I understand your reluctance to burn the wiring further.
But in order to locate the fault you will need to isolate parts and loom wiring down to where the fault is. Given that it is still unclear whether it is load related or if it is a short or faulty connections, you do not have a starting point as you do not know what to look for.
One long winded and labour intense method would be to disconnect every single connection, lamp, connector switches, stalks etc on the lighting circuit including the rear lights and any indicator lamps and test for shorts. However the fact that there may still be a lamp you have missed will make any tests pointless. Also if a short to earth is the problem it may not show until voltage is applied so isolation testing will be a wild goose chase.

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Cheers Dave.

Put a light bulb (such as a test light) in series with one of the battery leads. The bulb should illuminate when current is drawn as well as limiting the current as to not melt the wiring.

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1986 Mayfair (998 auto), 1974 S, 1974 Van, 1972 PMG Van

Too many minis

I know you have already done a lot of fault finding, electrics can be super frustrating. It will be rewarding when you crack it. Just a thought.

When i was having headlight issues i ended up running a completely independent test loom from the switch to the lights - i just took a roll of spare wire and had the wires running out the drivers door. Just so i could isolate the wiring loom from any issues. You coul establish if its the switch or lamps and not worry about frying your loom at least.

In my case it was my switch. I had power and continuity for correct operation - but as soon as it drew any amps for the headlights the switch was dropping its bundle.

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1966 Mini Deluxe - “Gabby” 34 years under restoration and counting...
1970 MGBGT
1959 MGA

If you can make some educated guesses using your experience of what was happening during your tests you could narrow it down a bit. For instance was it getting hot with only side lights or only with low beam or only high beam. That may allow you to isolate and trace that circuit first which may show some evidence.
You could manually and phisically trace the wires in the loom.
Also if you could try and draw the wiring of the swirch and stalk as you said you had rewired from the floor sw8tch.

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Cheers Dave.

Hello.
I use 68 + 86auto's light bulb method when testing old valve and early transistor radios and thought that it would work on the Mini so I tried it with a 21Watt/6Watt stop/tail light bulb (replacing the negative earth strap wire as it was easier to get to than the positive wire). They were off when the light switch was off and on with the parkers or headlights turned on BUT the car lights were so dim that I could not see them.
SO. I tried a simple voltage drop test. With the negative of the multimeter on a grounded bolt and the positive on the light fuse in the engine bay it measured, (over less than one minute);
No load 12.25 volts (old but good battery not used for a week)
Parkers on 12.15 volts
Low beam on 11.9 volts
High Beam on 11.8 volts
Cooperess. You should get roughly these RELATIVE figures if your wiring is correct. If your results are drastically different, let us know (the actual numbers). Less than 11 volts implies a wiring short to earth.
Good Luck Dave2

Checking wiring I have found 3 earth wires but sure where they attach. They are terminated with a ring, so I guess it screws or bolt attaches to the body. This is a VIN wiring loom but I can't find where it is supposed to attach to. Can anyone help me with attaching point.

They go to the speedo.

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1986 Mayfair (998 auto), 1974 S, 1974 Van, 1972 PMG Van

Too many minis

Those wires are attached to the same stud on the back of the speedo where the voltage stabiliser is secured.
Didn't VINWire give you a cheat's sheet for the terminations?
There, I've broken my NY resolution.

I think on some speedos there might have been a dedicated earth screw/stud

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1986 Mayfair (998 auto), 1974 S, 1974 Van, 1972 PMG Van

Too many minis

I have never seen one. It has always been the same stud as the VS.

Maybe my problem with head light earthing wires & switch getting hot is the old fashioned wiring bullet connectors from the head lights is not making a good enough connection with the new VIN wiring connectors.

Cooperess
A good switch will only get hot if too much current flows. Poor connectors elsewhere in the wiring might get warm or even hot, but will reduce the current and so should not effect the switch temperature.
Try the voltage tests at the fuse box. They will show if the currents through the wiring are roughly correct and give your Ausmini helpers a chance to solve your problem.
Dave D

I wouldn't say that the bullet connectors are old fashioned. You can buy the same type connector from the likes of Narva. You just have to make sure the male goes all the way into the female. I use a small flat bladed screwdriver the ensure it has gone full depth. That always ensure a good connection for me.

Not that I think it is your issue but are the bullets a tight fit? Good ones basically require a tool to install.

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1986 Mayfair (998 auto), 1974 S, 1974 Van, 1972 PMG Van

Too many minis

DavidE & 68+86auto Thinking I will need to change connectors for spades rather than the bullets. The bullets sold nowadays are far too long and can't fit end to end without them hanging out.