Progress on the project

Waiting for the money to come together so the parts can get ordered so I can wait for a time-window to get things done is a slow process, and life gets in the way like it does for just about everyone. This is not a fast project, but there is progress.

At this point (Summer 2024)

  • The top/body of the donor car is off and in storage.
  • The frame has been disassembled and sand-blasted/powder-coated
  • The suspension has been rebuilt, disc brakes have been added in the front
  • The motors have been joined together and are in the frame with the gearbox
  • The motor-controllers have been modified and are in
  • The battery containment has been built and is bolted in
  • The high-voltage cabling is in place with the fuse/switch box and the monitoring adapter
  • The low-voltage wiring to the front of the car is in

and, to me, it’s starting to look pretty serious. Messy, but serious.

Next steps

Next on the to-do list is to finish out the pumps & hoses in the bilge compartment (the space where the original oil pan used to be) so that power steering and power brakes are operational again. Once that is done and tidied up, I can start installing the traction battery over top of all that. The first battery pack has been wired up and has its bus-bars installed, so next there is to build out the water-cooling.

Time-line

That’s the goal for fall: to have the batteries in and charged up (using hokey charging while I figure out a really-real charger), the HV cables dressed & terminated, a running +12V system with the PLC in its spot, cooling loops running incl. water-pumps and radiator(s), and the emergency brake and parking-pawl both functional. Basically, all of the bits & pieces required to create a road-worthy moving chassis. I won’t have the CAN-bus system running by then so spinning up the motors is for another day / after Xmas.

At that point I can take the frame over the local safety-inspection place and see what they want added or deleted, and with their report I can submit the paperwork to the DMV for re-classification and make sure the insurance company will actually cover the project. That’ll tell what comes for Xmas this year.