So my mini has a standard electrical setup. Nothing has been added to give it more power, but plenty of things seem to rob the little thing of much needed electricity.

My headlights seem to dim quite a bit at idle. My idle isn't too low... just the alternator isn't putting out enough electricity to keep them bright and shiny when idling. This may be due somewhat to the fact that I have 4 wipac lights up front, but even with them off, it seems to still draw too much.

I have a decent sound system and a modern head unit in the car. It really shouldn't draw too much more than the stock setup, but maybe it is.

Here are the questions...

1) Is there a way to safely upgrade to a good amount more amps coming out of the charging system? i.e. a higher amp alternator. I'd like to do this without frying every wire in the car if at all possible. I CAN (and plan to) run some 0 gauge wires or better from engine bay to the battery. That is the plan at this point.

2) Can I get a better battery such as an Optima Yellow/Red top battery to drop into the car? Is it the standard sized 12v battery casing or will I have to do some modifying?

3) If I do choose to upgrade the headlights to a 55/80w halogen setup, what wires and relays would I need in order to do so.

3.1) If I choose to go with an H.I.D. setup (which requires less voltage because of ballasts) what sort of wire upgrading /relays would I then need?


I'm not positive on the state of my mini's electrical wiring, but I'd like to keep it in good condition, or at least not make it worse. I'm VERY good with electrical, so I know that some of the switches and wires may not be able to hold the higher voltage. So what kind of new wiring and relays would yall recommend?

And PLEASE... any way that you guys know of to get some more juice to my little lunch box of a car... share it. :D

 

As long as you see a little over 14 Volts with a good battery and not too much load, it's more Amps that you need, not more Volts.

That vintage auto probably has a voltage regulator that could be adjusted to get that 14+ Volts and higher Amp output.

A slightly smaller Alternator drive pully (use caution as Corvette's used to have extra large pullys due to high engine RPM).

A higher output Alternator (like 60 Amp, instead of 40 Amp) might be needed for a lot of load. Belt slippage could be a problem.

Check (and prevent) corrosion in wires and connections, especially friction terminals and the wire inside the insulator, near the terminals.

If the car has lived in a high humidity climate, you might find a lot of the copper wire turned green or black inside insulation
and friction terminals may need soldered terminals.

The heavy gauge wire from the battery will mainly cure starter sluggishness.

 

Thanks Pilotart. I found my mistake. I MEANT higher amps. I'm currently looking into a 90am alternator off of a saturn that a lot of the classic guys seem to be having a lot of luck with.

I want the higher gauge wire and a better battery because the car is a bit sluggish on start up. And a better battery (optima) will help me out with these cold starts.

 

I run a Saturn 90A alternator in mine. It is an simple fit and ends these issues when used with a good battery. The Lucas was only 35-45 A. I power 4 7" Lucas 700 Flamethrowers (2 with 100W bulbs)

http://www.teglerizer.com/alternator/index.html


Good advice on checking for corrosion at the fuse box (cheap to replace & they go bad often), solenoid connections and grounds.

 

Yup. That's exactly what I was talking about in my post just before yours. Thank you for the link though. Should make re-clocking and fitting the piece a little easier.

 

Minimad. Would the alternator in that link also work on my mini? They said it was off a '78 camaro. hmmm... The plot thickens. I'm going to try to find the saturn unit, but if I can't.. I'll look into options.

 

This may work.

http://mgccars.com/96_amp_alternator_upgrade.htm

Also,
Alot of those older gm alternators were very similar if not the same. If you feel like tinkering you could probably pick one up easily. They are like 8 bucks at the local u-pull it junk yard around here. Those old gm alternators were only like 40 amp anyway so why bother with that unless you spend the bucks for a high powered upgrade. In that case just get the saturn one anyway.

 

wow. GREAT find. I may be ordering this sometime VERY soon.

 

google classic Mini saturn alternator conversion, or 365 day search Minimania message boards.

 

lol. I'm on minimania when I'm not on here. I'm one of the two threads that comes up. haha

 

Is there a link for this Saturn conversion?

 

yes, but I need to search at home. will get back tonight to you

need to swap to a single belt pulley (parts store can do this), change/combine a couple wires - that's it it aligns & bolts up easily. I'll see where I got mine online with pulley swapped.

 

as with many projects you can do more work and save some bucks...

or, go for a more expensive but less painful option

Seven has tho 80 amp alt' used in later cars and says it is a direct bolt in replacement (stock alt is 35 amp in earlier cars with alt's)

Minis used this 80 amp alternator from 1985 on. They are direct bolt-in replacements for alternators used on earlier cars. fan and pulley are included. Sold outright, no core exchange required.

$199

 

Here is the Saturn info:

http://www.minimania.com/web/startre.../msgthread.cfm

I think I paid $129 new incl shipping for mine with the pulley changed over.

 

If you're not in a hurry I could look to see if the u-pull junkyard by my house has a early 90s saturn and grab you an alternator for cheap. I'm not going to do it this weekend though because we aren't going to break 10 degrees till next week.

 

I though the car was an 89' so it should already have the 80 amp??? Did you take it to auto zone or advance and have them test it to see what kind of power its putting out? No sense in putting in another alt if thats not the problem.

 

Thank you so much!

 

I'm beginning to wnder if Classic Motorsports plants these questions to feed their articles.

Classic Motorsports March 2009 arrived in my mail today - page 97

"The proper way to ungrade your British Classic to a modern alternator"

not specific to any car but a good "how to" IMHO, and has a few points to ponder...like, what is the impact of pumping 60 amps into a harness (old harness) built for under 40 amps?

and btw Stratman : I though the car was an 89' so it should already have the 80 amp??? Good catch and good question .... If that's the case then an 'upgrade' sure ain't the needed path.

 

I might need to make a trip to Barnes & Noble. lol.

And I'll be checking the amperage coming out of my classic's alternator first. If it IS an 80 amp, then my ONLY reason for a swap would be simply if the alternator loses the voltage and amperage at idle too much. I'm REALLY thinking that it's the battery, to be completely honest. It's not a new battery, and I have NEVER had an issue with an Optima. It seems as though my battery won't hold its charge because cold cranking is very sluggish.. and that's all battery, not alternator.

 

Sorry to resurrect an old thread...but I thought it was better than a new one. And I'm a few steps before the first post (no light bar added yet), so I am trying to plan things out before I get in over my head.

What I would like to add soon (this year):
- 2 or 4 light bar on the front bumper

What I would like to add later (maybe next year):
- Two modest speakers (less than 200 watts total)
- Small wattage amp with line-in
(Just to listen to music through an iPod loud enough to hear over the engine )


Based on this thread and one other thread (possibly on another site ), I saw people mention that the original wiring harness and alternator would not support a set of driving lights. After I read that I panicked a little bit and figured that next year I would just have to bit the bullet and upgrade the alternator and wiring harness before I added lights and sound...so I would just put everything off.

What can I do, or what should I ask of someone more automotive-inclined to see if the alternator is decent enough and if the wiring harness is okay? Out of all of the wiring I have inspected so far, other than a little grime on a connector here or there, everything looks clean/new (some connections had some nice shiny "new penny" copper still).

Thanks!

 

Well it depends on what alternator you have and year of the car, engine, a few things. But for the most part... getting a new alternator (Saturn one works best) will significantly increase your amps. This will set you up to be able to run a LOT more with the little car. As for the wiring not handling the load of the lights.. this is true. But what you do is use relays to trigger the lights, and then use upgraded wiring (thicker gauge) to run the higher volts/amps to the lights.

Here's a wiring diagram for it. And it's not that hard to do. This will help you keep the load off of the stock switches too so you don't burn them out.

 

Thanks for clearing that up for me, I didn't want to put it off if I didn't need to...and I didn't want to be a jacka$$ and do it anyway without asking someone

Thanks for the diagram too, I just saved it in my "Mini" file

 

No worries on that. When I bought my mini they were already wired up. I was really worried that the previous owner had done it wrong. He had done a LOT!! of things wrong before and so the fist thing I did was sit down and look at how everything SHOULD be wired.. and how everything actually was wired. Thankfully, he probably did just as you and actually consulted the "Professionals" here about wiring.

And LOL at you saving it in your "Mini" file. I have a "Mini Documents" file for all my online receipts and diagrams and technical things for Tink. Keep asking good questions like these and you'll get good responses. Even if you think it's resurrecting an old thread or you might "Think" it's a dumb question... just ask. there are a lot of knowledgable guys here that want to help you out.