granted its a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' type question, but roughly how many fuses should my fuse box be able to take?

i know modern cars have loads, i remember my old D reg mini only had about 4, I'm not planning on having much in the way of electrics. there'll be no windscreen or heaters etc, but i'd maybe look to add those later.

I've used 8 fuses plus a main link fuse for mine,

If you use good quality switches and the correct wire you do not need any switches.

^^^^ Must have bought same fuse box, 8 fuses under dash.

right on! 8 fuses it is then!
i guess if i find myself short on fuses for whatever reason, just stick in another 4 way box or something?

designer: i know what you mean, but say for example i wired everything with battery cable, and there was a short it could still do some damage

Fuses are essential, if you use the correct size wire, the fuse will protect the wiring (not the component)

If you oversize the wiring and use no fuses you'll quickly generate a fire! Even a modest odyssey battery will deliver hundreds of amps for enough time to catch light...

James

I think I have over 20, lost count, started using inline fuses, as I ran out of space in the fuse box

The MS alone uses a handful of fuses.

I felt it is safer to have each major component running of separate fuse.

More fuses should also make fault finding easier, if a problem occurs.

My origional TVR loom had 3....

The new one I made has 4

Keep it simple!

some good arguements for both here
think i'll go for an 8 fuse box to start, if i need more, i can get another one. there's not going to be much in the way of electrics in this car i hope. and using as much LED lights as i can

It all depends on how you want to split things up and their current rating.
High current items like a rad fan should have their own fuse, whereas smaller items can come off the same circuit. As long as you put in a fuse that covers the rating of the wire that supplies these circuits is the main thing.
I am putting in a circuit for each side of the car e.g. sidelights left, sidelights right.
This means that should I have a problem, I'll have enough lighting to get home on.
Losing all your lights in one go is not a good idea!
I am putting in a 16 way fusebox, because I never know if I need to add things later.

Hi Ya

Yea 8 sounds about right to me as well.

I used a block of 6 standard fuses and a block of 4 H/D fuses.

Got a couple of spares just incase..


David

16 for the car electrics 4 for megasquirt and one live main fuse 70amp and one ign live main 70 amp.

A bit overkill probably but it's my car my loom my design and I'm happy so there.

I used 8 originally and have just added another 4 for the megasquirt.

Nothing in mine has more than a 15 amp fuse. Having said that there are a few things which are unfused, such as the horn.

I will be re-wiring the car soon and might add a few more just for ease when working on the car more than anything.

As someone else said, fuses are there to protect the wiring not whats attached to it either end.

Cheers,
David