I've got another new item I can offer if there is enough interest - a replacement fuse panel for under the dash.

It would have 15 ATO (modern blade-type) fuses with a strong plastic cover, labels, and fit in the original spot.

Two holes would need to be drilled in the removable panel that the orginal fuse box mounts on, and the original wiring will all plug in (you can go back to the original with no modifications). No cutting of wires required.

There are three extra fuses (stock is 12), probably to be supplied as one "30" (battery power) one "15" (key switched) and one left open for any use.

Unfortunately the fuse blocks to make this happen are NOT cheap, so the price for the whole unit would have to be in the $130 range.

What do you think? Comments welcome!

The only issue that I have with mine is I kick the damn thing when I get in the teen.

Was going to make some kind of better cover.

Take your big clown shoes off.....



YOU HAVE A COVER!?




M

If it could be done witout hacking the wiring I would buy one. The factory fuse panel & fuse holders are a joke compared to modern cars.

I would buy one in a heartbeat. Hate those dinosaur type fuses. Your system sounds like the perfect upgrade for the electrical that I've been looking for. Hope you get enough buyers to make a good run of them.

Ralph

74 2.0

I'm a size 10 shoe, I know we have members with bigger feet.

Ya, I have a broken cover

No kidding. What's that like? Mine lives in the glove box.

I've been looking for parts to build just such a thing so if you can make one I'll go for it as soon as it's available. I've wanted this for a long time, but as long as the old one works it hasn't been my top priority to actually find the stuff to build one.

Ditto

- Garold

Sounds cheap to me. But, I also just replaced the whole relay board just to get rid of those sloppy junction plugs. I like the GM weather shield connectors much better. I'd be happy to trash the fuse box also. Please keep me up to date on this. This is a great deal!!!!
Thanks
Peter

Ha ha.. I went over this with Painless Wiring in 1995.

I could sell them.. but I really dont see a need in them. I have NO problems with the stock setup (even when installing nice 3.2's and 3.6's)


B

In a heartbeat....especially now at this stage of my project....just add me to the list...

Brad, the main drivers for this change are:

-lack of a decent cover (they always break and most people don't have one)

-the fact that you can hit the fuses with your foot getting in (if you drive a 914 long enough I think you will do it eventually even if you have small feet) and either break the cover or fling the fuses across the car. That's especially fun at night!

- the stupid original fuses have such small contact area and are prone to corrosion (especially when the aformentioned cover is gone)

There centainly is no performance issue or problem with a clean original fuse box (I have no idea how a 3.6 would need a different fuse box anyway) but in day-to-day use there are some real reliability issues.

BTW, Painless is about 3 miles from my work. I wish I could use the cheap individual fuse panels they sell, but there is no way they will fit in a 914 without mods that most people would not do. They sell ready-to-go 18 circuit panels for $170, but they are GM based and would not interface with a stock 914 worth a crap.

I agree with all the problems mentioned above. I wear size 10.5.. I kick them out and break covers.

It would have to be plug and play. Something any owner could install using the original wiring with the female spades in place.

Can this be made so it fits in the same area with the same style of plate in the same bolt holes with the same phillips head screws ??


B

I guess I kick mine, but I get in and out of mine so fast I dont know, I am glad I have a smaller wheel though.. 13 shoe..
I would put it in my things to buy list. I think 2nd on my list is your shifter, second only to new tires... Third is a new engine... (I guess my list goes by price huh?!)
It would probably be about 20th on my list.. but its on there..


Andrwe

Nearly plug-and-play. The wiring will be simple plug-in to spade connectors and sitting in the same spot as the orginal. No harness mods.

If you would look under the dash people might just think it is a different cover on the original fuse box because the layout is so similar.

It will mount on the original removable metal plate, two new holes in that plate but not in the chassis itself.

I'm waiting for a little better weather down here (next week) and I will get the prototype mounted in my car (it's fitted to a spare harness right now) and show some pics.

I will have to order the fuse boxes in quantity, though, so that is why I need to gauge interest before diving in.

http://www.bussauto.com/products/powerdist/

Here are some options!!! The ATC blade type looks neat!

Also... look into some of the issues raised in this thread on the Bird site...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread....threadid=129693

There's issue raised regarding..

>>positive junction terminal that's on the side of the fuse box mounting tab (a brown phenolic thing with a terminal junction on it)<

and then later Dave Darling states that the '73 and later cars don't have this.

Not sure if your fuse box design will be affected by the potential "difference in design" between the early and later harnesses/fuse panel.

Thanks Karl, yes , the + junction terminal went away, but the fuse box design works for all years. The fuse ratings were changed for a couple fuses, but the later (lower amp) works fine in the early cars.

An interesting thing I found out when looking at the details of this; fuse #8 had a bunch of components run off of it (brake, B/U, turn signal lights, etc.) that were moved to fuse #9 in '72. I have a 1976 owners manual, and it still lists the fused items in the pre '72 configuration.

I would get one if i had the money. The $130 is actually reasonable based on prices i've seen.

This is something I would put near the top of my list.

In fact, for the first time I knocked out two fuses getting in the other day - and that's with an 8.5 shoe size. I guess you've surmized that I have my cover in the glove box also.

Gets my vote!

OK, here's the latest - up and running.



More detailed pics here:
pic1
pic2
pic3
pic4
pic5

Awesome James!

Once again, a nice addition to the parts pile.

Much more positive connection with those.


M

SA..weet
Thats a definite do-er!
Tell us more about your Speaker box setup..seems very clean?

Very COol James! Is it a relatively direct swap over for the wiring?

The speaker is just a Clarion 5x7 plate (SRC5794) with the edge trimmed down. The holes actually line up with the factory speaker mounts.

No wires are cut or modified to do the install - you could return it to the original fuse box and the only telltale would be two new holes in that black plate (screws on the ends of the new fuse box). The original wiring diagram still applies - I wanted to keep the same fuses for the same outputs (most people have a hard enough time with wiring without changing it around!)

The only difference is that there are 3 extra fuses - but those are just there if you want to use them.

It's almost the same as replacing the original fuse box, one wire off at a time and onto the same position on the new one.

I have internally bussed some fuses together just like the original, so no changes there either.

It will take a bit to gather all the parts in bulk, but the ball is rolling now.

Take a look at this:
http://www.jcwhitney.com/webapp/wcs/stores...1&storeId=10101

Looks great James Good job as usual.


B

Hey.. I knew JC Whitney was good for something. Looks like you may have found a cheap source for James.


B

Look at this too :

http://www.auto-electrical-suppliers.com/?...ive+fuse+holder

http://www.ripca.com/catalogus.php?toon=pr...4d4743767a9b144

More fuse boxes:

http://www.autoeurope.co.uk/products.asp?C...on:Fuse%20Boxes

Nice - but $130 is too much for just a fuse block. Heck you can do the same thing with (2) 6 ATO fuse holders for about $26.00 - I have to post a link to it later - I have it bookmarked at home.

M

Thanks for the comment, and you are correct, if you have the ability to do it yourself then you certainly can pretty inexpensively. I hope my pics will give you some ideas of how or how not to approach it yourself.

What I am trying to provide is something that will install with almost no mods to the car (people tend to be averse to cutting the harness and making holes) AND comes with instructions and fuse labels so the person scared of the electrical system (most who work on cars it seems) can do this and more easily troubleshoot in the future.

I'd buy one pretty quickly. Installation, welllll.... We know how quickly stuff gets done on my 914, right?

I've looked around to try to find modern fuse panels that fit the original location, and I could not. In fact, the closest I could find was a six-fuse panel that filled about 3/4 of the available space.

$130 is a bit steep for something you can make yourself for under $40, but I'd still pay it. Seems to be a decent price point, actually. Most especially for a plug-and-play setup--that's worth quite a lot right there!!

--DD

The Hella fuse panels are also available from PepBoys

http://www.7453217467431.com/browse/assBro...fID&affID=39901

I know it seems expensive to the do-it-yourselfer at first glance, but there really is more than just mounting up some fuse boxes and plugging wires (that's what the end user of this design gets to do, though).

I have not found any of the cheaper boxes mentioned to fit in the available space with at least 12 fuses. There are also other concerns such as the ability to cleanly buss the fuses together without adding more complexity to the wire bundle. There are mounting brackets, labels, fasteners, wire, and connectors that go into this, and because I know I won't sell a million, the parts add up quick.

I have done all the research to insure that the fuses are properly labeled (the '76 owners manual I have is incorrect in that it lists the fused items as in '72 and earlier cars) with the wire colors shown for easy troubleshooting.

Anyway, I know this is not a product for everyone, but I think it is a good product that some will appreciate.

Yes... James is right. To you really want to "experiment" and run the chance of frying your wiring?

Plug and play is much better than plug and pray!

I would buy one for my "winter" list of things to do.

Yeah, I've thrown the shoe into that damn panel multiple times.... in the dark too. Yeah, my cover now lives in the center console tray for some reason. I don't know what a good price would be but I would like a better setup.
Nice work James, thanks for the info.

Here is a link

centechwire.com

.25 spade connecters - use two.

M

Sorry, James--I mis-spoke. I meant that it was a lot at first glance, but that I would pay it for a plug-and-play replacement.

--DD

James
Great Job !!!!!!!
count me in if you make some up

seems to me the big foot people that are hitting the existing fuse panel will knock this one out of the park! this version looks to protrude down another 2 to 3 inches, I just swapped mine out for an OEM recently! I'll live

Did you mean 2 to 3mm?

Actually its a weird perspective of the picture - it does not stick down any further than the original, and the cover is strong, unlike the original that cracks so easily.

I don't know where Drums66 was getting 2-3 inches. It looks like it protrudes the same if not less....

I meant just what I said! from that pic it looks to protrude out farther than original and I've never cracked one yet.

Okay, chill dude!

If you say it looks like "another 2 to 3 inches" then you go ahead and think that... no one is forcing you to change your fuse block... It's okay, don't worry.

If you say you haven't cracked a cover, we believe you.

Thankyou, maybe not 2 to 3 inches but it certainly seems to protrude farther than stock

Just screwing with you.

You have to admit it looks nicer than the stock unit and the fuses probably seat better than the stock ones.

i like it.


what's the price including S&H? does it come with the right fuses pre-installed for my car? is there a core-charge for my old fuse block? can i pay with a check? any rebates on group-buys? club-member rebate? do you offer different color-schemas for the covers? and if yes, can i get it in my cars color? do you offer financing? what about rush-delivery? how long is the warranty? is this tax-deducteable in my state? what should i use to clean it? will this de-value my otherwise original car? where can i get replacement fuses?