blown 87

I have not read all of this thread, but I have some questions.

The first is the placement of the relays, they sure look to be upside down in a place that is bound to get soaked when driving in the rain.
That in turn will end up with standing water in the cups where the relays sit, not good.

The second thing is, using a fuse, I have never liked using a fuse, it would seem that a circuit breaker would be a better idea on the headlamp circuit, like some American cars had at one time.

I am sure Alan will educate me on why my concerns are not valid, and that would be a great thing if he would.

Speedtoys

Water:

I thought so too..but..I cant say I saw a lot of evidence of water in there at all. Very little dirt, corrosion, etc.

blown 87

There is a hole in the bottom of the bucket, not so with the relays.
I have seen corrosion under the buckets before, so they do get a lot of water in them.

Speedtoys

Would that be free water, or condensation corrosion?

I had some flaky condensation corrosion, but no evidence of standing water mess.

Alan

While some water will make it in around the lens - at least on mine this is a tight and stepped gap - I'd expect any water that did make it in will simply run down the inside of the buckets - this drains well out of the bottom of the bucket - whether the lights are up or down. This location actually is likely drier than most locations in the engine compartment.

As to fuses I recommend fuses in the buckets because they are easy to change in this location (ditto with the relays). In this case you also need a (bigger) fuse in the supply line to protect the feeder (esp since it flexes in this application).

Further I recommend separate fuses for left & right side feeders and also separate fuses for high & low beams per side. The point of this is that any single failure only takes out (at most) one side of lighting. Given the relay sockets - 2 simple jumpers replacing the relays can reestablish direct (stock) connections by just removing the bucket (3 screws). Its faster & easier to do this than to access the stock CE panel fuses.

Alan

blown 87

No standing water, just surface corrosion on some of the parts.
There will be no standing water in the buckets due to that big hole in both ends, but the same can not be said for the relay.
I wonder if they make a water prof version of these relays?

When I did Euro conversions on my last three cars, which were not 928s I did "Relay the Relays" and on two of them made a cover to keep as much liquid water off them as I could.

I have to say that even when aimed right, the stock lights on a US spec 928 are pretty chitty for a car that can run 150 plus.

As a side note, what aiming tools are you folks using?

I am using the less expensive ones from Snap-On, and they seem to work very well.

PS, I am not trying to be critical, just trying to help make this perfect for you, and for me, cause I a going to be doing this very soon.

blown 87

This may very well be the case.

blown 87

This is the set that snap on rebadges and sell to aim the headlamps, or it sure looks like it, minus the fancy plastic case.

http://www.handsontools.com/Kent-Moo..._campaign=BROI

Alan

Herman - do your foglights and driving lights actually work correctly?

Foglights on with low beam only - (when switched on),

Driving lights on with highbeams always...

(or did you already switch to the ROW foglight configuration?)

blown 87

What exactly is the ROW light configuration Alan?
And how does it differ from the US version?

Also, what can be done to improve the foglight/driving light systems?

Alan

ROW Foglights stay on with high beams - USA do not. This is accomplished with a bridge in place of the USA versions secondary foglight relay.

I have HID's in my foglights in ROW configuration - this is actually required because the HID's do not cycle well - on re-ignition they are dim - they do also need some adaptations because they are so much brighter - blanking of the reflectors to limit upspill left.

I also have ~65W H3's in 6000K color temp aux headlights to match the 6000K HID fogs.

Since both can be on at the same time you cannot go too high on total power in these plastic housings - especially if you run Stongard covers (as I do).

I do also actually have real ROW fog/aux HL lights swapped in in place of the USA ones - these have different lenses - the locations of the fog/Aux HL are swapped from the USA versions - fogs are on the outside - WHERE THEY SHOULD BE .

DOT regulations on lighting were so screwed up then as to not even be be funny - because they are so xzyzxzx! awful. Honestly - who with a brain would ever put fog lights on the inside....?

Of course local relays & fuses also help here as with the headlights.

Alan

txhokie4life

Where are you guys getting your electrical hardware. Relays, online fuses, wiring, etc.
I've got an 82 euro that I am in the midst of restoring and the lighting is atrocious.

I'm also considering a 200-250amp alternator. The 90 amp isn't cutting it
Barely 12v maybe a tad more at the post at idle with elec fans.

I still need to attack ground points as well.

Thx,

Mike

Rob Edwards

I like Waytek wire for SPST and SPDT relays, fuse holders, fuses, wire, and connectors of various description, per Alan's suggestion on this board in the past.

http://order.waytekwire.com/cgi-bin/...EBID(S0020):01

Alan

Mike - be careful - you may not get what you think you are getting.

A 200A alternator is an alternator that can provide up to 200A at high RPM.

You don't need it.

What you need is an alternator that can provide more amps at low (idle) RPM. There are at least a few 200A alternators that will provide less than a stock Bosch alt at idle - even though they can provide ~200A at high RPM...

Alan

shadowknight

great thread will be adding to my bookmarks.