[Dan Heck]

On a related subject, some car builders who mount the battery in the trunk in a system employing a Ford-type starter solenoid choose to mount the solenoid in the trunk close to the battery rather than in the engine compartment. This avoids running a long, heavy hot-all-the-time copper cable the length of the car. This approach might give a small safety advantage in some configurations in which that high amp cable is running close to the fuel line and assorted rotating drivetrain parts that could tear things up if they let go. The cable running forward to the starter will only be hot during the startup. A trunk-mounted solenoid needs to be enclosed in a simple box to prevent the possibility of sparks touching off any fuel vapors or battery-generated hydrogen in the trunk.

Dan