1971 VW Super Beetle - Fuse Box Modification:

Video Transcript:

ATC fuses? Modern fuse box? Vintage Volkswagen wiring? We can combine the two, I'll show you how. Hi! Sam here with JBugs.com With all the switches for our 1971 Super Beetle now tested, we're just about ready to start installing all of the electrical items. Before we do though, we want to show you a little modification we've done to upgrade and update our stock fuse box. There was nothing wrong with our fuse box, it could have cleaned up and reinstalled without any issues. But, in the theme of mildly modernizing our classic VW, we adapted a universal 10 circuit ATC fuse box to our original one. We do offer a very modern wiring harness with an integrated fuse box but the integration is overly complicated and nothing like factory VW wiring. I prefer using factory VW styled wiring harnesses as they are generally much simpler and offered specifically for various models and the switches that they used. This is our original fuse box. I pried out all of the metal contacts from the terminals that were installed to connect the fuses and wires. I filled in the holes of the fuse box base with two part plastic epoxy. Then, I drilled out two new holes so I can mount the new fuse box in place. Now, we have fuses that are accessible in the trunk instead of from underneath the dashboard. [Nice catch!] This aftermarket fuse box also needed to be modified so that it matches the original fuse box configuration. We have numerous jumper terminals installed so that we have the same amount of inputs and outputs as the original. All three of the battery circuits are connected internally. Those three inputs have six outputs on the opposite side. The same thing applies for the ignition circuits with the three inputs connected and the six outputs on the opposite side. For the high-beams, the jumper terminal allows us to have power in from the headlight relay and out to our high-beam dash indicator. A jumper terminal on the opposite side is so we can connect the left and right headlight high-beams. The next circuit over is for the low-beams. We have a single input on one side and a jumper terminal on the other for the left and right low beams. Then, like the original running light circuit, we have a single input joining two circuits together and on the opposite side, we have a single output for the front lights and a jumper terminal for two outputs on the other circuit. This fuse box, with the modifications, is now a direct replacement for the original fuse box. It still mounts in the factory location and the fuses themselves are no longer underneath the dash but up in the trunk where they are easier to access. The real trick to making this fuse box work like a VW fuse box took some internal modifications. It wasn't difficult and we actually used some of the fuse contacts from the original fuse box. The metal tangs that held the fuses in place are used as bridges inside the base of the fuse box. When we mentioned earlier that the circuits were connected internally, this is what we meant. The little bridges connect the terminals inside the fuse box. So, our three battery circuits are tied together with two bridges. The contacts were bent into a U shape, cut to length, and then pressed in place to join the circuits together. With a little American ingenuity, we now have a modern fuse box that fits our vintage German engineered VW.