Hooboy, what a waste. It USED to be that you could go on Wednesday night and see all the artists, get your books signed, get t-shirts, etc. Nope. Not no more.
Comic-Con has been Discovered. (http://www.comic-con.org/)
Wailing, gnashing of teeth, rending of clothes, etc.
Even the t-shirts suck now. Except for the ones the California Browncoats are selling – those are still cool.
Oh well, back to fusebox installation (need to change the standoffs to allow for older wiring).
I got the new fuse panel in good time, and after dealing with the house and dog distractions, spent a lovely sunday installing the new panel. Naturally, a lot of the time was spent at the hardware store getting tools that I didn’t have (or lost) (such as 27mm socket for the steering wheel, or metric hex wrenches).
The stereo and security system had created a nightmare of wiring under the dash…removing that stuff was a total joy. Good thing I had a good manual with an accurate wiring diagram.
As you can see, the old fuse panel was a mess.
Look at all the old wiring I got to toss out…
This looks much better now, doesn’t it? 🙂
Unfortunately, the wiring harness is just too thick to allow the new panel to sit tight against the old posts, so I need to add some height to the posts. That’ll be an easy adjustment…just another trip to the local hardware store for longer screws and use some existing 1/2 plastic pipe for the standoffs. To be continued!
Wow…I took the car to AAA to register it with the DMV (MUCH faster and easier than going to the DMV). Of course, it took more $$$ than I wanted to pay, but no choice in the matter, I suppose.
When I came back out I found this on the windshield:
I guess other people like the 914s, too. 😀
Well, as part of the cleanup, I ordered a new fuseblock from JWest Engineering (http://www.jwesteng.com/porsche/914/).
This will really help with understanding what is under the console. Plus it is a big incentive to remove that old radio (with cassette!) and clean up all the wiring under the console.
HOWEVER
Home has been keeping me busy. VERY busy. The ropes on our double-hung windows (circa 1942) are rapidly decaying. I figured out how to replace them – at 3 hours per window. Our dishwasher needed to be replaced (Maytag did a recall on our model, sent a repair kit but no repair person, so I replaced it with a Bosch). Our dog is STILL being fussy at night, and the cats are not taking too kindly to her yet…
So I hope to be able to get back to the car by this weekend…by which time the fusebox should be in my hands. 🙂
The kit I’ll be using for this project is available from Electro Automotive. It contains an AC motor, controller, battery racks, cables, and heavy-duty suspension. This is a bit lazy on my part, but I wanted to have most of the guesswork out of the way on this first project.
What’s interesting (to me) is that it requires the use of old-school 8 volt batteries. The kind that requires constant topping off with water. I asked why not use the newer sealed batteries, and the reply was, “You could, but you would get greatly reduced range and amperage.” Good enough.
Some other projects are looking into state-of-the-art (i.e. ultra expensive) lithium-phosphate batteries. These don’t explode, unlike lithium-ion batteries. They also cost around $2000 per battery. Ummm….don’t think I’ll go that route any time soon.
I ordered the kit on July 10 (mailed the check), so I can expect the kit to arrive within the next two months. The long lead time is due to the fabbing of the battery boxes. The motor and controller will drop-ship from Azure Dynamics. The other parts will ship from Felton to me as they become available.
Cheers!
Hi Folks,
I just bought a 1975 1.8 liter Porsche 914. It is sunflower yellow, and in pretty good shape. A few spots with rust (although I’m sure I’ll find more later). The transmission needs to be rebuilt (big surprise, eh?) and the engine has a bad case of vapor lock.
Having had the car for a few days, I figured I would start by taking out the old-n-busted alarm system. Easy, I thought. Until I tried to remove the wires leading into the cabin. Um. Ok, so how do I remove that panel from the back of the cabin? Time for the manual (again).
More later!
Cheers, Peter
P.S. Some photos for you:
