Battery Reloq. Fuses/Breakers (long)

[scirious@hotmail.com (Brian Haygood)]

So  I talked to a guy who knows battery relocation stuff at a
stereo/"performance" shop.  He says that I should put a breaker or a fuse in
my trunk next to the battery.  Apparently he knows of a Supra that burned
because the power line in the rocker panel got pinched and sparked a fire.
Sounds reasonable enough.

So he shows me what he has.  There is a fuse holder for like $50 that holds
$10 fuses, or there is a $40 breaker.  So the breaker looks sweet, and I
could also use it like a master switch.   Cool enough.  Problem is the
breakers/fuses are 40amps.  Now I don't remember the exact number, but it
seems like I paid for around 6-700 cold cranking amps when I bought a
battery.  What gives?  I'm thinking that this guy only wires battery's to
stereos, and not for starting, in which case maybe 40 amps is cool (what's
that, like 480Watts?  doesn't even sound big enough for some stereos).

So how many amps do I need for a circuit that will run the whole car?  I
know the alt is 90amps, so my peak current draw must be well above that.

Should I even bother with this?  I'm know people usually don't bother, but
I'd like to have a master switch, and it might as well be a breaker, too, if
I can find the right one.  I'm planning on running the wire from battery
straight to starter solenoid, and branching off from there to the rest of
the car, including headlight relays.    I suppose I should have a fuse block
for the headlight relays.  Anybody got a good source for those (and a source
for relays)?  I'll also be running a wire from negative terminal to trunk,
and also from negative to engine compartment.

I'm looking for components that don't attract attention and are weather
resistant as much as possible.  I'm considering mounting all of the relays
and whatever fuses to them in the driver's front fender cavity in front of
the tire, if I get something weatherproof enough.

Anyway, tell me what I need to do this right?

For you EE types, is there any reason I can't use a household breaker meant
for 120vAC?  I mean, can I rig up a "10 amp" breaker and expect it to trip
at 100 amps on a 12volt system?  Could I test this by hooking up a household
dimmer switch (maybe series'ed with a lightbulb or two), and hooking it up
to my battery, then turning down the resistance until it blows, then measure
that R?  Will I kill my battery doing that?   If it works it would be slick,
because those breakers are dirt cheap, reliable, and compact.  The stereo
shop's breaker was bulky and had a flashy looking clear plastic cover, which
just turns me off.

BH