Electrical - Fuse Blocks
I found that all the hot rod wiring companies sell very nice top-of-the-line fuse block panels and are priced accordingly. Way too high for my pocket book. The search was on for another source of inexpensive fuse block panels. I quickly ruled out an OEM part from the wreckers. The problem with used OEM panels is that the wiring harness is hard wired into the fuse panel. You would have to cut the wiring harness out and then trace the wires to see where each is connected to in the fuse panel. After that, I would have to splice all the wires from the fuse panel into my car's wiring harness. MESSY and UNRELIABLE! Not to mention a ton of work.
After searching the Internet, I found that two companies manufacture automotive style fuse block panels: Littelfuse and Cooper Bussman. The Littelfuse panel is really only an auxilary fuse panel as it has only 5 ATC fuse positions (automotive blade style fuses). Also it is only rated at 15A per fuse maximum and comes with a protective cover. The good news is that it is readily available at most automotive parts stores and JC Whitney catalog (part number 03dh7115w). It uses standard 1/4" spade lugs to connect to the wiring harness.
Littelfuse 350417BP Auxiliary Fuse block
The other company is Cooper Bussman Automotive Products and they make the 15601 and 15602 series of ATC fuse blocks that you can purchase in all sorts of configurations. Unfortunately, they don't sell to individuals and definitely not in quantities of one at a time. They go by the names Cooper, or Bussman for their fuse blocks depending on who you are talking to. I found that many companies like Techspan Automotive buy Cooper's fuse blocks and repackage them under their own brand names.
The 15601 series is a single buss fuse block that uses ATC fuses (modern blade style). Maximum current for each fuse is 30A which is more like it! No cover is required as the each fuse acts as a cover for its contacts. There is one 10-32 screw for +12V input power that is rated to a maximum of 100A of current that connects to one side of each of the fuses. You can order these units from 4 to up to 20 fuse contacts. Each fuse has a 1/4" spade lug terminal for connecting wires to.
Cooper Bussman 15601 series fuse block (6 terminals shown)
An optional ground terminal base allows you to have a place to connect your ground wires. It has a 10-32 screw for the main ground wire connected to the battery/engine/firewall and twelve 1/4" spade lugs for connecting ground wires.
The 15602 series is basically two 15601 fuse blocks connected together. This way you can have a separate power input for power that's always on and power that is turned off with the ignition key. This series is harder to find.
I found that Wesco and Wes-Garde both electrical equipment suppliers carry the Cooper Bussman line but the best price and availability was from Greg's Distributers who supply equipment to the trucking industry. They carried the Bussman 15601 6 fuse block part under the Techspan Automotive part number 766043. Their Canadian price was less than the published $US price that I found from several websites. The price should be around US $15 for the 6 position and US $17 for the 10 position.
I purchased two 6 position fuse blocks because I'm going to use one for power that is always on and the other for power that is turned on with the ignition key.