buggman
Member
- Joined
- October 6, 2012
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 0
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2003 Explorer XLT
Been a while since I've logged in, but I've been busy...
I upgraded my wiring a long time ago & modded some battery terminals to handle the 1/0ga wire as well as several other smaller wires for various things.
My current setup:
While it works fine & I have a few extra sets of those gold colored terminals, I've been wanting something more custom & one of a kind...... so I started planning & designing & this is what I came up with...
buggman's custom aluminum battery terminals:
That's just the positive terminal drilled & tapped for all my wiring needs at the moment. It just has a "brushed" finish right now but.....
In typical buggman fashion I couldn't leave well enough alone and after finishing the negative terminal I decided I wanted to try polishing them to a mirror finish...
here's the results:
The pics really don't do them justice. These are nearly as reflective & clear as a mirror. The swirls are from the paper towel I used to wipe them down with.
These are almost finished now, just need to trim the set screws to proper length & they'll be ready to install.
I have some ideas in mind for a top protective cover too.
My old gold terminals were only 3/4" thick at the tallest point, but these new ones are a full 1" thick! The 3/4" thick terminals are fine, but it left very little material for the 1/0ga wire set screws to thread in & I wanted to beef up that as well as make a kind of catch all for all my wiring.
For smaller wiring like 4ga I can use 3/4" material since the holes will be smaller.
I'm already thinking of what I want to do for my Explorer, so you'll have to stay tuned for updates... or check out my photobucket or YouTube channel.
These are just the start as I plan on creating custom battery terminals, ground & power distribution blocks, maybe even fuse holders ALL of which can be completely custom to YOUR specs, designs & wiring needs.
For some reason I'm unable to post in the classified section here, but if anyone is interested in some feel free to drop me a PM & we'll discuss.
So this IS NOT a For Sale thread, rather a "hey check this out" thread.
I used the button head allen screws for set screws because I kinda like the look & if at anytime any of the screw heads strips out or I lose the allen wrench for them I can grab the sides with pliers or use a dremel to cut a slot for a flat screwdriver to remove the bad screw & replace it. These also seem to use a slightly larger allen wrench than the same size set screw, so they should last longer too.
I've already got ideas for ring terminal mounts, "hidden" mounts & more.
As you can see there are no "cuts" or "slits" like most terminals have, I drilled & tapered the battery post holes to be a snug fit that gets even tighter when I screw in the side mount set screws. They're so strong that I can lightly tighten one set screw & pick the battery off of the floor without any movement of the terminals.
I'll definitely be doing more of these in the brushed finish & maybe even more of the mirror polished version.
I upgraded my wiring a long time ago & modded some battery terminals to handle the 1/0ga wire as well as several other smaller wires for various things.
My current setup:
While it works fine & I have a few extra sets of those gold colored terminals, I've been wanting something more custom & one of a kind...... so I started planning & designing & this is what I came up with...
buggman's custom aluminum battery terminals:
That's just the positive terminal drilled & tapped for all my wiring needs at the moment. It just has a "brushed" finish right now but.....
In typical buggman fashion I couldn't leave well enough alone and after finishing the negative terminal I decided I wanted to try polishing them to a mirror finish...
here's the results:
The pics really don't do them justice. These are nearly as reflective & clear as a mirror. The swirls are from the paper towel I used to wipe them down with.
These are almost finished now, just need to trim the set screws to proper length & they'll be ready to install.
I have some ideas in mind for a top protective cover too.
My old gold terminals were only 3/4" thick at the tallest point, but these new ones are a full 1" thick! The 3/4" thick terminals are fine, but it left very little material for the 1/0ga wire set screws to thread in & I wanted to beef up that as well as make a kind of catch all for all my wiring.
For smaller wiring like 4ga I can use 3/4" material since the holes will be smaller.
I'm already thinking of what I want to do for my Explorer, so you'll have to stay tuned for updates... or check out my photobucket or YouTube channel.
These are just the start as I plan on creating custom battery terminals, ground & power distribution blocks, maybe even fuse holders ALL of which can be completely custom to YOUR specs, designs & wiring needs.
For some reason I'm unable to post in the classified section here, but if anyone is interested in some feel free to drop me a PM & we'll discuss.
So this IS NOT a For Sale thread, rather a "hey check this out" thread.
I used the button head allen screws for set screws because I kinda like the look & if at anytime any of the screw heads strips out or I lose the allen wrench for them I can grab the sides with pliers or use a dremel to cut a slot for a flat screwdriver to remove the bad screw & replace it. These also seem to use a slightly larger allen wrench than the same size set screw, so they should last longer too.
I've already got ideas for ring terminal mounts, "hidden" mounts & more.
As you can see there are no "cuts" or "slits" like most terminals have, I drilled & tapered the battery post holes to be a snug fit that gets even tighter when I screw in the side mount set screws. They're so strong that I can lightly tighten one set screw & pick the battery off of the floor without any movement of the terminals.
I'll definitely be doing more of these in the brushed finish & maybe even more of the mirror polished version.
