RUDE AWAKENING...BUILD RECAP

It is currently 45 degrees in Central Ohio and the realization sunk in that it is time to start getting the garage ready to put the Fiero inside, so it can be worked on as the temperatures keep dropping. It's time to put away the shorts and t-shirts and get out the long sleeves and jackets to continue work when cold weather gets here.

STORM CLOUDS

TIME TO MOVE INTO THE GARAGE

Last year at this time, the HighPower cells had been installed and the car could be driven, although because of the voltage sag, the contactors kept tripping out when the 12 volt system voltage dropped below 10 volts. Work on the interior and the addition of meters was also started. By spring, a new headliner, the dash , all of the interior trim panels, and the sun visors, had all been refinished, then put back in the car. Work was progressing on adding meters, and the Dell Venue tablet, so it looked like the interior would be wrapped up by early summer. 

Enter the Better Place battery pack sale. When the modules were offered by EVTV and I found out that one of the builders from Central Ohio was going to go out to Missouri to pick them up, the deal just could not be passed up. Once the pack arrived, work stopped on the interior and focused on dissembling, bottom balancing, and building a mounting platform for the modules to be put in the Fiero. After I missed getting the Fiero ready to take to EVCCON, work still continued and got to the point of test driving with the new Better Place module. 

Then the shift cable broke and so far, as hard as I try, does not want to come back into adjustment. I am a little worried that there is something wrong with the shift forks inside the transaxle. The shifter does not seem to want to go over far enough to properly engage 3rd and 4th gears but seems to work ok for first, second, and reverse. If it quits raining and warms up a little I am going to take another stab at adjusting it and found a diagram that shows the positions of the leavers for each gear, so maybe this will help. I had to make a new end for the selector cable, so I may need to figure out how to lengthen it a little

SHIFT POSITION DIAGRAM

It is a little discouraging, as now that the module is mounted, it will be a real chore to put in a new shift cable or have to pull the transaxle so a shift fork can be replaced and now that the car in insured, I was really looking forward to being able to drive it a little before winter sets in.

So I guess that while some work will continue on the car, the next big chore will be to get the garage set up to get the Fiero back inside. Where did summer go!

Keep Building,

Randy