Whilst all this was going on, Kerry had been hard at work fabricating huge looms of assorted wires and connectors. I had asked him to use the best and he had. We had yards of sample cables that we were inspecting for quality and flexibility etc, piles of very expensive Neutric connectors, Phoenix Gold plated fuse holders and connector blocks, phono’s, optical cable, 10’s of metres of power cables, leads, Pliosil protective braiding and connectors etc. The list went on and on. All of the wiring is done to studio standards, you will not find better. Interestingly, we got hold of some of the very posy supposedly professionally made up leads that you see being promoted in the mags and in the shops. When we checked them out, most of them were rubbish, packaged nicely but no quality underneath the showy exterior.
Gradually it started coming together, once Kerry had run the yards of cabling, we started refitting the interior. Whilst this was happening, Henry was fabricating the huge stainless steel disc that fits under the floor in the now redundant spare wheel well (the oversize tyres meant the spare no longer fitted in the hole in the floor). This was made to support the 2 yellow top 1000 amp Optima batteries that would power the ICE and provide a suitable base plate for the fuse holders and connector blocks.
Every device has its own fuse. By the time Kerry finished wiring it all in, it was a real work of art. The current trend is to try and hide the wiring, but it looked too good to hide, so it is on full view in key places.
We have fitted an IBS split charge system that keeps the batteries topped up without endangering the main vehicle battery in the front. It essentially allows you sit on the side of the road watching your favourite DVD at full volume without discharging the engine battery. Interestingly you can only just watch a full length DVD in Dolby surround sound with the volume cranked up, without the engine running, before the 2 Optimas give up! Another useful feature of the split charge is at the flick of a switch it allows you to jump start the engine from the rear batteries if you have inadvertently left your lights on etc. The vehicle no longer carries a spare wheel, but carries some tyre sealant for emergencies.
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