• Home
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • About
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • About
  • Contact
  • Facebook

Blog Post

Custom fuse & battery box

28 Aug 2018
0 Comment
Vedran Relja
Ford Capri Build Log

With all the thingamajigs and electrical stuff that I am installing in the car, I decided to mount a battery cut off switch, a few master fuses, and also, for the current measurement, a 500A shunt.

I will be running 3x20mm2 wires in the car for everything, which by my calculation is more than enough, and also two wires 16mm2 for the winch and 20mm2 for the starter and alternator. Winch, starter and alternator share a massive truck fuse, and the rest of the three wires have their own separate fuses.

For this kind of things, I usually do a CAD drawing, and than get a steel sheet, laser cut and bent, but since I wanted to speed things a bit, I decided to wing it.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

I know I will want to install a bunch of stuff under the bonnet, so I decided to squeeze  everything in a really small enclosure. Here are the first mockups:

Ford Capri Fuse Box

I went to a local shop and had a piece of steel sheet bent.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

I drew the drilling patterns.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Drilling.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

This tool is really handy, it puts a bunch of stress on the electric drill, but it works.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

I realized that the whole box needed to be angled to align nicely with the battery box, so I created this gap.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

After MIG welding there was no gap, only a nice angle.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

More cutting.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Rivet nuts are great. I use them all the time.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

See, all nice and pretty.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

I needed to make a mount for the pull cable, a leftover of the roof rack was ideal for that purpose, of course after some modification.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

All ready for sand blasting and powder coating.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Battery box also got on the schedule. After bunch of experimenting, I decided where I want the holes to be drilled.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Marked and drilled.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

I usually use a kitchen sink punching tool for these holes, but this time I borrowed this hydraulic punching press. Basically the same thing, the only difference is that instead of a ratchet and a bolt you are pumping the hydraulic cylinder, which is faster and easier.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Also the edges were welded.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

And sanded.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

I needed extra support so I used two steel rods and re-purposed a failed attempt of making an air solenoid bracket.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

This weld won’t win a beauty contest, but it serves the purpose.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Of course I couldn’t live with welds like that, so here’s some more welding and hand filing until it looked good enough for me.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Also, I bent a piece of a wire, cut it in half, and welded to create the fastening bracket for the battery.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

After that everything was smoothed out with the biax tool.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

All ready for sandblasting and powder coating.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Looks promising.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

One of the mockups during the build.

Battery box sandblasted.

Fuse box was also prepped for powder coating.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

After powder coating the assembly has begun.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Here is a 500 A shunt and a master fuse box for the starter and a winch.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Eye fasteners had a weird design, so little hand filing was in order to fit the contacts inside the fuse box.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

All nicely crimped.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

The next step was to put some electrical tape on the transitional area and wrap it inside the snake skin.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Another layer of electrical tape. Actually I was using and managed to squeeze 20mm2 cable inside the 16mm eye fastener. Even 16mm2 would be enough for the electrical system, but I already had 20mm2 cables so even better.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

And the last part – shrink wrap insulation with integrated glue for a nice and clean look.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

For the main ground, and also master positive line I used a 50mm2+ cable.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Everything was crimped in place.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

An insulation tape, a snake skin insulation, an insulation tape and a shrink wrap with integrated glue over everything. Try to say that three times in a row.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Shrink wrap placed. I also put a piece of electrical tape so I don’t heat damage the snake skin insulation with a heat gun.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

All done.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Shunt was couple of mm to large for the enclosure, so I needed to cut it a bit.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Also the hole was hand filed, so it can have a proper contact with the eye fasteners.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Shut off switch resistor was also wired, and insulated with a bunch of insulation .

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Since shunt gives only a few mA of signal current, I decided to use a high quality copper shielded cable that was also wrapped in extra protection.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Signal cable all finished and ready for the installment.

Some more interconnecting cables were fabricated.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

All the components installed.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

In order to clamp cables properly, this cable sleeves have been mounted and crimped.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

After some searching I decided to use those headless hex drive bolts for a cleaner look, and they worked like a charm.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Last thing was only to cut off the excess material, and to pull the rubber boot over the connector.

Here you can see the whole sleeve nicely distributed inside the battery clamp.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

A completed unit with all cables attached. Also the negative cable on the left.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

You can see here the rubber bezel where the master positive cable exits the box.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Power cut off switch and a pull cable bracket.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

The grey/purple thing is the mega fuse that is protecting the starter alternator and a winch, currently rated at 300A, but can be changed if needed.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Inside shot with the cover removed. Because of the tight fit I used those compact 90 degree terminals.

Ford Capri Fuse BoxA closed box.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Fuse enclosures open, since I have the current measuring shunt installed after all the electrical systems are running, I can measure every individual power line and fine tune the fuse selection if needed.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Fuse enclosures closed.

Ford Capri Fuse Box

Fuse box  installed. You can also see the glimpse of the winch control box below. Next step is to neatly arrange and route all the cables to its designated place, and then we’ll update the post.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more stuff :)

Also, if you like the content we’re making, you can help us push the project and support us at
Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/craftomoto 

Kofi banner
We’ll appreciate it :) Thanks for reading!

 

Share

  • google-share

Search

Categories

  • Build Log
  • Design Thing
  • Ford Capri Build Log
  • Misc
  • Movie Night
  • Old Stuff
  • People&Cars
  • Rollin'&Strollin'
  • Swingship Enterprise
Place your ad here
Place your ad here
AeroMagic
Miromax
OnAir
Solvis
Elly Prizeman
Janakis Lindyhopoulos

Archive

  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
© Craftomoto 2015.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website.