I like your creativity Chris.
I might also worry if the wood split and the threaded lugs touched........... Do you think there's any chance?
Not to criticize or suggest your method won't work. But for other folks doing the same kind of thing in the future (this thread could get search hits): if one decides to go another route and doesn't hit a JY (some newer cars have a remote positive battery lug, which is a distribution lug in another form), marine stores sell insulated distribution blocks.
hissin, it is made of maple which (as i'm sure you already know) is one of the hardest and strongest woods around, and it is not under any torsional pressure or anything, so i doubt very much that it will split.
do you know what cars have a remote positive battery lug? the next time i'm at the jy i can look.
You'll quickly see them because they generally have big red caps [so it's easily known that they're power connection hook ups]. A lot of FWD Chryslers and some GM stuff have them for two, and I'm sure many many more have them as well.
You can find these in a variety of thicknesses and length. Yes, it will dry out, swell, shrink and eventually crack. And besides, its wood...doesn't exactly blend in with a steel body.