THE BEST LAID PLANS OF MICE AND MEN!

Work continued on the front trunk enclosure on Saturday and the cross members, wheel wall, firewall and deck plate support angles were coated with etching primer, then painted satin black. Everything was rolling along nicely and the only obstacle left was one brake line that still did not fit into the channel that had been cut in the support angle. After several attempts in straitening it out, I finally came up with a plan to clamp the bend between two blocks of wood and hopefully, when the c-clamp was tightened, the tube would straighten out enough to fit. With the clamps in place, tightening began and the tube began to bend back where I needed it to be, success was in sight! With the tube almost there, I took another couple turns, with resistance starting to increase, then there was a squirt and my hand became drenched with brake fluid. Oh well, just one turn too far. I guess it is better to snap the line now that to have it break when I am on the interstate going 70 mph, so went in the house and called a local mechanic in Kirkersville, OH. We talked for a few minutes and he agreed to put new brake lines on the car next week and then bleed the brakes after they were installed.

BRAKE LINES

DECK PLATE AND SHEET METAL FINAL PREP

With the car going to the shop next week for new brake lines, focus will turn to getting the battery pack ready. The pack will be split in half and each half pack laid flat on a plate with four pieces of all thread attaching the cells to the plate. A mount will be bolted to the fender wells on each side to bolt the module plate firmly to the car.

SECOND BATTERY MODULE

BASIC ARRANGEMENT OF NEW MODULE

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

MORE WORK ON THE BATTERY BOX

Sunday morning it was overcast and chilly in Ohio but around 10:30 the clouds started to break up and it started getting warmer. After mowing the lawn, I turned my focus on the Fiero front battery box. The first task was to finish bolting in the driver's side aluminum angle, then the firewall angle was fit and bolted in. It was a little tricky getting it to match up on both sides, as it did not butt up to the driver's side angle because of the steering shaft. I had to use a level and clamp another piece of angle on the driver's side to make sure it was the same level. After jockeying it around a few times, it was finally able to be fastened in.

FIREWALL ANGLE BOLTED IN

Next, measurements were taken and a cardboard template was made. After a test fit and a few adjustments, the cardboard template fit nicely into place.

FRONT VIEW OF TEMPLATE FIT

DRIVER'S SIDE VIEW OF TEMPLATE

PASSENGER VIEW OF TEMPLATE

When I checked for the weekly show on EVTV this morning, the site was down, at least the homepage and the EVCCON page. When they came back up, the EVCCON page had a link to register for this year's show. It starts September 29, 2015, so this leaves me about 3 months to get the other battery module in and tweak all of the controls, the charger, and gauges. Everything has to be done because I am officially signed up now!

EVCCON 2015 REGISTRATION

Until next post, keep on building!

Randy