Birdman's Wonderful Fuse Box!

I thought Birdman boxes wouldn’t accept the stock covers?

 

Oh you Velcro them I see now

 

Where can you get the covers and stickers at a 'reasonable' price?

 

I have some spare Birdman fuse boxes if anyone wants them FOC.
I replaced them with the other new fuse boxes that take blade fuses and also accept the original covers.

 

What blocks are blade and accept OEM covers? Picture if possible. Thank you. I have an 82 and looking for that setup

 

me too

 

I have them too made by Sam Saprunoff, I think he has stopped making them though; Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I bought mine from Sam a few years ago,one of the best upgrades for the 308.
Shame,I also heard he had stopped producing them,so those who have not made the upgrade are in potential trouble.

 

If someone has one loose and handy that they can measure I will try to get some made.

 

Good day Derek,

If you are referring to my fuse blocks, I would ask that you simply come up with your own design (or make improvements from my design) or at the very least differentiate what you would be making so that there would be no confusion as to who made the blocks.

Cheers,

Sam

 

Hi Sam,
I would like to upgrade my fuse block and like to support people making niche and NLA parts for our cars. I had planned to get a Birdman block but prefer the look of yours. Is there any chance you’ll make some more? Anything I can do to help?
Cheers derek

 

Good day Derek,

Understood and thank you for your support. For the past few seasons my work duties have been consuming a ridiculous amount of time and so I have little left for anything else (sleep ). That being said, I will be doing another production run, but I cannot say when. Next season is possible, but it depends upon work and what silly project schedule gets thrown at me... which are the joys of being a small business owner

Thank you for your assistance offer, but there is really nothing I can outsource. I attempted outsourcing some of the design's components (PCB assembly) and the result was not to the level I expected/wanted (it was crap). Ideally it would be great to injection mold the bases, as this would reduce the manufacturing time a lot, but given the volume it is quite difficult to recover the injection molding setup ROI, etc. 3D Printing is another option, but it is costly, slow, and unless you have access to the high end printers, the resulting "print" is so-so and/or structurally poor. CNC'ing is great and the resulting crisp detail is hard to duplicate with another process.

Cheers,

Sam

 

Before I got a hold of Sam's works of art, I made my own from two 10 slot blade fuse blocks (Narva, I think), which gave me a spare slot on each side, and fairly simple to mount. I used old house wiring solid core copper to bridge where necessary. Not as pretty, but functionally perfect.

 

"Ideally it would be great to injection mold the bases, as this would reduce the manufacturing time a lot"

Sam, one option is injection moulded from a 3D printed mould. The setup costs are very low and the runs can be small. If you are ok sharing the 3D file or can send me a sample, I can get some made for you. I could also get 20-30 made by cnc machining plastic (probably under $10ea.)

My electrics seem ok so far but this update is on my to-do list in the next year or two. cheers, derek

 

I have sam’s on my UK Vetroresina. I’d like the same setup in my other two cars...I’m in if you make more...

 

Do you have pictures? Im in the process of doing the same, but the ones available in the market are too big (long).

 

Good day Derek,

Indeed a 3D mold would make the NRE costs cheaper. There would be some effort to explore this along with weighing the pros and cons of this approach and which injection companies would accommodate this process. My past injection projects went very well the first time out, but there was a lot of up front effort to achieve this... injection mold temp simulations, samples, etc. Additionally, I had to spend time reviewing the various plastics to ensure they met the specs I needed (flammability ratings, etc). In the end the quality of the finished product was amazing and this is the only level I would accept.

CNC Machining Time itself is not the issue... It is the sourcing, procurement, transportation, importation, and prep (cutting blocks into manageable sizes for the CNC shop) of the block bases that is time consuming. Secondly, finding the right base colors and ratings (temp, flammability, etc) for a CNC shop abroad would also take time.

Outside of the bases...
a. there is the PCB assembly... and as I mentioned, I was unhappy with the automated soldering process and so I choose to hand assemble the PCBs. Fabrication and pressing of the cover retention pins, etc
b. time and effort to co-ordinate with perspective interested parties with various shipping options/requirements and payment methods.
c. time and effort to label, package, generate export docs, and ship blocks to recipients.
d. time and effort to address any shipping related issues (lost, damaged, delayed)

I thank you once again for your assistance offer, but I currently do not have enough spare time to dedicate to these efforts. As I mentioned, perhaps some time in the New Year things will free up so I can dedicate time to all of this.

Cheers,

Sam

 

Sounds like a ton of work Sam. I understand why you need the time. Keep me posted when you have some ready and the price. Cheers Derek

 

Good day Derek,

Indeed, a lot of work. Designing and making a couple of blocks is "easy"... making them in larger numbers and the administration efforts is where all the time gets consumed.

I will indeed post up when I am ready to do another "run".

Cheers,

Sam

 

Hi Sam,

Keep me on the waiting list.

This a great elegant modern solution for a real old problem - a serious weakness holding back the car -- furthermore, these 30 yo electronics are not getting any better. But we still want to enjoy driving our cars. All my Italian cars have had the same electrical weakness - mostly the fuse boxes... So let me add my voice to the others. --

 

Hi Sam, please add me to your list for your next run pls. cheers
Vaughan

 

Running Sams fuseblocks in my Euro QV

 

Add me too.


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