? Moving Batteries from Aft forward to Port Deck ?

[BigWaterBigFish]

I have an idea - and not being too handy, will probably be spending some dollars to have someone else do this for me - so would appreciate any advice.
My boat is a 1999 Seaswirl Striper 1850 WalkAround with Outboards.
I am thinking of moving two boat batteries that sit down under the rear well/transom of my boat up onto the deck, into a box/stand that will support the forward port seat.
I have starboard helm seat on top of a built in cooler - the port seat is just standard post. I have always thought that Trophy's idea of building a ledge/table that a cooler could slip under and seat sat ontop was good idea, just poorly executed (not the fit/finish of Striper).
I was thinking as I toured the Portland Boat Show this year, what I could do is build/buy a prefabicated box - move the two batteries that are currently in the aft/transom compartment, basically in the bilge - to the port side, put the Perko there and the put the port seat on top. Most of the Center Consoles I see now have the batteries forward in the console, in boxes.
Would do a couple of things - get most of the wiring out of the bilge, get the batteries and their weight (70#'s?) out of the rear of the boat, and that weight over on the port side. Starboard side has control console, built in cooler and kicker motor - this shift of weight would help level out the boat a bit.
Two questions - anyone done this and then what are difficulties with rewiring boat - all wiring seems to run up the starboard side as the fuses and controls are all on that side. I would hope this would make the batteries and wiring more servicable.
AND - does anyone had the wiring specs for a '99 Striper 1850 WA OB ?
Thanks.

[Jsteel]

I'm in the middle of rewiring my 19 foot Alumaweld -- too much weight in the back with two batteries back there. Similar to you, I'm putting one of the batteries up under the port seat box. Beware the size of wire you need to run -- I'm just putting my house battery and am using size 4 wire one way and size 6 to the main distribution box. The benefit is better weight distribution in the boat, plus I'll eliminate the tangle of wires running all the way from the stern to the console -- that will just be the main positive (red) and negative (yellow). I've spent a lot of time drawing out my design -- which wire goes where, etc. Found that I don't have to run negative wires all over the place -- I've developed three places for negative buses and am running to whichever is closest.

Overall, the job is detailed, but not difficult. A little more expensive than I thought -- tinned wire, new bus connection points, crimp terminals with adhesive shrink tubing. The biggest benefit -- I know where every wire goes in my boat, which should help with any troubleshooting in the future.

[fishkisser]

Make sure the new cables are sufficient size to carry the amperage draw for the length of run...
The multiple ground buss is a good idea for sure , I prefer to set up circuit breakers instead of fuses as you can reset them if a problem arrises ...
Make sure your battery compartment is vented properly , and keep your power cables away from your gps , radar , and sonar cables to minimize interferance ...
Heres some reading material ...Barney
http://www.islandnet.com/robb/marine.html
http://www.cncphotoalbum.com/doityou...ing/wiring.htm
http://www.boatus.com/boattech/cable.htm