Fuse panel upgrade to ATO type - Page 2

}{arlequin · }{arlequin's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by fred cook
Here are a couple of pictures of the fuse conversion that I did on my 1980 SC. The first picture is of the mounting plate (made from aluminum sheet) with the holders installed. Note that the terminals are on the side, thus easy to access once installed in the car.

The next picture is the completed fuse panel as installed mounted in place of the original fuse holders.

The hardest part of doing this conversion is identifying all the jumpers that are hardwired to the back of the original fuse holders and in some cases done with a piece of wire from terminal to terminal. Also, be sure to strip the wire ends back about 1/4 of an inch to eliminate any corrosion that may have grown on the wire ends. Most important of all, tag the wires as your remove them from the original fuse holders. Once all the wires are removed, it would be a nightmare to try to get everything in the right place without the tags. If anyone would like to build an installation like the one I did, send me a pm with your email address and I will send back some drawings and wiring info that I put together.

Fred Cook
'80 911SC coupe

ok guys. i'm getting ready to start firing up this project, and want to find out what gauge of wire is used that's running into the fuse box. does anyone know? 14? 16?

i'm planning on having lots of 10 and 12 gauge on hand for lights and various other functions, but the ones that go to the fuses seem thin...

thanks.

RallyJon · 03-07-2006, 08:50 AM

Metric sizes. They're listed on the wiring diagram. Eagle Day sells it:
http://www.eagleday.com/neauwi.html

Mysterytrain · 03-07-2006, 11:32 AM

The key thing with rewiring the car is to try to maintain the same color codes on the wires and the same positions for the fuses. I would also document everything and draw it out like the factory wiring charts..not only for the next owner but for yourself 6 months from now.

}{arlequin · }{arlequin's Garage

i have no problem keeping track of the colors etc... i am ready to order wires and i just don't know which gauge is the one that closest resembles the factory wiring into the fuse box

fred cook · fred cook's Garage

You should find that most of the wires will be long enough without having to splice on an extension. The only exception that I ran into was a white wire that was a small gauge and plugged into the holder on the top side. Of course, that might change on your car if a PO has shortened any of the wires (to eliminate corrosion, etc.). Also, I used connectors that were uninsulated and added heat shrink after crimping/soldering the terms.

}{arlequin · }{arlequin's Garage

thanks fred.

my plan was to "replace" as much of the wiring as i could get my hands on, hence the gauge query. i figure by now it's old and brittle enough to warrant some refreshing. while i cannot replace all of it, i would like to at least do it with what has been, in my opinion, exposed to the harshest conditions, mainly, everything i can locate in the trunk area.

it also just doesn't make sense to me to use some quality sealed connectors that would be crimped onto ancient wiring.

fred cook · fred cook's Garage

I found that on my car (1980SC) that by cutting the wires back about 10 mm's that I would be back into clean, flexible wire and insulation. By adding another splice point, you might be adding more resistance to the circuit than by just cutting back to clean copper. Just a thought. If the wiring is really cooked, you might be better off buying a new front wiring harness and really do the job right.

}{arlequin · }{arlequin's Garage

acknowledged. it's all up in the air, but i just cannot afford to disconnect everything to find out that a lot of it is bad and that i have no wires to replace it with.... fyi: i do not have a garage... all my projects must start and end within 2 days (sat + sun)