Fuse panel upgrade to ATC fuses

[moparrob]

Thanks once again to all my Pelican brethren (and sisters) and to Wayne for making this forum and the information contained therein available.

With your help I have converted my old fuse block to the current technology. Sometime in its past one of the owners installed a clown car type fuse panel as part of a massive stereo and interior *upgrade*. I am currently in the process of un-doing the magic and getting back to basics.

The first step is to convert the fuse panel from vintage WWII era ceramic fuses to space age ATC type fuses. I located some aftermarket ATC fuses buses on Ebay and the project begins.




Here is the current panel, free floating in the front bay and attached to the car through its umbilical-like main wiring harness.






I’m not sure where they cobbled that one from but I found an old, original panel in the parts forum and it looked like this when I got it:




A close encounter with the bead blaster brought it back to basics.




Then I welded on some 4mm tee nuts to the back so I could affix the new fuse buses



After a coat of primer and some new paint the panels look better than new and are now ready for another 40 years of service.

[Jonny H]

Nice job. I spent ages finding a replacement fuse panel bracket then one turned up on US ebay (I'm in the UK). I paid $100 and $40 shipping and it took ages to arrive and clear customs. I then discovered they are $30 brand new from Porsche!

[Lapkritis]

Originally Posted by moparrob

Here is the current panel, free floating in the front bay and attached to the car through its umbilical-like main wiring harness.

Those are the factory Porsche fuse panels rearranged on plywood and with perhaps the scariest extender loom I've ever seen. When the time comes to swap to ATC, label and trace the loom. The 8 position panel is fuse 1. With much luck and perseverance, you can remove the red spaghetti monster entirely.

[moparrob]

Originally Posted by Lapkritis

Those are the factory Porsche fuse panels rearranged on plywood and with perhaps the scariest extender loom I've ever seen. When the time comes to swap to ATC, label and trace the loom. The 8 position panel is fuse 1. With much luck and perseverance, you can remove the red spaghetti monster entirely.

I really hope the original loom is still traceable. How much fun would it be to remember which of the 36 red wires goes where...

[Lapkritis]

There are more than 36 unfortunately. Hopefully you find the stock colors only about 2ft from the panel. If not, there will be some auto electrician fun for a couple weeks. Not a huge deal if you're willing and have a multimeter.