I did a fair bit of research on this. The main options considered were based on (1) sPOD system (
http://www.4x4spod.com), (2) Blue Sea fuse blocks, especially the 5025
http://bluesea.com/category/81/21/products/5025, and the Painless 7-circuit fuse block, see
http://www.quadratec.com/products/97015_07.htm. I opted for the latter option. But I don't like the fact that it doesn't have a ground bus, so I'm adding one.
I really like the sPOD system and think the price is good for the quality. But I wanted to avoid adding boxes to the engine compartment and only plan to add three or four circuits. the Blue Sea block is really nice, but wasn't going to fit well in my planned mounting location plus you have to add your own relay if you want switched power. So I opted for the Painless 7-circuit block, which I'm adding to a plate that mounts in the cab. I have an automatic transmission, so the space for the clutch master cylinder is available.
What I accomplished so far was to finish the mounting plate:
The plate is a 7" length of 1/4x4" aluminum plate. That happens to be the size of a small trailer license plate, which I used for a fit check. It might have been better to use a 6.5" length as it barefly fits. The large hole in the middle is 1.5" in diameter and corresponds to the large hole for the clutch master cylinder. The two 3/8" holes next to it are for mounting bolts to attach to the firewall. At the bottom are four 10-32 holes to attach the Painless fuse block. It comes with some elastomeric stand-offs, which is required for routing the wires. At the top are two 10-32 holes to attach a ground bus bar. I would have just bought one, but had a piece of 1/4 x 3/4" brass. So my next step is to make the ground bus bar. I just have to drill holes for the mounting screws and add threaded holes to attach ground wires.
I haven't decided yet whether to ground the plate or not. I'm posting early just in case anyone has a thought on that. The original plan was to isolate the ground bus bar from the aluminum plate. I want to avoid "ground loops". But the relay is wired to get its ground via one of the mounting screws. So either I have to ground the plate, or I have to rewire the relay to get ground from the bus bar.
It's not a big project but I'll only have small blocks of time to work on it. I plan to finish it by the end of January.
The mounting plate was fabbed with household tools, by the way. I cut the plate with a 30-year-old hack saw. I drilled all the holes with a 30-year-old 3/8" drill. I do have a modern band saw and drill press, but bought them for wood work.
I only decided to make the bus bar myself because I had a strip of brass lying around from another project. Otherwise I would have bought a bus junction block. Or it might make sense to use the aluminum mounting plate as the bus junction block.
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