Birdman's 308 fuseblock retrofit ROCKS!!!

I wish he had a Mondial to do this with....

Hey, wait a minute,...he does**!

HINT

**well, his wife does, actually.

 

Agreed- it really works well, and if you want to go back to original- no problem. Now, if I could only have some time to figure out how to attach the original labeled fuse covers???

 

Jwise- I just used velcro to attach my fuse labels to the inside of the panel cover , next to the relay labels.
Steve

 

I ordered Birdmans fuse boxes for my 308 GT4 over the Thanksgiving Holiday.
He is a very easy person to deal with - highly recommend him, and his product.
I'm scheduled in Feb. to have Eugenio's put them in, along with a few other normal service items the GT4 will be going through.

 

I just placed the old ones on a copier, then took the black and white xerox, cut out the labels, and used rubber cement to attach them on the inside of the vinyl panel cover. Works great as a ready reference.

 

I love simple solutions- thanks.

 

I have never had any electrical problems or noted any deficiencies...but I would be interested in more information on the replacement...

 

Bottom line: fuses don't blow. fuse panels don't melt. Interior lights are brighter. Switches work better.... it's just a great all around improvement. Frees up a couple hundred bucks also to spend elsewhere on your car....

 

interesting. My driver window is slow and I def DON'T feel like tearing into it to clean the old grease. Always try the easier fix first....

 

This is why replacing the original fuseblocks with Birdman's (NAPA style) is important- the melted fuse connector in the photo is for the fuel pump. A PO's solution was to use a 30 amp external fuse !- scary stuff. Needless to say I have the updated fuse panel now and use the stock fuse size (16amp I think).
P.S. I built the "NAPA" style fuseblocks myself, if I had to do it again, I'd buy Birdmans, I only saved $25 for an afternoons work and driving all over town to get the parts.
Another P.S- replace all the relays too, it will prevent many future problems as well.(about $100)
Steve
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Lou- I bought mine through Rockauto.com about $9 each for most of them.
Steve

 

Ok...I'll take it...where do I get one?

 

Either go to Ferrariads (above) or contact "Birdman"- just do a search for him.
Steve

 

I have made my own variant, if you're in Europe parts can be ordered from conrad:
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I just ordered mine from Birdman and can't wait to get them in, I fully expect my car to do over 200mph after!! Ha Ha!

 

Hey Guys,
I don't know how I managed to miss this thread. Thanks John for pointing it out. Thank you all for the kind words. I'm glad you like the fuseblocks. After I made my first set for my car, I knew this was something that would help out all 308 owners. I had no idea they would become so popular! I have been building so many that I had a bunch of the parts machined and anodized. The new ones are nice looking and less hand-built looking.

I have tried to price them reasonably, which means cheap enough that they are a great deal and I feel like I am helping my fellow Ferrari nut, but expensive enough that I don't mind the time/money it takes me to keep parts in stock, build them, ship them, answer questions, etc.

PLEASE do not expect that your windows will be faster. SOME people experience this if the fusebox was the issue, but windows in 308s are usually slow because of the hardened grease in the motor gears. A little more voltage from a better fusebox certainly helps, but it's not the complete fix. However, the OEM fuseboxes in these cars totally BLOW (ha ha get it?) and replacing them usually makes all kinds of things work better. But the real benefit is more reliability. I have a saying that I think is very true: There are two kinds of OEM 308 fuseboxes--those that have left you stranded, and those that will. My car was overheating because the fusebox melted on the fuses that ran the fans. Others get stranded because the fuse holder that runs the fuel pump melts. The fuseblocks in these cars are a terrible design. If you want to read a little more, I put up a site:

http://www.birdmanferrari.com

Thanks again for the positive comments, it really makes my day to hear that this thing has helped someone out.

Best,

Birdman

 

Birdman: you said "The new ones are nice looking and less hand-built looking."
If the changes are noticable , how about some close-up photos ?
Steve

 

Funny, I had the same 'burn' marks on my old fuse covers, too. Birdman's fuse block kit brought back my driving lights and a few other circuits I was having problems with. Now if only my radiator fans would spin faster......

 

I have one of B's kits waiting to be installed on mine - just concerned about f'ing something up. I just need to grow a pair....

 

There are pics on my site, here are some too.

Birdman
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It's just 4 screws and transplanting the wires. You won't mess it up. Just label the wires so you can get them on the same tabs on the new fuseblocks, pull the wires, unscrew the old blocks, install the new blocks with the new short screws (paying attention to Left and Right...they are different from each other and labeled on the back), replace the wires, pop in the fuses and go. Even if you go ridiculously slow, it won't take more than 10-15 minutes. You can do it!

Birdman

 

I should give a big thanks to Chris Marsh, another Fchatter here, whose company did the nice anodized aluminum pieces for my fuseblocks. I sent him my precious hand-made template plus some drawings with specs, and he did a run of parts for me that were absolutely perfect in all ways! So this is a real Fchat product all around.

Birdman