The Next Chapter – Complete In-House Product Development!
It’s not often that a company could celebrate 15 years in business (which we did in March of this year – 2026) and have the ability to reinvent itself. But, that’s precisely what we’re doing. Let me explain.
Product Development – The First 15 Years
It’s no secret. When I started CE Auto Electric Supply, I looked at all of the generally accepted solutions for . . . well, all kinds of stuff . . . and the conclusion I came to was that I wouldn’t use any of it for any of my vehicles. That made things easy . . .
The first two products I developed were Battery Relocation Kits and Headlight Relay Kits. Friends told me I was crazy – Do you know how many choices there are for those types or products? How will you ever stand out? By building the best.
What Would The Best Be?
No part is too good or too expensive. Clean sheet of paper. Build it exactly like I would if cost were no issue. Include every single part necessary to complete the job without digging in a coffee can to find a part. Sell it for a price where we can make an honest living, whatever that may be.
Headlight Relay Kits
Headlight Relay Kits started with my wish list – Real Hella waterproof relays in genuine Delphi (Aptiv now) waterproof relay sockets and fuse holder, thick wall tin-plated OEM grade Delphi terminals, TXL wire, OEM grade Packard connectors, and the harnesses dressed with Techflex F6. In addition, we’d solder all of the high current connections in the relay sockets to ensure minimal voltage drop.
We had two variations – the HRK1 and the HRK2. Performance and reliability would be the metrics I’d judge the kits by. My Olds’ got the prototype and I installed others into a ’69 ‘Camaro, ’55 Chevy, ‘ 72 Chevelle, ’70 Olds’ Cutlass, and yet another ’69 Camaro. 15 years later we have ten variations and collectively we’ve built and sold thousands. And all but my Olds’ still have the originals! [The Olds’ got updated!]
Battery Relocation Kits
Man, where do I start? How about by giving you 18 feet of main power cable versus the 15 or whatever was in the 8 color litho box of everything else out there? We relied on physics (and two decades of experience) to determine the correct grounding methodology. Then, we eliminated the stud of the starter as the point of commonality for all the positive cables (doesn’t it get toasty there with some long tubes?), added the option of complete electrical protection for the main cable run in our Deluxe Battery Relocation Kits, and included all of the correct hardware for you to make low resistance, lifetime ground terminations – as in once.
We introduced 4 variations (same as today) and our Battery Relocation Kits were different from the word go. My Old’s got the prototype and I installed others into a ’93 Fox Body Mustang (from which I developed the installation instructions), a ’67 Chevelle, etc.
We still have the very same 4 variations and over the years, we’ve built and sold thousands!
Big 3 Upgrade Kits
Originally, I purchased battery cable on 50 foot spools – mainly because I never had more than a few hundred dollars to my name. So, I’d cut two 18 foot lengths of cable off of a 50 footer and I’d have a 14 foot piece of scrap. [Put another way, 28% of my raw material . . . !] As this stuff stacked up, I was like – ya’ know, I know a fair bit about how charging systems actually work so I should make purpose built kits. I began doing this in the early 1990s as a technician and had modified the charging systems in thousands of vehicles – this was nothing new. And guess what I found?
First, someone who didn’t understand anything about how charging systems worked had coined this term – The Big 3 – a term we’re bound to even today. Physics doesn’t lend itself to marketing, never will.
Secondly, the market was wide open. So, I jumped on the opportunity to create correctly designed Big 3 Upgrade Kits that would function exactly how the customer for them desired. We were off to the races and used up that scrap quickly.
Third, many others jumped in to offer cheaper solutions – one manufacturer even advertised You’re not paying for a bunch of hardware you don’t need with our kit. A direct target towards our kits, which were complete. [They’re long out of that business . . . ] Others got into pricing battles by offering Copper Clad Aluminum cables – I’ll close the company first. We don’t sell imitation anything . . .
Over the years, we’ve built and sold thousands!
Vehicle Grounding Kits
We took that same philosophy and created a complete line of Vehicle Grounding Kits. Now, these just weren’t any ol’ grounding kits. They were a result of a lengthy study I did on electrolysis with a world class radiator manufacturer. Many say the very best in the business – Ron Davis Racing Products right here in Glendale, AZ. The parts we include have a purpose – they’re not simply an assortment of cables designed to make your whip look cool at the car show when you pop the hood. Rather, they provide an excellent foundation for the installation of an aluminum radiator, a high performance ignition system, Electronic Fuel Injection, or both.
Want to learn more? Our article Getting Grounded – The Fundamentals of Grounding is a great start!
My Olds’ had the prototype (see a pattern here?) and I installed others into a ‘ 72 Chevelle, ’70 Hurst Olds, etc. We’ve sold thousands.
Fan Relay Kits
We just threw out the book on these. My Olds’ was the test bed and we developed the kits to run the 16″ Spal Straight Blad puller fans on it. Minimize your losses – a wise man once told a friend of mine that in jest. I never forgot it. And that’s just what we did. Spin the fans faster, they’ll move more air, and cool the radiator better – duh. This was quite a lengthy process but in the end we ended up with something we can easily manufacture and man do they perform.
I’m sorry, but there was so much CRAP out there (and there still is). Half of these super dee-luxe products are packed with features you don’t need and they waste far too much of the power consumed into heat – power that could be used to spin the fan(s). I’ll go on record here by saying that if you buy and install one of our Fan Relay Kits, you are guaranteed to get all the air movement from your fans they’re capable of. I make no apologies for my position on this and the many customers and vehicle builders who rely on them do so for a reason! We’ve built and sold thousands.
Check out this video I took of our 70A 2-speed Dual Fan Relay Kit during the development process – 5 Hours of run time, pair of 16″ Spal pullers, .4VDC drop from IN to OUT – that’s 2.89%! Unheard of. But that’s what I’m after – performance and reliability and these kits deliver in spades.
Battery Cable Kits
Kevin at Titan Diesel Sports called one day (I believe the year was 2014) and asked, Do you build battery cables? We surely do. He brought us cables from his own Gen 2 Dodge Diesel Truck and later from Gen 3 Dodge Diesel trucks for us to replicate. The rest is history. Battery Cable Kits have become one of our largest categories and we have incredibly well thought out solutions for GM, Ford, and Dodge trucks going back as far as the 1980s! We’ve built and sold thousands and thousands!
Kevin, Art, Travis, and countless others have been kind enough to be an integral part of the product development process acting as guinea pigs for fitment feedback, design suggestions, etc. We just never had the space to bring the trucks in and do that ourselves.
Until now.
Product Development – The Future
Earlier this year, I alluded on social media what our future looked like. If you desire to run a successful business, you really need to listen to your customers. As I type this, I have at my side a list of customers who have come to me over the last few years and said, You need a kit for my vehicle. Let me know when it’s available. I’ll buy it from you when it’s ready. There is no bigger compliment and we got that message loud and clear.
The quickest (and best) way for us to achieve that that is to have full control of the entire product development process – even for the big trucks. So, we’re building on premise a 40x100ft building devoted to Product Development. with any luck, that will be operational by the fall. [News on that to follow!]
Personnel
A new division of the company would require the correct person to manage it. This person would be responsible for managing the entire development process from beginning to end. I needed someone that approaches things like I do. Someone that is willing to go the extra mile like the rest of our staff does.
Rob Hummel
We hired Rob Hummel to head up that department as he made it easy when I outlined it all to him over a beer one night and he said, That person should be me. I never saw that coming. He was a natural fit. Now, Rob is no stranger to helping out around here. He was part of the moving team when we moved from Chandler to Gilbert and again from Gilbert to Mesa ten years later. His 1968 Chevelle is full of our product and he’s been a great friend since I began the company.
Done. Now, Rob has it made . . . OMG . . . he’s got Kristy, Sara and Chris at his ready! They got Rob up to speed in record time with what is and isn’t possible.
Our Formula
Just like with every product we’ve developed thus far, physics will be our foundation, our guide. We possess a profound understanding of how it all works, why the OEMs do it they way they do, and how to improve upon that. And we learn every single day. We are in the business of providing the correct parts to get you all the performance you’ve asked for when you choose to do business with us. That won’t change. Along the way, we’ll introduce you to some familiar tools and methods and to some new ones.
Each vehicle that we take in will go through a lengthy process to ensure we deliver the finest products available at any price – products that deliver what we promise, fit perfectly, and exceed your expectation. The very first part of that process is to analyze with the factory offers. The last part will be to analyze what we’ve developed and show you a comparison between the two. You’ll know exactly what you’re paying for and precisely what to expect. Click any to enlarge them.
New Product Offerings
We have a ton of work in front of us. We have vehicles in the product development queue which we currently don’t offer any products for – These two trucks being the very first to go through the process. We have our eye on numerous import vehicles as well. We also have our sights on fleshing out offerings for many of the vehicles we offer battery cable kits for but nothing more. As always, our New Products! section of the website is the page you want to follow if you’re tuned in.
Follow along . . . this gonna’ be a wild ride.
If you own a vehicle that you feel needs something developed for it which we don’t currently have, hit me up through the Contact form and tell me all about it.
