it's a Mercury Tempo

 

It is a little hard running v-6 Ford with a chip from Ken in it. Miserable to work on tho. Ford's service times on it are outrageous. Nice car if you like cars tho. Fun to drive, but not as much fun as the Mitsubishi Starion, now that is a runner! My son likes it.

 

wow i didnt know ivan was still around.

 

Ivan spends most of his time in the altKansas forum, errr I mean NW chapter forum or offroad.

 

Ford Contour = Mercury Mystique

 

http://broncograveyard.com/images/ca...INGHARNESS.JPG

So where does the plug just above the silver ground-strap plug into our harnesses? It doesn't look like that receptacle will interface with the 70's stuff...

 

I couldn't figure it out either.

 

From the looks of it that's not a plug but an inline fuse box. I'd bet money that's your + power coming in.

Here's 2 different kinds of boxes that I use, both are pretty similar and I don't remember which came from what car. I pulled the back off one of them so you can see how they're wired. The relays are already fused and ready to go (4 of them), plus you have extra fuses available. When the wiring is done it can go in a wire loom which will feed right into the box. Snap the back on and it looks factory with no wires hanging out. All the power is fed into the bolt at the top so it's just 1 + lead in and then it distributes to each fuse/relay. Both boxes have weather proof covers too.

http://www.clubfte.com/users/ivanribic/DSCF0196.JPG

http://www.clubfte.com/users/ivanribic/DSCF0197.JPG

 

I just wish we could buy one of those nice OEM type boxes with loose contacts so we could wire it up. I have cobtacted a couple of compamies abot boxes like that.

Check with Bronco Graveyard and find out how the unit is configured for a 73-9. They just have it listed.

 

Anyone have a picture of their conversion? Wiring schematics are a bit "abstract" sometimes...

 

Gene, go back to my post (#5) and see the edited links I addedd a couple days ago

 

Painless Performance has this product:

7-CIRCUIT WEATHER RESISTANT FUSE BLOCK
#70217 - 7 ignition-hot circuits. Uses two 40 amp relays. (Includes cover for fuses)
http://www.painlessperformance.com/w...-fuseblock.htm

This product is made for powering a number of auxiliary circuits, not really for controlling a number of devices.

This unit has more circuits than needed for a headlight application. I have no idea whether it is possible to activate each relay independently. If it was I guess you could use a fuse for each headlight filament to use 4 fuses. It is not really what is needed for a clean installation but I will keep looking.

What I would like to see is:
Relay box with space for 4 Bosch type relays. Maybe one space for a SPST 50A relay with an associated spot for a Maxi fuse or Maxi circuit breaker. The other three spots could hold a SPST 40A or SPDT 40/20A relay with associated spots for ATO/ATC fuses, or breakers for each (NO/NC) circuit. If the box had provisions for two output circuits and fuses from each relay NO contact it would be a plus. Power to the box would be a buss bar with a 1/4" stud to accept a wire directly from the battery. A "retainer" that keeps the wire from the battery from shorting out if the nut came loose would be nice. Each relay would have an "activation" terminal with some sort of selectable (jumper etc) activation so that the relay could be activated from a high or low signal for maximum flexibility. The box would need a cover and some sort of mounting provisions. Each relay position should have a coil suppression diode built in. Users could populate the box with the appropriate relays and circuit protection devices. Crimp terminals for the outputs and activation terminals should be provided so the user could crimp them on their own wire.

 

Eric,
If you don't find this item out there somewhere, you might have just found your "million-dollar idea." Make it and patent it.

I know I want one...

 

Bussman already has a similar unit for the OEM market and I have seen others. They are all custom made for specific applications. I have not contacted them to find out if they have any "standardized" designs. Many times an OEM pays a tooling charge and nobody else can use that tooling. I have contacted a couple of aftermarket distributors that sell Bussman and other products with what I am looking for.

Several companies make fuse panels with a couple of relays but most things are still powered thru that ignition switch and the inherent voltage drops in the wire, contacts, and connections. As others here like Ivan have noticed the newer vehicles do not have everything powered by the ignition switch like our old trucks. The ign switch just powers up a master engine control relay that powers up other relays and devices to handle all of the loads. Many are controlled by the engine management computer.

I have had many ideas like this one. Many were not patentable, others would have been too easy to engineer around or would have been copied by the thousands offshore. -Some were copied offshore. Many belong to the companies I have worked for. Some ideas have even been stolen from me and I see them years later in some design magazine as a "new" item by a company that I had contacted about a device... Breaking a patent by claiming prior art or disclosure is tough to do. -Oh well, I just keep dreaming up things. I still have a few I would like to see implemented before I shuffle off this sphere.

 

I found that Hella lighting products makes a relay with integral blade fuse: Hella #87108

You can get them from Summit #HLA-87108