03.29.09
Posted in AC 24, Aquisition, Assembly, Batteries, Body and Fender, DMV, Design, Drive Train, Restore, Sub Frame, Teardown, Time Off at 5:49 am by Administrator
It has been one year since the The California Air Resources Board Voted for me to build an electric car… Lets review. The big 3 auto industry was not helped by the decision as hoped. Tesla however is still on track in spite of the decision CARB made last year. We have voted out the money grubbing, war waging greed mongers. In desperation for an identity, Rush Limbaugh has become the voice of the Republican Party (Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha). We have voted in a man with a vision, intelligence, fortitude, and a realistic plan…Finally! As for the car, The chassis is 98% finished, The body is 50% finished, and I have all of the Parts to finish the entire unit. I have had some wonderful support from friends and family and would now like to thank them.
Thank You
Don and Dolores Bush
Belia Hawkins
Joel Hawkins
Tom Ceirante
Dave Haggland
Greg Hawkins of Bugformance of Stockton
Nancy
Mike and Sheri of Electro Automotive
Jim Cullen
Sean Ryan
Ken Henn
Bruce
Frank
All of the kids across the street
My dog Molly, and her cats, Manx, Tiger, El Sluggo, TC, and Sable
I truly value your love and, the support you have shown throughout this process so far. Thank You from the deepest of my feelings. “Keep On Pluggin”
Permalink
03.26.09
Posted in Aquisition, Body and Fender at 3:50 am by Administrator
I would like to say a word or two about moldless composite construction… The bead I mixed to glue the top onto the body was composed of West Systems Epoxy, cotton micro fibers, and glass bubbles for smoothness and thickness. Once this mixture was in place and dry it was firm and held the top in a permanent fashion. In order to remove the top I literally had to chisel the Ol’ Topper off (with a hammer and chisel), then sand smooth to prepare the car for the replacement. As I stated previously, I will be using the top and doors from the Donor car. I have totally forgiven the Grey Beast for mangling my hands. All wounds heal. I hope the merger of the two vehicles will be a harmonious one.
Permalink
03.23.09
Posted in Aquisition, Assembly, Body and Fender, Design, Restore, Teardown at 11:34 pm by Administrator
Well after glassing the top on, I attempted to fit the doors. They wouldn’t line up properly. (They have never lined up properly) I went to Bugformance of Stockton and and asked Greg if I could use one of the doors off of the “Grey Beast” He agreed and I attempted to fit the door . It too wouldn’t fit The problem seems to be only on one side. The solution… I am going to use the top and door assy from the donor car. This should solve the problem. Just to remind you, here’s a photo of the donor car.
Permalink
06.11.08
Posted in Aquisition at 11:33 pm by Administrator
Ordered new stainless steel clamps from Nancy and Greg at Bugformance. Vacation over, back to work.
Permalink
05.13.08
Posted in Aquisition at 1:34 pm by Administrator
I picked up the hammer and WOW! Does this baby work! I thought I would try to pull one bearing (the one I ripped yesterday) before work. I wound up pulling the remaining three within about 12 min. It took me longer to set up the hammer then it did to pull the bearings. The hammer is perfect for this job. It has a three prong puller attachment which allows the user to pull the bearing straight out by tapping with the slide. No damage to the axle beam.
Permalink
05.12.08
Posted in Aquisition, Teardown at 3:26 pm by Administrator
Today I had to order a slide hammer from Deepak at NAPA to assist in the removal of the front bearings and races. Yesterday sunday I spent the better part of the afternoon trying to remove the bearings from the axle beam and was only successful at removing one with a puller I have. My second attempt wasn’t quite so fruitful. In fact I succeeded at ripping the next one so that all of the little needles fell out of the bearing. The puller didn’t seem to be the right size and on my third and forth, fifth, sixth, seventh… try at “beating a dead horse” I decided to use a different approach. My slide hammer will be here tomorrow right before I have to go to work.
Permalink
05.10.08
Posted in Aquisition at 10:35 pm by Administrator
After consulting with Greg at Bugformance of Stockton, I have re-thought the rebuilding of the front end. I am going to go with the urathane bearings and have the axle beam powder coated. Today I also bought a few items at Bugformance of Stockton. I bought the new urethane front bearings, the coil over shocks, all of the new ball joints, the new tie rod ends, new disc brake assy’s, and a 3/4″ swaybar with urethane bushings.
Permalink
04.02.08
Posted in Aquisition at 9:55 pm by Administrator
April 2 2008, Today I purchased another Bradley GT II for Parts. This thing is a rust bucket. I asked the guy if he pulled it out of a swamp? He assured me that he had it sitting in his yard in Porterville CA for the last 15 years. It has the engine and Transaxle Assy. My plan is to use the Transaxle for my Bradley EV (Evie).
Permalink
03.29.08
Posted in Aquisition at 10:29 am by Administrator
March 28-29 2008 – Upon initial inspection the car looked fantastic! One broken window on the passenger side. The Odometer read 00157. This turned out to be actual miles on the drivetrain which wasn’t included. The 1974 VW Pan looked to be in like new condition. The drivers door was loose so we closed it and latched it.
The trip was smooth sailing right up to the point where we got on 406 and I heard a dragging noise. Apparently the Drivers side headlight was not actually connected to the car except by gravity. This caused the headlight to bounce up and out through the hole it is supposed to sit in, fall down under the car and get caught on something. Before I could get the jeep and car stopped, the scraping had ceased. I got out and checked for damage. One headlight assy, missing. The rest of the car seemed OK
I looked for the headlight, but to no avail. I got in the Jeep and reluctantly drove off. We made it out of LA alot faster then into LA, even with the car in tow. Down the grapevine, into the valley.
I had to stop for gas and a drink of gatorade. I inspected the car and everything was fastened down and I still had “most of the car” The rest of the trip was pretty smooth. We arrived back at the homestead on March 29 2008 @ 0230. I had a beer and read my mail. There was the book I ordered from Amazon with a picture of the author on the front cover. His name…
Michael Brown. I went to bed with dreams of passing all of the gas stations I saw on this trip.
Permalink
« Previous Page — « Previous entries « Previous Page · Next Page » Next entries » — Next Page »
