Due to the location of the cigarette lighter, the horrific mess of cables inside the dash, and the load we are likely to put on the system, we figured it was best to get run some dedicated power directly from the battery. Easier said than done.
The intention was to get a separate fused spur for each key system. So radio / CB / satnav, etc. We could have just "T"ed everything into one feed and had local fusing, but that can lead to complications, and co-locating all the fuses was simpler.
Its not all 100% complete, but here are some pics of our progress so far.
The green and yellow "earth" cable you can see in this pic is actually the primary +12v cable direct from the battery to the radio, un-fused. This is clearly rubbish, not only from a colouring standards point of view, but also the cable was low grade, and badly routed. As you can see from the second pic, it is sitting on top of the peddles and generally getting the way. We decided this need to be recitfied.... but first the boot.
Chipboard, circular saws, nail guns, glue and carpet. What more could you want :)
We now have a nice flat loading area behind the front seats, and it looks much better than. There's some insulation under the board to help with sound dampening, which is lifting it up a bit so might need to see if we can secure the whole unit in place.
Gregg doing his best James Herriot impression, arms well up inside the car
The offending "earth" cable, on its way out (along with decent cables being re-laid in its place)
If you look carefully in the middle you can see the new fusebox mounted to the back of the center armrest.
Tools everywhere...
Emergency tea break, complete with Swedish gingerbread men
Fitting some switches to the space in the radio fascia
The new center console illuminations, along with some switches, and now all properly wired.
It's so shiny
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