Re locating my fuse box

[Anglocanadian]

Having decided to go with a Painless wiring harness rather than deal with the crusty
mess of the original , I'm now at the stage where I have to make the decision on the fuse box location.
As I'm not using the heater ducting anymore I was thinking of mounting it just above the outlet on the drivers side foot well and running all the rear wires through the ducting in the sill.
I would appreciate any comments regarding the feasibility of this solution.

[hcoles]

I'm thinking the fuse box is in the trunk for a reason. You might list the car details and why your not using the original panel or one of the replacement panels out there that use blade fuses.

[Trackrash]

I would think that somewhere near the original location would be ideal for a number of reasons. At sometime in the future you or someone else will probably need to check on a circuit and it would be much less hassle if the wiring layout is similar to the stock.

Didn't the 928 have theirs in the foot well and had nothing but trouble?

[Mixed76]

I wouldn't put it there because I hate standing on my head to change fuses in the other cars I own, each of which has a fuse panel in the footwell.

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[Dpmulvan]

You live in Ontario and aren’t using heat?? I’m south of you and still need heat sometimes in freakin may.

[AlKidd]

Agree. Im outside Toronto and had the heat on this week. OP might mean he no longer has any of the fresh air system relying on engine airflow alone to provide heat and defrost.

Originally Posted by Dpmulvan

You live in Ontario and aren’t using heat?? I’m south of you and still need heat sometimes in freakin may.

[FrankM_]

I believe the intent should be to keep the power supply leads from the battery (unfused) as short as possible. Putting it under de footrest will make it long leads (check that the original diameter is still large enough for the amperage) and introduce unnecessary risk ?
If you are not using the orginal fusebox, why not reuse the location ?

[Tea Tray]

Mounting considerations are practical and personal preference.
Accessibility and water protection would be my first concerns.
In the case of water, consider the rubber frunk gasket not doing its job for some reason and letting water in, or worse, you leave the frunk open and there’s a downpour while you nap.
Accessibility is my main concern as I’m an incessant tinkerer.
I would place it out of the way of cargo, easy to access without tools and ease of checking status of fuses/breakers.
Very respectfully, a lot of people may overthink wire length/voltage drop issues. I’ve done thousands of voltage drop calculations over the years from machine design to 2,000’ tall tower heating circuits. Porsche moved the fuse boxes to varying locations over the years without wire size changes. Conversely, wire sizes have actually decreased for given fuse sizes over the years.

[AlKidd]

Ive noticed that on my newer cars and wondered if the insulation had gotten thinner because of better material or if the actual gauge changed. My other 60's era cars all ran 16-18ga under the dash while my 2016 seems to be all 20ga. Used to be able to tap into the old stuff.

Originally Posted by Tea Tray

Mounting considerations are practical and personal preference.
Conversely, wire sizes have actually decreased for given fuse sizes over the years.

[Anglocanadian]

Originally Posted by FrankM_

I believe the intent should be to keep the power supply leads from the battery (unfused) as short as possible. Putting it under de footrest will make it long leads (check that the original diameter is still large enough for the amperage) and introduce unnecessary risk ?
If you are not using the original fuse box, why not reuse the location ?

I am repositioning the battery into the smugglers box so the run to the battery will be 2-3 Ft
Just to put things in perspective the car is a 70t which I'm slowly rebuilding from a bare bones strip down, I'm aiming at a restomod "STR" style .
I don't have any hangups about authenticity or keeping things the way they were designed 50 years ago.
Also with the budget being a consideration the the complete Painless harness is less than a Classic Retrofit fuse box !

[Tea Tray]

A number of things have changed in automotive wire over the years.
One of the easiest ways to take cost out of wire is to reduce the amount of twist in the conductor. The more a conductor is twisted the longer it get$. The twisted conductors are also much stronger in tension load than less twisted conductors.
Years ago you would strip a wire and the twist of the conductor prevented the strands from springing apart. Today inexpensive wire has little twist.
Generally wire insulation has become less flexible and durable. Again a cost consideration.
Years ago a lot of automotive wiring was tinned and silver in appearance, good stuff. Today the bare copper will oxidize where exposed though less of a concern with today’s water tight connectors.
The wire gauge is varied according to load and no longer do we see any wire oversized.

[hcoles]

Originally Posted by Tea Tray

A number of things have changed in automotive wire over the years.
One of the easiest ways to take cost out of wire is to reduce the amount of twist in the conductor. The more a conductor is twisted the longer it get$. The twisted conductors are also much stronger in tension load than less twisted conductors.
Years ago you would strip a wire and the twist of the conductor prevented the strands from springing apart. Today inexpensive wire has little twist.
Generally wire insulation has become less flexible and durable. Again a cost consideration.
Years ago a lot of automotive wiring was tinned and silver in appearance, good stuff. Today the bare copper will oxidize where exposed though less of a concern with today’s water tight connectors.
The wire gauge is varied according to load and no longer do we see any wire oversized.

Makes sense, good info. Capitalism looking for the lowest cost good enough solution.