This airplane has dual electrical systems (Z-14 in the AeroElectric Connection for those who follow the Book of Nuckolls.) That's why there are so many contactors. From left to right in the photo, they are: essential battery contactor, starter contactor, bus tie relay (connects the main and essential busses for starting and when a generator fails), and main battery contactor.

Dave Abrahamsom gave me his surplus cables, bought with the Van's firewall-forward kit. They appear well-made. Three of them fit well, so I used them. They're 2 AWG...they carry some manly starter current.

If you look carefully, you'll see that the ground block moved to the airplane's right (this is a "before" photo). I really screwed up when I installed it...it interfered with the center rib, so I had to move it outboard. So now I have yet another (bleep)ing hole in my firewall!

Continuing backwards in time, here is the construction of the second battery box. It was a lot easier than the last time, because I borrowed Dave's Greenlee punches...ya gotta love having a nearby builder who's ahead of you.

With the Greenlee punch, the eight holes are a breeze. That sucker cuts through steel sheet like it's not there. Not sure what I'll do with the eight wobbly washers, but they're cool.

I also wired the flap circuit...all the way to the main fuse block, to the switch, to the flap motor, and back to the ground block. I had a little moment of celebration when I hotwired the battery directly to the fuse block and ran the flap motor up and down. Yay! Signs of life.