Hey guys.

I am going to write up an article of a physically easy, logistically difficult fuse box relocation.

Since I no longer have the windshield washer fluid tank nor do I have power steering anymore, I am going to relocate the fusebox to that side of the car.

I started tonight by getting rid of some wires I no longer need (A/C and radiator fans, fog lights etc) and as I was doing this, I thought "Hey, this fits PERFECTLY!"

More to come.

Thoughts?

You don't need your rad fan wires? Are you going to extend the harness so the fuse box can go on that side?

Seems like to much trouble to me.

seems like a whole lot of trouble for what point?

I've seen a guy install his fuse box in the glove...

To each his own

Ahhh, yes, it is a lot of trouble, however will be worth it in the end. Going for a clean look in the engine bay, and it's something different. People relocate them to the glove box, under the filter, but this is something different.

No, I no longer need my rad fan wires. The fans I have don't have a stock connector but rather they are a connector similar to the BCS (except male) connector. I have 2 female spades going to it, one for ground, the other a constant/switched 12V when the key is "On".

The other fan is wired to a switch.

It's going to look good when it's done. I will be extending/running the wires to the passenger side for the headlights of course.

Don't you have to extend all the wires going to that fuse box?

Either that or have all the wires go over the valve cover, which is pretty typical of a DSMer.

Yah that way if you have to wire in some fog lights you can find power easily too Tim didn't you know? Also some sweet neons in the grill!

Am I missing something here, or are you planning on putting it somewhere that it can still be seen?
I just don't see how this will clean anything up...

Why not mount it to the P/S firewall, a little low, with a flat black cover?
Or just put a bling cover on it in the stock location.

Anyhow, I think you are taunting the DSM electrical gremlins.
Are you sure about this?

I've seen one tucked back into the back left corner (where the battery usually is) and it does look better even there. The stock location is a little in your face.

But I personally wouldn't bother unless I was tucking it away inside the cabin somewhere.

i say put it where the SMIC was.

Grant thats a terrible idea, just think for a second about that one.

Did that. Didn't work out.

Honestly guys, the only thing that needs to be done is to shorten the wires, one at a time, and extend ones that need to be extended. Bahh, you'll see once I get started how stealth, yet easily accessible it is.

My battery sits on the cross member, so I can't relocate it down there.

Then put the battery in the trunk, like a good DSMer!

Yeah, I plan on doing that. This mod is pretty much free, aside from some heat shrink tubing and a bracket or two.

Probably get a kit from Jegs or something, since I'm closer to Cayuga and they do tech, unlike S-Ville, I'll have to get a battery kill as well.

I say git'r done and post some pics...

I bet you'd have a bunch of guys do the same after you "beat the path"

Well, here is an update on my progress.

I started by removing the rad, IC piping, Alternator etc. I then pulled the fuse box out to the driver's side of the car. Make sure you keep the loom intact as you will need it later on.





Once I had all the wires out from the loom, I started by putting masking tape on either end where I was going to cut. Once all the wires were taped up with numbers as shown, I then cut the wires.




From there, I grabbed a solder gun, some flux, solder and a heat gun and started soldering the wires together. You will end up with something that looks similar to below.




Now the tricky part, you have all the wiring that needs to go to the passenger side of the car for your headlight, side marker and coolant reservoir. I did not cut the wires for these, instead, I left them intact and extended 3 wires:



Green to turn signal
Red to headlight power
Ground.

Wondering why you needed to keep the loom intact? Here's why:



[img]http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t74/94TalonTSIAWD/Fuse%20Box%20Relocation/DSCF2194.jpg[/img]

Here are a few shots to show what things will look like when cleaned up.

[img]http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t74/94TalonTSIAWD/Fuse%20Box%20Relocation/DSCF2195.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t74/94TalonTSIAWD/Fuse%20Box%20Relocation/DSCF2196.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t74/94TalonTSIAWD/Fuse%20Box%20Relocation/DSCF2191.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t74/94TalonTSIAWD/Fuse%20Box%20Relocation/DSCF2190.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t74/94TalonTSIAWD/Fuse%20Box%20Relocation/DSCF2189.jpg[/img]


There are 2 connectors that need to be run back towards the battery. I extended the wires and ran them over the driver's side motor mount behind the engine to the battery.

[img]http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t74/94TalonTSIAWD/Fuse%20Box%20Relocation/DSCF2198.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t74/94TalonTSIAWD/Fuse%20Box%20Relocation/DSCF2199.jpg[/img]

The alternator wire that goes to the battery was changed a bit. Basically, instead of using the long one to go to the fuse box, I used the short one, switched one of the ends out and the end that actually connects to the battery, I put on the long one. The long one follows the same route as the two connectors to the battery.

[img]http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t74/94TalonTSIAWD/Fuse%20Box%20Relocation/DSCF2200.jpg[/img]


That is my progress so far. As you can see, here's a rough idea of how I plan on mounting this. I need to pick up a few brackets at Home Depot Performance and fab them up to fit. The position I have below is best as it allows you to remove the fuse box cover as well as, when needed, slide the bolt that goes into your motor mount, out.

[img]http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t74/94TalonTSIAWD/Fuse%20Box%20Relocation/DSCF2201.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t74/94TalonTSIAWD/Fuse%20Box%20Relocation/DSCF2203.jpg[/img]

I also have to loom things up and re-install everything.

More to come.

if I was to move mine, I would put it in the glove box.

Would have been the same amount, if not more, work.

ya no doubt, it looks awesome though Ryan, tons of work tho, damn.

just saying, it would be cool to have it in the glove box, then I just open the glove box, and bam, all the fuses right there.

It's actually not as bad as people think. The wiring is not really held down by much. Few snips, some shrink tubing, done.

Edit:

YAY! I have my own black surrounded with a cool saying pic!

It's called a "demotivator"

But... but... I AM hardcore...

The end result will look nice Ryan. But damn alot of work indeed.

Well, picked up some brackets today, I am going to paint them flat black and shorten the bolts, however it's so-so mounted.

The only loom I had laying around was the red stuff, it's going to be changed to black. The green wire is for my oil pressure sender.





Almost done, just have to clean it up a bit. I am going to pick up some new loom for the alternator wires and to replace that shitty red stuff there as well.

that looks good Ryan! Real nice spot for it too, outta the way, but easy to get at. Nice!

Thanks Brandon!

jokes !

Ryan, you seemed to have spent a lot of time relocating your wiring to the other side of the engine bay. I think it would have been worth the hassle if you put it in the glove box instead.

I almost thought Streleki photoshopped that picture with the wires hanging everywhere, but I was wrong...

Looks good though

On a side note, I noticed you have your intercooler right side up now...

LOL... yeah, that's true.

Had some welding done and made the brackets fit.

Hoping to paint the bay, at least everything but the firewall, sometime soon.

Now if only the damn car starts now...

Nice work.
I plan on doing something like that for my next car, except I want to mount everything on a board and have it all nicly layed out in the trunk.

Thanks Mike;

Next step for me is putting the battery in the trunk.

I like your board idea, should be fun!

Battery in the trunk should be cake compared to what you just did, haha

Yup! Expensive cake with track rules and all.

This was free aside from a few shrink tubes.

I'm going to do this shortly but do the boxes need to have some sort of rating/classification? Because I've got infinite amounts of spare steel at work to use and was going to fabricate one out of that.

NHRA Rules state any wet-cell battery must be in a sealed box with a vent to the outside of the car.

A dry cell can be securely mounted, I do believe.

You must also have an external battery kill switch.

Alright, I was aware of the sealed box and vent, as well as the external kill switch but just wasn't sure of the box construction itself and if there are any other requirements for it. For example, if I remember correctly, a plastic box won't cut it, the box must be made of steel to act as a 'firewall', etc.

Edit: I also believe that the box must be secured by two bolts/rods atleast 3/8" in diameter. Is there a specified size for the vent to be as well?

Here is an NHRA/IHRA approved plastic battery box kit: http://www.moroso.com/catalog/categorydisplay.asp?catcode=42001

I have that one in my car. I also have a spare kill switch available if anyone wants it.