Ed Begley Jr. Would Be Proud
Monday, March 31, 2008
This morning, I finished typing in all of the part names and numbers into my Bradley Parts Spreadsheet. This list includes all of the basic parts in the kit car, along with all factory options and as many of the part numbers as I could identify for the electric conversion. The Parts List is now ready for use when I start disassembling the vehicle.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Today, I finished cleaning off the Plans Book and its binder. Then, I made a photocopy of the entire plans book. Each page required two shots (reduced in size) on our photocopier. Then, the individual pages had to be matched and taped together to make a readable set of plans. The idea here was to use the photocopies as my shop plans – plans that I could make notes on and get dirty without having to worry about damaging the originals. That job took a good part of the day.
Once the plans were copied, I started typing up a parts spreadsheet, based on the parts lists that came with the original plans. I had found that this helped a lot when trying to keep track of everything on a Volkswagen MG-TD kit car project that I had built earlier, so I figured that I’d do the same thing here. The list is not only useful for remembering all of the parts, it also helps me locate where the parts are stored and to keep track of the condition and status of the parts (need to replace, need to clean, need to paint, ready to go, etc.)
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Today, I spent a few hours cleaning off the old Plans Book and binder. It was covered with cob webs, bug bits and other yucky stuff. I made it about half way thru the job.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Today, the Bradley got towed home. I started out driving over to Gail’s with a spare tire from Carolyn’s old Volkswagen. We each signed a copy of the DMV Bill of Sale. Gail also signed over the Title Certificate to me. She gave me the 2008 Registration Certificate (expires 4/30/08), her original Registration Certificate (from April 30, 1993), a photostatic copy of Ed Begley Jr.’s Certificate of Title from California and an original Validated Registration Card belonging to Ed Begley Jr. (issued 06/07/91). Gail mentioned that she had never met Ed Begley, Jr. but that Neil (a co-worker from the Desert Resaerch Institute) had, because he was the one who trailered the car back to Las Vegas. Somewhere in her files, she said, she also had a copy of a picture of Ed with his car.
Gail also gave me a folder with some documentation on the electric conversion. These included:
• General Electric Battery Discharge Indicator
• Lestronic Battery Charger Instructions
• Originals of the Operator’s Manual
• Originals of the three Electric Conversion Manuals
• A copy of a 2-page article in Kit Car Magazine
She also gave me 4 (probably shot) gas struts for the gull-wing doors and two (totally shot) tires that were mounted on the original Bradley wheels. The wheels may be salvageable. I need to bead blast them and repolish them.
Once the paperwork was done, we jacked up the front left side of the car and pulled the bad wheel/tire. We then bolted on the tire that I had brought along from Carolyn’s VW and discovered that the lug bolts for the Bradley wheels were too long for a stock VW rim. After fretting about it for a bit, we just bolted on the wheel that I brought, knowing that it was going to be wobbly for the short trip on and off the tow truck. Surprisingly, the front right wheel was bolted on in a similar fashion – that is to say, not fit to drive. One has to wonder how long it was in that condition.
We aired up the 4 tires (the three old ones held) and the tow truck driver arrived – right on time. He loaded up the car without a hitch after we backed it down off of Gail’s driveway. The emergency brake and the pedal brake both worked. Gail posed for a picture in front of the car and, after that, I gave Gail a hug and headed off down the road, tow truck in trail. It took about 45 minutes in cross-town traffic to get the car home, but we did so safely and unloaded the car onto the pad in the back yard.
I spent the rest of the afternoon filing the paperwork that Gail had given me in the binder. The project is now ready for disassembly.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Today, I drove over to Gail Lucas’s house to look at her electric vehicles, with the idea of purchasing either the Aztec 7 that was originally built by Clarence Ellers or the Bradley II GT Electric (GTE) that was originally owned by Ed Begley, Jr. – the actor and environmentalist. We examined both vehicles and I decided that I would rather work on the Bradley, because it was more likely to be complete and because it was a factory-built electric car instead of a one-off electric modification to a kit car like the Aztec.
This, as I learned later, might not be totally true. Apparently, Bradley only constructed about 10 of their electric vehicles. The rest of the GTEs, perhaps 50 or so, were sent out as kit cars to be assembled by the purchaser. According to various internet user groups that I explored, no-one knows of a way to determine if a particular GTE was constructed by the factory or was built by a purchaser. The car’s serial numbers are of no help.
In any event, we settled on a price for the Bradley – a bit more than I wanted to pay but a fair price nonetheless. We arranged for me to bring a spare tire (the left front one was ripped open) and to arrange for a tow truck, so that I could pick up the vehicle tomorrow. Gail gave me the instruction manual and said that she would look for the keys and registration.
The vehicle is currently registered to Gail. She will keep the plates and I will need to re-register the vehicle.
