87 - Front and Rear Fuse Panel Upgrade Review

[Sajan]

Wanted a new project. So decided to upgrade the old fuse panel on the 87 to a new one from either classic retrofit / adapt motorsports / cdd refuze.

1. Classic retrofit - was thinking about getting this one except i read the holes were not big and since the factory panel has some extra terminals, I was afraid when I relocated the wires, i would run into trouble. also seemed like some folks had trouble getting the cover back on..

2. CDD refuze - didn't like it didn't have a built in headlight relay or built in diagnostic led.....but more on this in a sec.. uses ATO size.

3. adapter motorsports looked nice and has bigger holes, and i liked it used allen heads to tighten. so I got this one. uses mini fuse.


front panel:
marked/labeled everything using painters tape/sharpie. started reinstalling the wires and realized because of the headlight relay, the terminals have shifted further back. the wires in the middle didn't reach. so I had to do some careful pulling and got some slack from the loom. triple checked everything and voila, all was good. car ran great.

figured. time to do the rear! YA!

took the fuse panel off. put the adapt one against the holder ....went to put the screws in, realized the holes to hold the panel does not line up. you are expected to drill two new holes. ugh. Classic retrofit actually has an adhesive option for the rear.

ok no biggie, let's take the holder out. i gave up after trying to disconnect the engine harness (male end) from the fuse panel holder.

time for plan B. (1 week later)
here comes CDD refuze to the rescue. it uses the same factory hole. (just one of them).
ran into some self inflicted install trouble (https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/1155738-help-rear-fuse-panel-wiring-87-carrera.html)

but things are running.

my thoughts after going through this experience:

1. make sure you have enough slack on these wires if you are going with classic retrofit or adapt. the terminals are not in the exact same location because of 1. built in relay, 2. they eliminated the "extra terminals" the factory one had. classic has slightly more spacing between terminals compared to adapt so maybe it's slightly less of a problem but either way something to watch out for!

2. if you don't care about the built in relay or diagnostic lights, get the CDD refuze. it uses the same mounting holes. same terminal locations/spacing.

one thing I didn't like about the refuze is it uses flat slotted screws. I HATE IT. an allen head would have been SO MUCH easier to use in that tight space. hell even a philips would have been easier. having to hold the wires in the terminal plus use a tiny flat head screwdriver in the other hand..annoying.


3. LABEL LABEL LABEL. take pics! a lot of it. don't assume things are wired right. especially on a multi owner car, who knows what has been done over the years.