Has anyone bought/used the og racing battery cut-off kit for a 944? The complete kit has a "nice" price tag, but the kits seems to be complete and straight-forward to do.

 

Without question, it sucks. If you have the time and skills to fab your own, I would highly recommend just buying the 4 pole switch from longacgre for $40 and building your own bracket.

Issues I've seen on my car as well as two other 944 Cupper's

1) mounting bracket won't align correctly on the battery hold down bolt. Have had to re-drill and ream out a number of times to get it fit

2) Once the bracket is tightened down, it is near impossible to get out as the bracket blocks access even with wobble sockets and extensions. Solution is to take a grinder and cut off a chunk of the bracket to improve your angle

3) The mount for the pull cable requires some engineering to get it to mount such that it bolts to the hood mount bolts BUT doesn't end up hitting your windshield every time you open the hood. We had do some grinding to clearance the hood(!) in order to create enough space so the pullo cable only slightly contacts the windshield. Getting it to clear completely was not possible. This has been true on at least 3 other cars with the kit.

4) It is difficult to adjust the pull cable so that there is enough travel to pop the switch to the off position.

Understandable if I was trying to build it myself, but this is $200+ kit if I recall.

Figure that this will be an 8 hour job for install as a DIY, or about 6 for a shop.

I'd post pics of these issues, but my car is in the shop at the moment.

BTW - this is the same kit (I believe) the CDOC sells.

 

Thanks for the input. That is exactly what I was afraid of. I had seen some pics (possibly surfing on 944cup) where the cut off switch was located at the base of the driver side windshied, eliminating the pull cable. I don't know if there is enough clearance with opening the hood and wiper function, but I would prefer to install it there, otherwise I will locate it on the passenger side firewall(where the cruise used to be. Is there anything I need to know about running power from the alternator the the cut off?

 

As Matt said, don't waste the money. Only product I've ever bought from OG (actually it's made by CDOC) that I complained about. Just a total piece of crap.

 

You 944 cup guys, in the 2006 calendar there is a pic of a yel/blk 944 with the cut-off switch sticking through the hood. Is this legal? If the switch is mounted to the hood is/can there be a problem with the wires haveing to move with the hood? Would be cool to have the cut-off use the driver's side winshield washer hole...

 

My car is prepped to PCA specs and I don't think there is any restriction to where the cutoff handle is located. I think it is suggested to be near the driver's door, but not a requirement.

I've seen several switches poking through the hood. As long as you have slack in the leads to raise the hood there should be no issues. Make sure you have clearance underneath as well.

 

One other thing to think about if you do the through the hood install is the orientation of the switch. There's a video out there on a cup car at mid-ohio where a through-the-hood kill switch gets hit by a chunk of rubber, which flips the switch into the "kill" position. Make sure that the "on" position is fore and aft.

Also, a hood mount will be much more susceptible to internal corrosion of the contacts. All things being equal, the switches are pretty cheap, and you'll see a lot of guys having to futz with the switches at the track because the contacts are dirty and the car won't start.

 

True about kill switches and at the track issues. Many times they look like they were installed as an after thought and with little care. They will end you race or mess up you day real quick. Watched a guy mess with his car for about 1/2 the day before he figured it was the rusty kill switch. I like to mount the switch under the hood or front trunk protected and run a cable pull to where you want the pull to be. This also lets you mount the switch right next to the batt and keeps the unswitched wire to a min. The idea it two fold one to shut the motor down and to also disconect the batt from the rest of the car lowering the chance of fire. If you are running wire from the batt around to the switch in a hoof for instance you have a run of wire that will still be able to short out if the hood gets crunched regardless of the switch being pulled. OTOH a surface mount switch might be better able to survive an impact.

 

one other idea if your switch is acting up - drop either a 6 or 8 mm washer into the switch housing, and then put the key in. when you turn the key into the on position , the increased height of washer will increase the pressure on the contacts giving better connectivity.

Just make sure that the center contact on the key passes through the washer.

 

Mark,
As the guys in the Guinness commercials say "Brilliant!"

 

I am in the process of building the mounts and wiring. Where are you "tapping" into the alterenator lead for the cut-off? I have a four-pole switch I bought from CDOC(omp brand). I will mount the switch near the battery with a pull cable.