Marks Story
I got EV1E back from Bob yesterday and what a difference. Jason down at Big J Tires, helped me pick out a low resistance tire and then his team did a first class job on the front end alignment. They checked the rear end alignment and Bob Tumazi took it from there. He made the adjustment and now EV1E scoots down the road like she was meant to. I am having a special transmission re-geared for her shifting points as they are different then an ICE vehicle, that should help a little more. For the record I was keeping up with traffic on 99 when I brought her home yesterday. When I got home I had used 1% of the charge. Wow! This really works… you should get one. Next week The Body Shop.
My friend Bob Tumazi of Tumazi Motors in Turlock CA, told me a story today about a man who, in 1965 made a Volkswagen Beetle go 58 mi on one gallon of gas. The way he did this was by making the car light in weight and using low resistance synthetic grease and oil, inflating the tires to 100psi and a real good wax job. On Tuesday I m taking EV1E to Bobs shop and dropping her off so that Bob can perform his magic. He is the only one in town that will do four wheel alignment on a Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle, and certainly the only one I would trust with a Volkswagen Type 1 EV1E. I will let you know how that goes.
Here are more pictures of Evie. These were taken on the 17th after I readjusted the top and doors. The doors fit much better now. What you can’t see from the pictures, I had to shave off just a sliver of the inside fender well to allow better clearance for the wheels and tires. I have decided to mount the 12 Volt fuse block/wire harness on the center tunnel behind the emergency brake. This will give me easy access. This car has a center console and all I will have to do to check or change a fuse is lift the door on the console. The console also has channels built into it which I can run my harnesses through.
The push is to get her street legal so that I can start driving her to work. Some of the members of Team Evie are coming this weekend to help. There are many rivers to cross before we get there.
On Aug 9th 2009 (yours truly’s birthday) I had a few friends over for a bar-b-que. Each one got to ride in Evie down the block and back again, for a total of 6 trips. The batteries are still ready for another run. I sent my battery charger to Sacramento for re-calibration. It was set up for 18 8V batteries, and I am using 12 12V batteries. When I get it back I will fully charge the batteries and see what this baby will do. I am wearing a large smile these days just knowing I am so close to seeing a dream become a reality. In case you are wondering what ever became of the two Bradley’s I was using for parts, here is the answer. I gave the rust bucket gray beast to Greg at Bugformance of Stockton as a core for the brand new transmission Evie is sporting now. I asked him at the time if he would let me have parts as needed and he could keep the rest. Well the darn thing sat in his yard for about 1 year I had taken the top and one of the doors off of it and then he finally he sold it or gave it away to a guy named Jon Connolly. He also told Jon about me and that I might have some “spare parts” for a Bradley. I had a whole car (remember the white one I bought for parts?) so I gave him the other Bradley… Actually that is not quite right, we bartered. He is going to paint my car. He has won awards for his paint jobs. I have decided to paint her Wimbledon White with a Blue GT 40 racing stripe. The pictures below were taken on the day I put Evie’s windshield in.
Today August 4th 2009 at 1435 PDT Evie moved on her own power. I threw a seat in her (didn’t even bolt it in and a steering wheel on her (again, no bolt) and started her up and drove her down the driveway and down the street and back. Then I backed her up the driveway and into her stall. I did this a total of two times. It has been a long road to get to this point but we are here. Here are some photos of Evie on her Maiden Voyage Day.
Today I pulled the motor. It was amazingly simple to do, but I get ahead of myself. The day started out by me reenacting yesterdays chain of events and adding some variables. I Lifted the rear wheels off the ground, put the car in third gear, and spun the motor. This time the wheels seemed to grab every time I heard the clunk. It was becoming obvious to me that I had not installed the clutch properly. Based on this theory, I shut everything down, disconnected one of the jumpers from the traction pack, removed the pot box, harnessed the motor and removed the four bolts holding the motor to the trans axle assy. I pulled the motor and examined the inside of the bell housing. There was some indication of wear but, it also could have been the ring gear hitting the inside of the bell housing during the installation and, subsequent removal of the motor. I then turned the spline shaft of the transmission by hand to see if it was binding in any way. The spline turned freely. I put the car into third gear and Got Belia to spin one side while my neighbor Frank spun the other in the same direction and I listened and watched the spline move the way it is supposed to. Next I took the clutch off of the flywheel and discovered that unless one has ZERO concept as to how a clutch works or doesn’t pay any attention to whether something is being jammed, it is near impossible to assemble a VW clutch backwards. Alright! But what could it be? I thought, while I have this motor out of the car and just sitting here, why don’t I spin it.
Whirrr Clunk! That’s it! It was the motor. I called Electro Automotive and left a message. Within 10 minutes I received a phone call from Bill Lentfers. I explained the problem and he asked me to send him a capture from the DMOC. I did. Now it is being analyzed. Hopefully this will be something which can be resolved by adjusting some parameters. In the meantime I wait…
Today I got my batteries. The whole idea of an electric vehicle became very real. The pictures show the placement of the components and the Batteries. I also placed the accelerator actuator and hooked it up to the accelerator pedal.
Today we put “Evie” and her classy Chassis together. The Three people helping me are Mike, Jeff Casey, and Dave Haggland. As you recall Dave is the one who came up with Idea of sending the GT 40 headlight lenses back to RCR and having custom ones made. Well RCR would not let me return the unused headlight lenses but Eddie at “Sew Creative” will have my newly manufactured ones ready tomorrow. The idea of cutting out the piece and putting in one just like it only clear was Dave’s. I was just the designer and fabricator. Jeffery has also helped me on a number of occasions. Today after flipping “Evie” Jeff helped me install the steering wheel. He has also contributed to the sanding and prep work of Evie. In addition to that Jeff is a great guitar and bass player and has just recently “mastered” the five string banjo.
Mike is the newest member of Team “Evie”, he was curious about the car so I put him to work and he did a great job. I now present “Evie” and Her Classy Chassis…
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”
