i have a aftermarket set of lights that i want to come on when the car is running with out having to run a switch .. is there anywhere under the hood that has a 12 volt power supply when the car is on that i cabn splice into ???

much thanks..

 

You want the lights on all the time, or just when the other lights are on?

Either way, use a relay so you're not drawing too much extra amps though a factory wire that wasnt designed for it.

If you want them to come on with the other lights, then you could tap into a side marker or park light wire, run that tap to one side of a relay,ground on the other, then 12v from the power dist center into the relay, and out to the new lights. Relay draws little amps to activate, so no overloading a factory wire, and the new lights will then get juise directly from the battery.

If you want them on all the time while key is on, do the same thing, only tap into a wire that only has 12v with key on. www.austinthirdgen.org has wiring diagrams for almost every 3rd gen under in the tech articles.

 

my goal is to have the lights on when ever the ignition is on ... the lights are LED so they draw almost no amps at all... so im looking for a powwer source thats on when the ignition is on .. im no good with wiring diagrams..

 

OK - I looked at the wiring diag for a 1984 5.0 litre. Looks like there is a brown wire coming off the alternator that runs 12v for several things - might check that and see if it only has 12v when the key is on, and whether it has a convenient place along it to splice into.