Club Cobra - wiring help needed

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wiring help needed

just wondering if i should run a seperate cable from the battery to run the accessery side or run from the starter motor
next what use do i run from this to the fuse box to the ignition switch
do i need to fuse accessory & on with a self reset fuse to each before i run to a fuse box
is it better to fit relays to both low & hi beam as i was going so both where working for more light on hi beam
thanks ROB :JEKYLHYDE:JEKYLHYDE

Rob,
I wired everything in my car myself and here is what I did. My battery is in the trunk, so I ran two 4 gauge cables from the battery ground to the frame (in the back) and the engine. I ran a 2 gauge cable from the battery positive to the lug on the starter. I then ran a 4 gauge cable from the starter lug to the master power switch on the dash. Power for everything else comes from the ON side of that power switch.

My car was originally a full competition race car, so I kept many of its race car features. One of those features is toggle switches with built in circuit breakers. This allows the driver to quickly see and reset a popped circuit breaker by simply cycling the toggle switch that protects that circuit. It also means there is no fuse block.

The lights are the only system that is a little more complicated. Because all of the gauges have back lights, I mounted busses under the dash for the positive and negative cables to the gauges. And I wanted a button on the steering wheel that would switch the headlights from bright to dim and back. I designed and installed a system with a latching relay that alternates power between the bright and dim circuits each time a button is pressed. Each of those circuits has its own relay to carry power to the lights.

Rob, my battery is in the boot and I ran a large, high strand positive cable to just behind my firewall where I have a massive fuse between that and the starter motor. This allows high current draw for the starter but prevents a major short back to the battery from any other component in the car.

Next I ran power from that main fuse to a number of terminals behind my dash for solenoid, accessories and ignition power. These are all protected by self resetting 20A circuit breakers and are fitted with relays. These circuits feed into a traditional fuse box to allow smaller fuses to be applied to individual components such as wipers, stereo, etc.

I have separate relays for low/hi beam for best performance - just as you're thinking. My lights use a modified Falcon loom for this section, which includes a horn relay.

My earths run from battery to chassis, plus braided cable from gearbox to chassis and also one from the engine.

The biggest learning curve for me was all the negative switching circuits in factory columns etc. I have a gremlin somewhere in my low beam circuit too - the H4 globes are dim on low but hi beam is fine. On my "to do" list as they say!

Headlights are always the hardest thing to figure out
Next is wiper motor and making sure the park works ok
Just goto painless wiring and download some old school diagrams
And learn how things work