Anyone ever move or upgrade their fuse box?

We all know what a pain it is to get to the fuse box etc.

Question for some of you electrical gurus out there.

Has anyone ever tried to move and rewire the fuse box before?
Upgrade it to a newer design? If so, where did you move it to?

I realize it may be more work than it is worth, but I was curious if anyone has done it before. I am in the middle of an electrical automotive course, and it got me thinking that it might be a nice upgrade.

Thanks,

 

I assume you are talking about 70-73 mavs with the fuse box tucked up under the glovebox.. Anything can be done with enough effort and determination. I am going to swap the entire wiring harness including the fuse box from my 77 into my 71 when I start putting it back together. That way I can still have easy access to the fuse box in the lower dash.

 

Matt, thanks for the reply, I guess no matter how much you think you know about these cars, there is always something else to learn i.e. the different location of the fuse boxes on the 74' and up model year cars. I picked up my 74' last summer, but never had to look for the fuse box, I just assumed it was the same for all model years.

Post update whenever you get to that point, I would like see how it works out for you.

 

Hmm, where again is the box for a 1970? Haven't had to look for it for 20 years! Now I have dash light issues and want to start there.. Scotty P

 

If any of you guys come up with a good easy way to move the fuse box I would love to hear about it. It would aslo be nice to update it to the style that takes the plastic fuses instead of these old glass ones. I am having a beast of a time keeping my blower motor going. Always poping the fuse.

Yes I know if a fuse keeps going out like that there is something that needs fixed. That is on my mile long list.

 

I've had an idea on a fairly easy way to do this. I am planning on doing my Comet GT and will let you know how it works.

 

My '70's fuse block is on the driver's firewall right above the clutch pedal. I took all of the fuses out, soldered wires to the fuse holders and ran them to a new fuse block I mounted under the package tray. Much easier to get to. And it takes all the same physical size fuses.

 

Thats what I was going to do. Only difference I was thinking is get a newer style fuse panel from a junk yard. That would give you a few more circuits. Then I was going to hinge it so it drops right down in your face. I hate crawling under a dash.

 

Yeah, I also added a second fuse block that is powered by a relay with a wire that goes directly to the battery. The relay turns on with the ignition key. Makes connecting new accessories easy. It powers my stereo, nitrous, electric fan, ignition box, gauges.

 

Mavaholic some of the cadillac devilles had a hinged fuse box under the dash. I think it was 91-95 ish. In these years there were 2 body styles but I dont remember which one it was. I would guess it was the 91-92 but it has been a while since I have seen one. They had either the 4.9 or 4.5 motor. I know they changed the fuse box location when they went with the 4.6 northstar.

 

bmcdaniel, do have a picture of your setup?

 

No, but tomorrow I'll try to get one. It's kinda hard to see.

 

bmcdaniel, tomorrow or whenever you get a chance, I realize it's pretty cold, and I thought you might already have it on your computer from when you did the mod.

Thanks,

 

I am going to figure out how to move the fuse panel in my 1970. I don't have a problem with fuses blowing, but I'm here to tell you if you ever needed to on the side of the road there's no way you're going to get your hand up there. Between the HVAC, vent box and the emergency brake and three on the tree lovers etc it's practically impossible to get my hands up in there. I realize a lot of these threads are old but if anybody has successfully gotten the fuse panel out of the firewall and done something under the hood I'd love to see some pics.

 

I added my 2 cents to this tech article http://mmb.maverick.to/posts/785539/ The thumbnail pics don't show for some reason but if you click the red X the pic will show in a new window.

Here is a pic showing the new location of the fuse box after everything is said and done. I can swap out a bad fuse sitting on the rocker panel.