Brown wire surgery for 80 spider

[kolls]

Okey, Do you or do you not have to do the brown wire surgery on 80 F.I. spider .

[adrians]

Kolls,

When I asked the same question a while ago .... I got a big NO from Ron (rlux4), I think, it's not required because of the additional wiring circuit on the F.I. cars.



Adrians

[lanciahf]

Another good idea is to remove the load column switch, caused by the headlights. By adding two relays for the lights.

See http://users.chartertn.net/jseabolt/elect.htm

[rlux4]

My opinion is that it couldn't hurt, but I don't see what improvement it would make. We already have the extra brown wire coming directly from the batter to the dual relay that takes a lot of load off the brown wire at the ignition switch. I'm a carpenter, not an electrical engineer, so I base my opinion on how my wipers run at normal speeds even with the headlights on, which is a law in Califonia.
Ron

[kolls]

Okey no need for the brown wire surgery on my 80 F.I. Use lots of dielectric grease and new connectors and clean the ground connections. But i did notice the white connector from the ignition switch has a brown spot on it where it looks like it has got hot. I read they say to cut that out and solder them connections. Also, i understand the headlight relay trick, but there are 2 ways out there to do that.

1. Put the new relays under the hood and run 12 awg to the buckets. (which i believe you would do this if you want to put different headlights in that pull more amps.)
2. Put the new relays by the fuse box. ( which seems to be the easiest and the best way if you are going to use stock headlights.)

I know, I know, my buddies always give me a hard time, that i over analysis everything. But i like making informed decisions.

[spider2081]

I prefer installing a new fuse block on the drivers side fender well under the hood. I feed the fuse block directly off the alternator with a #10 wire. The fuses are for the new headlight Hi and lo beam relays mounted near to the fuse block. I also install a relay for the starter solenoid and one for the fan. The fan relay is used because there is a fan bypass switch installed below the radio. I plan to install another pair of relays so the windshield wipers also bypass the ignition switch.
I installed my relays 5 years and 15,000 miles ago and have not had a problem with corrosion etc. I felt it was easier to install everything there rather than behind the fuses. The fan bypass switch wires are the only ones I had to pass through the firewall.