Hey guys,

Done some searching and come up with some general ideas but would like to have some more info before digging into this. I am aways off from needing to wire as I need to put the motor together and drop it in. I am mostly ready for that as machine work is done and I believe I have everything I need aside from drive to get it buttoned up. I've attached the diagram from here as well as a color coding diagram I found online as well.

The boat is pretty simple. 455 olds, single battery, HEI, 3 wire alternator and gauges basically. I found the wiring diagram hosted here for a 3 wire with HEI setup that I plan on following. Was thinking of adding a fuse block but not sure its needed I plan on daisy chaining the gauge power and gauge lighting. I could fuse each circuit but daisy chained I'd assume if a gauge failed it wouldn't pop the fuse for the whole daisy chain, and the same for the gauge lighting. That leaves the bilge and electric fuel pump. The electric fuel pump I was planning on adding a fuse inline when I install the relay and I guess I could do the same with the bilge.

I would like to do away with the terminal block and run a deutsch connector for the harness at the rear of the boat. Following the diagram  I found here it looks like I will need 3 runs of 10AWG wire to the front of the boat. This will go through the main connector and Deutsch doesn't appear to offer a connector that has 3 10AWG in any of their lines. Has anyone with deutsch know if maybe I'm missing something?

Other questions:

• Do I need 3 10AWG to the front of the boat? (Constant hot, ground, starter signal from ignition)
• Where should I source appropriate wire?
• Where can I mount the aux solenoid? straight to the stringer?
• Is a fuse panel necessary? If so do I mount one under the dash or back by the battery?
• If I put a fuse panel in will it be run of the ignition switch or constant power?
• Instead of running the solenoid as show in the diagram can I run battery to one side and then instead of the white 10AWG wire to the S lug on the starter, run a large battery cable to the main starter lug with a short jumper to the S post on the starter? this way the only time the starter is hot is when the key is in the cranking position?

I'm sure I'm missing stuff here guys but this should be an easy start. Any help is appreciated.

I re-wired some stuff on my 460 recently but I kept the engine terminal block. (I don't pull my engine often enough to warrant the benefits of a clip harness connection, I also spray silicon and keep anti-corrosion electrical gel on the terminal block).

I did end up wiring a fuse box under my dash to control some extra stuff. I added to my boat such as toggle switch to control hydraulic trim, some usb ports, new light switches, and new gauges. I also fused my bilge pump.

For anything with a higher amp draw I would recommend reset circuit breakers.I prefer the manual reset ones vs automatic because then you have to physically reset the circuit and alerted of an issue vs automatics which will reset themselves after a delay.

Also maybe consider a battery selector switch. That way you can easily do any wire changes/diagnostics and quickly cut the circuit without have to disconnect the battery connections. Plus you can run two batteries if needed. Also if you are running constant circuits straight from the battery or that aren't switched, it gives you piece of mind your battery won't be drained when you to start the boat the next time. Some things have very low amp draw like USB ports/etc that could slowly drain the battery.

Power distribution blocks are also nice to have to minimize amount of wires connected to the battery and that way they can source power straight from the battery for more reliability (for me this includes bilge pumps and hydraulic trim pump). I put my distribution block in a water proof box along with the manual circuit reset switches.

In terms of constant power/grounds etc that is up to you. For my fuse block under the dash I grounded it off the metal bracket that supports my gauges which was already an existing ground vs running a long ground back to the battery or engine ground.

My key switch controls most of my circuits power. That way I can decide if I want some circuits on constant or key switched controlled. I guess this does put more load on the key switch control as a central point of failure but my boat isn't exactly pulling a ton of amps. You could complicate the circuit more with solenoids and reduce the load on the key switch eg, key switch only sends signal, solenoids handle the actual load (ignition, starter, etc) but that also introduces more points of failure. Just make sure you have a quality key switch.

In terms of sourcing wire, I used ebay was it cheapest for me to get the color/awg/marine rated/length I needed. I used heat shrink crimp connections.

I already had some toggle switch holes in my dash from original switches (didn't want to patch my dash), otherwise I would have put everything on Contoura III switch style. I use this toggle switches to control bilge pump operations (off, automatic/float, manual) and blower fan (enclosed engine). 

Fuse Block:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CLS96RD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Reset circuits: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BKG1WQT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Battery selector switch: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00144B6AE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Power distribution block: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07THLYYH3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Example of heat shrink terminals: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GB2JWVT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Toggle switch: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000N9MD5S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Contoura III Switches: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Y87W54/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Contoura USB: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AHYC88A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Contoura mounting bracket: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MMFK3I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

None of these links are affiliated I promise lol.