As you may remember, I'n getting rid of my heater in my Mini (I'm in Perth, its not under yearly inspections, so don't have a sad ). I'm going to mount my CD player/head unit where the switches are in the centre (with a bit of cutting, as there is a second mounting 'bar' behind the switch plate).

I'm looking at alternatives to the Clubby "brick" switches for the headlights, windscreen wiper and windscreen washer. With a little bit of simple electrical work, I could use toggle switches like these (http://www.thermalproducts.com.au/html/switch_sub/tend_toggle.htm) which are kind of "old school" and I like the fact that they really 'click' on and off. I would use 2 3-prong ON-OFF-ON switches for the the headlights/windscreen wipers (up being 'low', down being 'high', centre being 'off'). If mounted on a custom switch plate (to suit my curvy dash I have planned), with small LEDs or something indicating the switches are on, they could look schmick. Kind of like cockpit switches.

Or I could make it something like this. http://us1.webpublications.com.au/static/images/articles/i1027/102744_4mg.jpg

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Jonathan
http://photobucket.com/albums/y64/FatMaserati/

I cannot understrand why people are still fitting cd units to cars. These days it is easier and cheaper to fit an MP3 player which takes up no space and you can put it in your pocket when you leave the car, use it anywhere and you haven't got a car full of discs and a head unit to get pinched by low life thieving people. I am going to fit a GMINI400 which has a 20gig harddrive and hook it up to an amp which will be hidden. No fancy head unit and the thieves won't look at it twice. It will also play movies if you want that ability.

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Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.

Definately , it's the way I'd go too if I was putting a system in. Though I'm sure there'd be scum out there who'd go for the speakers or tacho etc anyway

A few problems with aftermarket switches though:

A. The wiper switch is a relay of sorts - it controls both the speeds and the park function so (as far as I can remember) the off setting still has a feed to the park spade, and the speed settings cut the park feed off. You can either fit an inline relay or rig up the off setting on the aftermarket switch with a constant feed to park (but from memory this f's up the wiper motor in the long run especialy if you use the fast wipe speed alot as the park speed is slow -- but then my memory is crap so try it it might work).

B. The headlight switch - the same problem. Your park lights have to be on in both settings but thats easy to rig up, just split the park connection.

Oh and the switches on the site are 240v - will this create resistance issues? (probably not and I'l go back to reading my electrics 101 textbook). But I think they are all available from jaycar and Dick Smith elec.

Mike, good to see you're on the same page as me. The problems you have mentioned I have thought about, and I'm going to try a few things to see if they work. I'm just sick of the clunky Clubby switches. I will see if I can get some 12V ones. If I get things to work, I'll make a post about how I did it all in case other people are interested.

PS: I will have to have a closer look at the windscreen wiper switch and nut that out. As you said, splitting the park lamp wire so it feeds to both settings on the headlight switch is simple, and solves that problem at least.

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Jonathan
http://photobucket.com/albums/y64/FatMaserati/

All the old Jags had toggle switches for everything. 3.8 mk2, E type, Mk10, 420G. Find a Jag wrecker and he should be able to help. Just had a thought, they used a rotary switch for the headlights on at least some of them.

_________________
Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.

Ahh, wicked. Thanks!

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Jonathan
http://photobucket.com/albums/y64/FatMaserati/

You may have a problem with the wiper switch, as in it's present setup, it actually joins successive contacts as you flick through the three settings.. Looks like this:



I managed to use a 4-gang rotary switch to replace the switch on soc's mini, but unless you're happy with losing your low-speed position, it's a bit tricky without a similar style switch (as compared to a single-pole, three-way toggle..) If you're happy with losing the low speed, them simply join the bottom two wires for 'off/park', and the top two for 'on'..

I've got the colours written down somewhere at home, if you want me to find them, but it should be fairly easy to buzz out with a multimeter - note down the colours attached to each pin on the switch, take the wires off, switch the switch to off, find the two connected pins, switch it to high speed, find th two connected pins..

Cheers,

Damien

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_-DG-_
'73 Mini Clubman S

Hey a guy in Sydney already has the Jag dash idea covered in a Clubbie. Nice alternative to switches and stuff I must admit and finished off perfectly..

Not my cuppa but its a fair effort.

I bought Narva ones with the metal toggle - I keep breaking plastic bits
Can't remember the part numbers, but look the part - all shiny & BLING !
Oh, and you can get "rocket launcher" style covers for these switches in various colours.
Got a red one for the Nitrous Master Arm switch - the covers also work as a "hit" stop

Believe you can also get ones that have a light up bezel - these can be configured 2 ways:
- light up when park lights are on (useful for driving at night)
- light up only when switch is on (but I prefer the UP=ON / DOWN=OFF setup)

Be warned - most Jag switches were made by Lucas out of that "biodegradeable plastic"
Jags were notorious for their electrics for a reason...

Mike

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Too many cars, and too little time.

I think you will find that Jag switches were OK and reliable.As to the longevity of any plastic bits I don't know. I once saw a dash pulled out of a series 2 XJ6 to fix the climate control. It sure looked like Lucas had designed it and I can understand why they were unreliable. There were a heap of bits left over after it went back together. Actually the switches in the series 2 & 3 XJ's were nice push/push switches.

_________________
Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.