Wiring in a power distribution panel?

[tweet66]

Has anyone tried to wire in a separate late model distribution panel (fancy name for a fuse panel...) under the hood of their car? I have a few left over 88/89 Bronco 2 wiring harness' from my 5.0L conversion and I'd like to put the fuse panel under the hood of my 66 coupe. It'll give me ten circuits to run accessories off of. I'd like to use one for the light switch, one for the ign. switch and one for the original fuse panel. The other circuits would be for my headlight relays, fuel pump relay and electric fan. Just wanted to see if it's been done and what problems may occur?

 

[robbz28]

Im sure painless or radio shack has a cheap solution for you instead of wiring up an old factory fuse block. I actually got 2 fuse blocks from napa for like 10 bucks a piece that held 5 blade fuses...wired one to the battery and wired another to the key and had all kinds of accessories hooked up that way.

 

[chris66dad]

Here is schematic for mine for switched and unswitched power.
Aux 12V Power

 

[tweet66]

Thanks guys.

Chris, I like that schematic. I've used relays wherever I can with accessories so I don't overload any one circuit. i was looking to add the PDB with the large blade type fuses so I could separate the loads under the dash where they all run in from one wire. I'm probably making more work for myself, just though it would make it a little safer and give me some future wiring options.

 

[tx65coupe]

What we did when we rewired the car was to add our own separate 12v auxilary block for everything on the car that didn't originally come on it. We didn't want to cut or splice any of the new reproduction wiring harness. I think it is made by Painless. It is a small fuse block with a handful of fuses and is relay controlled.

 

[68EFIvert]

I also used a 7 fuse Paniless auxillary fuse panel to control all of my new electronics on the car. it works well and gives me peace of mind.