tmpusfugit

Anybody aware of anyplace to get electrical diagrams in color, other than buy a set of manuals? I am going crazy trying to read these in black and white and I need the diagrams for an '84....

I don't mind spending some $$ I just don't want or need a set of paper manuals other than this need....

dr bob

My factory WSM paper set is black and white. I did CAD a couple pages of my '89 set in color to make them easier to read, but only colored the traces I was concerned about. I think I've seen a couple other early pages in color someplace, but don't think they were from the WSM.

WallyP

A couple of the early years were done in color, but the later ones (AFAIK) are all black/white.

I have scanned, enlarged and printed sections of the diagrams, then used highlighters to color the circuits that I was tracing.

86'928S MeteorGrey

If I remember correctly... And I could be wrong, because it has been so long, The HAYNES (or was it CHILTONS) manual for the 924/928 had color wiring diagrams in it. On second thought, it was the CHILTONS that had the 924/928 combo book. The HAYNES manuals I used to use were for the 944...

Worth a look. If you do find color diagrams for the 84 928S, I'd be very interested in a copy!

WallyP

The Chilton's Manual has no wiring diagrams at all.

tmpusfugit

Thanks for the information guys.....one word response....OUCH! Must be time for new bifocals and a new prayer rug....as well as a trip to the print shop to get some prints made 11x17" of the drawings. By the way, the electronic version I have, from the usual vendor, is pretty fuzzy. Are they all like that, the scanned images that is?

dr bob

The originals are not razor sharp but are way more readable than the scans in the popular CD copies. I print them on 11x17 and color them as Wally does.

FWIW, the basic challenge on doing the CAD versions in real color is getting the multi-colored wires done accurately. Each color combo has to be defined separately as a linetype. That means a hairline black outline, main color, trace color. If they are close on the color wheel, each colored section gets the black hairline surround of the section. Generally, the factory is good about using one color combo for just one function in the cars, so you can see that there is a shipload of color combos to define if you want to build a whole drawing set. Then some color definitions that look good on the screen still fade or disappear when they are printed on white background paper. I gave up finally. Plus no matter what, getting them on at least 11x17 paper is a must. When I was searching through some drawings for the HVAC head unit repair project, and also for my stereo install, I plotted the CAD's on 22x34 format to make them easier to trace and color on with highlighters. The later drawings are worse than the earlies, lots of crossings that don't do well as overlapping colors.

86'928S MeteorGrey

I did a little searching. On pelican there was this post

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...schematic.html

It speaks of the '83 wiring diagram being close to the 84 with a much easier to read (and troubleshoot) ladder style format. It also speaks of rare 3'X6' wiring diagrams... love to see one of those...

That's correct Wally, Cilton's didn't have schematics, plus the manual in question only covered '77 to '81 and it's out of print... It's the Haynes manuals that had good wiring schematics, but they never made one for the 928... I warned ya it has been a long time..

It seems Alan Moore started a 928 electrics book that hasn't been finished yet for '87 + cars with a primer available for download that explains better how the schematics are read. These instructions will help with the older schematics too...

http://928-electrics.com/wiring%20diagram%20primers.htm

Good luck on your quest.

Landseer

My 84 diagrams on the CD are fine.

PM me if you need specific help on 84 electrical.

I have concentrated pretty heavily on that year.

I've also triangulated wire colors and come up with a pretty good, not perfect, guide in excel.

86'928S MeteorGrey

From a previous post, I tried to download your excel sheet, but the link is now dead. I'd be interested in anything you have for the 84' I've got some center console fixin' to do, and I believe it's gonna be FUN.

tmpusfugit

Thanks for all the suggestions and links and the like....I just had Office Depot print off all the '84 electrical drawings in 18x30" size. $1.69 each. Much easier than messing around with taped up 11x8.5". I think I will try adding some color (via felt tip marker) to circuts I need to work on just to clarify things a bit. I looked at doing it on the files themselves via a drawing or paint package. I got it to work sort of, but it was increasingly obvious that it would take a long time to do it right, and required more commitment than I have at the moment.... I would rather work on the car than spend hours on the computer.....

Landseer

I'm scrubbing my spreadsheet. Found before emailing it this morning that I'd lost "version" control over it and needed to fix a few things. Give me a few hours.

LGL

It's labor intensive but to better understand the circuitry, I used colored pencils to trace the lines with a different color assigned to different functions.