| |
Once
I had the dash off, heh heh, access to the fuse panel was much easier. Cleared
a path through all the other wiring and removed the two screws that held
it in place. This was also a good time to photograph the top and bottom
of the panel as a reference for the re-wiring. |
 |
| This
is the bottom of the fuse panel. |
 |
| In
spite of haveing pictures, I labeled every wire that I knew was getting
cut. I learned this lesson the hard way when I failed to label connectors
during the engine rebuild. I had to go find another car before I could figure
everything out. |
 |
| This
is the attractive mess left behind when you cut all the wires to the fuse
panel. Some of them were even copper colored when I stripped the insulation
back. |
 |
| When
I measured resistance across the fuse holders with the fuses in place, several
of the circuits were so high they may as well have been open. I'm surprised
so many of the accessories worked at all. |
 |
| The
clarity of this picture should explain all. The fuse terminals are held
in place by a small plastic tab that clicks into a square cut out in the
metal terminal. Push back the plastic tab with a small, flat bladed screw
driver and you can easily remove the terminal. Try any other way and you
will mangle both parts. |
 |
I
tried many sources to get replacement fuse terminals but, in spite of
designing wire harnesses for a living, I could not find a supplier. That
left me with no option but replacing the existing assembly with something
else. After about a week of searching, I decided on this fuse holder made
by Littefuse.
Fuse
Holder Specification |
 |
| With
the help of a friendly machinist, I had the original fuse panel cut to the
following dimensions: Hole template |
 |
| Due
to the thickness of the original fuse panel, I could not mount the fuse
holders the way they were designed to be. That is why my hole dimensions
do not match the specification sheet. The fuse holders were inserted into
the front of the fuse panel and 5 minute epoxy was used to hold them in
place from behind. |
 |
| A
total of 24 soldered wire splices with paint-on flux and everything. Took
me three days. On day number two, I realized the handy micro torch I was
using also doubled as a CO generator and proved an effective mosquito attractant. |
 |
| I
had initially decided to shrink wrap the splices but thought better of it
and instead used Certoplast 500 series cloth electrical tape (used on O2
sensor wire harnesses, it can take the heat) and 3M electrical coating to
seal out moisture. I thought it was a little sticky so I wrapped a second
round of tape on all the wires. |
Certoplast
Web Site
3M
Electrical Coating |
| This
is all 24 wires plugged into the back of the new fuse panel. I could finally
remove all the labels. |
 |
| After
a relatively minor amount of swearing, I managed to get the fuse panel
screwed back into its original location. There was more, and thicker,
wire to deal with and this section of the wire harness is a fairly large
and unwieldy mess to manuever around. |
 |
| This
is what the next owner will see when he or she opens the left side fuse
cover. The fuse positions are factory correct and should provide no additional
worry for the next 20 years or so. |
 |