this thread. You can contact Gregory at gfs@gregoryfsmith.com, and I'm sure that he'll be glad to provide a picture and more information. He's installed a good many of these for people at Fiat gatherings like the Oregon camping event, and probably has a picture or two of some of the installations.

What you get is 2 relays, and in line fuse, all the necessary wiring and connectors for mating to your existing wiring and to the alternator, plus easy to follow instructions. It's quick, easy, plug and play. You can probably put something together yourself for less than the $70 price if you know what to look for, but Greg has done all the homework and simplified it for you. Well worth the price.

Alvon