Technical Wagon Battery - Fuse Block Location (Foolish Idea?)

My OT BMW has the same thing, and it's a 1988 model so it's 33 years old. Absolutely zero corrosion in the battery area or anywhere else in the trunk. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

The HHR did have a rear mounted battery, but I think you'll find that the fuse and relay panel is under the hood on the driver's side.

 

Pretty much why I only said battery and tried to dissuade him on the fusebox.

 

Fuse panels are mounted near the firewall and usually under the dash because that presents the shortest circuit paths. Voltage drop is the number one problem in automotive wiring, and seeing how both the OEMs and aftermarket use barely adequate wire sizes for 'normal' mounting locations, increasing circuit lengths is just asking for trouble...

 

I own a Chrysler 300C where the battery, fuses, relays share the spare tire compartment in the trunk. My wife's Cadillac CTS wagon also has the battery located in the spare tire compartment (right rear quarter panel).

If engineered well, it works well.

 

Another one was the very popular Ford Louisville series, that was all new around 1970, there was a tilt-down panel on the passenger side dash covering the fuses, very easy to work on, as was the whole truck

 

What about attached to the lip of the dash, with a slide and hinge......all hidden. Reach up, slide back, pull down and sit on the sill to read. Just have to make sure the wires have enough flex room.


BTW, all vehicles I've seen (import and domestic) that have a battery in the cabin area have some sort of vent line that runs from the battery to under the car. Battery off gas in a confined area is bad.

 

I'm rather surprised at all the guys that are saying that it's a bad idea. Hopefully you bought the same variant of the Painless wiring kit that's made for trunk-mounted battery and fuse block that I did...

I used a 1/0 welding cable with Ford style solenoid in the trunk wired to pull in at the same time that the starter solenoid pulls in so that huge cable is isolated after the car starts. A secondary Ford style solenoid is wired in series before the starter solenoid that energizes all the other circuits of the fuse block when the key is turned on. for the battery venting I used a Moroso box and ran two tubes out of it through the floor one for venting and one for drainage and it's bolted securely through the floor. There was no problem at all with the fuse block in the trunk. I did not have to extend any of the wiring. if you get the right kit even for headlights all the way to the front of the car. Here's how I did it. All the details are spelled out...
https://49fordcoupe.smugmug.com/Wiring-the-Car/

Plus go back to the homepage indicated by the Little House in the upper left corner to check out about a thousand more pictures and videos of what it took to build The Judge!!

 

And if you've got all those circuits and you are going to have air conditioning and a lot of accessories and electric fans and a big sound system don't hesitate to get a 150 amp alternator too.

 

Modern cars. LOL (no offense intended). The wife's silverado has 3. One under the hood, one under the dash and one in the side of the dash just inside the door, maybe more but I know about those 3. Seems like the GMC that we have has one in the back, one or two under the back seat and then the common one's under the dash and under the hood.

That is the beauty of our old heaps, they are simple and truth be known we are the engineers/designers and we can move stuff around to suit us. On the newer cars, those toward the end of our era it is a little more difficult as the original designers knew we were going to alter them and tried to make that a little more difficult. Still no hill for a stepper, right?