upgrade 308 fuse boxes to modern ones

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It's been written up extensively on the present and old forums.
Try "308 NAPA FUSE".

 

I did the NAPA swap last year. No problems.

 

Birdman (Jonathan) made mine up for me, and I did the swap 3 weeks ago... it was a breeze, and he did a great job assembling the boxes.

See the thread at http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=134355808

 

All Napa, all the times.
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Thanks Mike!

Yes, after being infuriated by the crappy 308 fusebox over and over, I decided to make a new one that uses modern fuses. All the info was right here in good old FChat. Tracing back through the archives, it's still unclear to me who originally came up with the design, but several people had done the mod and steered me to the right parts.

It seemed like something a lot of 308 owners would want, so rather than just make one pair, I have made up a "template" so I can build a perfect drop-in replacement pair of these 308 fuseboxes for anyone that wants them in just a few hours. PM me if you want a pair. I'm not in business trying to make money on these or anything. I just ask for cost of parts plus whatever else you feel like throwing in for my trouble! (This is the FChat discount!!)

Birdman

 

You guys are the greatest.

I know many other people (probably some shop owners) get a LOT of info from this board.

Just showing some humble gratitude for you unselfish folk.

 

That is a very clean installation. Are the fuses identified somehow (are there covers that go over these and have the names/numbers on them)?

 

The only project I've done on mine that was any easier (than the fuse panel) was repacing the stock headlights with updated lenses and bulbs! The fuse panel job was much cheaper to do though!!

 

Does anyone know where I can get all the parts I need in the UK?

 

I don't know if they'll ship to the UK but this is where I got mine. I don't know why the wouldn't?

Try it out?

http://www.napaonline.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/NAPAonline/homepage.d2w/report

Part # is BK7821240

I would imagine most good parts stores would carry something similar though. This is what your looking for
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Peter
If you use the Nuvolari method (separating the individual holders and mounting on an Al strip) then the overall width will allow the original covers to fit. You will however need to find a way to hold the covers in place.

Gerrit

 

they don't ship outside of the US so the hunt continues, thanks anyway.

 

What I did was place my covers nose to tail on a photocopier. This yielded a perfect copy with all the fuse size and tasks listed out. I keep this piece of paper folded in a small ziploc bag with a few spare fuses and a fuse puller. The whole lot goes in the centre console storage compartment or the tool kit. Since changing the fuseblock though, I have not once even removed my fuse panel cover let alone changed a fuse.

 

Hi Bossious

You can try Digikey, they ship outside of North America.

 

I made a new fuse guide and printed it out, then just glued it to the inside of the dash piece that covers the fuseboxes.

 

Thanks for posting the methods Rob, Gerrit and Birdman.

Those NAPA fuse blocks, what's the max amp rating they can handle?

 

I don't know the rating, but you'll have no trouble with the 7.5amp and 15amp AGC fuses you'd use to replace the old euro 8 and 16 amp fuses.

 

Well in excess of any fuse value that should be installed in any of the circuits in the car!

 

Question: Those fuse boxes appear to use the regular glass style fuses. If you are going to update, why not update to a fuse box which uses the newer type of plug-in fuses (blade-type)?

I believe these types of fuseboxes are available, I recall seeing them somewhere.

Dom

 

I asked because of the Bosch H4 & H1 headlights I installed a few years ago, the current draw was so much with all four lights on, that I would pop the 8 amp fuses within minutes and the fuse box was on the point of melting. I bypassed the box entirely and ran the high-light circuit (when all four lights are on, the two 8 amp fuses for the high-lights were just not enough) to a separate, remote-mounted 25 amp blade fuse, which now can support the load and the unit is much cooler. It would be nicer if I could go back and have all the fuses in the one box and not have this extra fuse under the dash.
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I think the idea is to keep an original look with the cylindrical fuses. Nothing wrong with using blade fuses, but also nothing wrong with using glass fuses either. Other than having the problem with my headlights, all the other fuses are still the original ones I installed when I bought the car four years ago.

 

Yes, the cylindrical fuses look more original, but they are also much easier to see. You can check the condition of one without pulling it from the holder. A blade type fuse has to be pulled to check it. The large contact area of the cylindrical fuse is also just as good electrically as the blade type fuse. The OEM fuses are terrible in this respect as they are only contacted by a tiny ring of metal on the conical tips.

Peter, just an opinion but I would say that if you have installed lights that draw enough current to melt your fusebox, they will also be in danger of melting your OEM wiring and connectors on the back of the lights. You should defintely stick to a special circuit for them. A 25A fuse in cylindrical glass is pretty standard equipment in lots of cars.

Birdman

 

Peter
When I upgrade my headlights (that is whenever I get to it) I am going to use relays to carry the load. The fusebox and switch would carry only enough current to operate the relay which would be wired directly to the battery with an appropriate size fuse.
Early Audi Quattros (ur-Quattros pre 1985) had fuse boxes that would rival those used in the 308 for corrosion and meltdown (and I can confirm that). A popular modification for US spec cars is to use euro headlights utilizing stand alone relays and heavy direct wiring. Properly done it works great.

here is a web site with some good tech info
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/