Engine (Black Fuse Box) Location?

[Lee Baldwin]

I am building the 818C and have cut out the ABS, Air Bag, and Rear Door wiring and most of the sheating so I am pretty much left with the rats nest of wire. I have the front fuse box mounted loosly and understand where the connections need to go under the dash. The problem that I am having is the location of rear fuse box. I cannot find good pictures online where folks have mounted it in the 818C and the manual is quite vague. Maybe it does not matter which 818 version is being built for the fuse boxes but there is a lot body panels in the back so I want to make sure I put the fuse box in a place that can be serviced. I attached some pictures of where it is sitting now. I can only extend the black fuse bow to the area right around the main pulley in front of the engine but that seems very hard to get to once all the body panels are on. I would appreciate some picture of where you fine folks installed your black fuse box. Do I need to extend the wires to mount the black fuse box in a serviceable area? Thanks

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[RPGs818SNA]

Lee,
I recommend mounting both the black and tan fuse boxes up front, preferably up under the dashboard, fuses pointed down so you can get to them if needed. I put an air conditioner there, so I had to mount them in the center in front of the gear shifter. Black to the front, then tan, then a cut down relay box, and the assorted loose relays and boxes bottom center of the console. Putting the black and tan up front substantially reduces the number of wires that need extending.
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Good luck with your wiring. It's tedious, but you can get it done.
RPG

[Lee Baldwin]

Hey Thanks RPG. That looks really clean and that makes a lot more sense placing them up front. Curious did you use rivnuts on all the rear firewall panels? The manual states to use rivets and that seems a little permanent..

[RPGs818SNA]

They seemed too permanent to me too, although I may have gone overboard. I used black button head #8-32 x 1/2 screws, ~3" spacing and tapped the holes. Rivnuts seems like overkill. I also covered the firewall in vinyl and added insulation to the back side. It was a lot of work to avoid having to drill out a bunch of rivets just in case. But now the front of the engine is "accessible", as is the fuel tank and a bunch of wiring.

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Enjoy your build,
RPG

[Lee Baldwin]

That looks great. Good thinking about the vinyl and the insulation.

[lpmagruder]

I mounted the black fuse box in the front, under the hood. Seemed to end up with less wire that was excessively long, and less wire I had to extend that way.

[driveslikejehu]

I also put the black "Main" fuse box forward. Once you cut stuff out, most of what is left is forward; lights, horn, fan relays, etc. And the main connection to the battery. The drawback is you have to run a large high amp cable back to the alternator. A few pics for ideas.
BTW, I used few rivets. Either Rivnuts or sheet metal screws for anything that might be removed.
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[Lee Baldwin]

Thanks that helps a lot. I'm not putting AC in so I should have plenty of room.

[BigDanSubaru]

Sorry I do not have a better picture on hand, but if you zoom and look closely you will see where mine is located. I kept the main fuse box enclosure from the donor. It has a white/clear bottom half and a black plastic top half which has the fuse diagram on the inside of the lid. There are two mounting feet on this enclosure. The one on the bottom I attached to one of the angled steel tubes on the frame near the battery. The other mounting tab is on the side of the box. I bent up a little aluminum bracket and mounted that one to one of the angled chassis tubes by the front wheel well. Also, rather than extending my alternator wires from this box, I ran my alternator wire to my starter. More detailed info on that in my build thread.

Here is the only picture I have of it. You can see it if you zoom in and look just below the dip in the red sway bar. I will try to take a better photo with it mounted. The second photo shows where I chose to mount it. The top left silver triangle area is where it is mounted.

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