Mini Restoration
How to identify electrical wires:

The following "how to" info has been stolen directly from the SAMOA website. I found this info to be incredibly helpful when I put in a new wiring harness and I wanted to include it on our website. Please go check out the SAMOA site. Thanx.

 

THERE IS A METHOD TO THE MADNESS

When tracing your way through that spaghetti pile of a wiring harness, have you ever wondered what the colors represent? Believe it or not, there actually is an explanation for the color code. Each major circuit of the electric system has a basic color code which represents its function.  The feed or source wires of a particular circuit have a solid color; the switched wires of that circuit have the identifying main color with a second color tracer which identifies the sub-circuit. Ground wires are almost always black. Circuits which are switched on the ground side of the load such as the horn usually have a black tracer color.

BROWN 

BATTERY AND CHARGING CIRCUITS

 WHITE

IGNITION CIRCUIT

 BLUE

 HEADLAMP CIRCUIT

 RED

 SIDE AND TAIL LIGHT CIRCUIT

 GREEN

 AUXILLARY CIRCUITS SUPPLIED THROUGH THE IGNITION SWITCH

 PURPLE

 CIRCUITS SUPPLIED DIRECTLY FROM THE FUSE BLOCK

 BLACK

 EARTH CIRCUITS

 LIGHT GREEN

 TURN SIGNAL CIRCUIT, INSTRUMENT CIRCUITS
        

As an example, suppose that you want to know which coil wire is connected to the points. Upon examination you will find that' there is a solid white wire and a white wire with a black tracer. The white wire, by definition, is the ignition source wire. The black tracer indicates that the wire is in a switched circuit to ground. Therefore the white wire with black tracer is the one connected to the points. This is quite useful on Minis with the plastic insulated wires. But if you have one of the early models with the braided fabric insulation that inevitably fades beyond recognition, you will have to depend on the trusty ohm or continuity meter.