ONWARD HO!

I just finished watching EVTV this week and thought the Taiwan trade show piece was rather good. It was also good seeing Jack driving the EV Thing and looks like it is finally close to a finished product. 

Yesterday the interior trim pieces were installed and the seat belts were fastened down. Everything went fairly well except I got some sealant from one of the panels on the new headliner. Not much but you try so hard for perfection when you are restoring a car that little things like that are rather discouraging. 

SIDE PANELS AND SEAT BELTS INSTALLED

No time to cry over spilled milk, on to the instrument panel and placement of the Dell Venue 8 Pro. After rearranging, and rearranging some more, I kinda of hit the wall, so went inside to get on the internet and to think some more about how to get all of the components to fit in the space available. After some consideration and looking on the internet, I came up with a mount for the Dell Venue 8 Pro. Instead of using the center console pod, a plate will be made to cover the opening and the tablet holder will be mounted on the new cover. After thinking about it, this will allow me to use the camera in the Venue 8 Pro to get driving video and will allow me easy access to be able to remove  the tablet when the car is left unattended. 

TABLET MOUNT

The plan now is to mount two duel meters in the instrument cluster, one for the pack voltage and amperage and one for the 12 volt voltage and amperage. This will keep most of the instrumentation in one place and will allow me to use the dash space above the center console for the Venue 8 Pro. This meter will mount in the available space and the same meter will work for both the traction pack and the 12 volt system. I will use the 100 amp meter with a 1000 amps/75 mv shunt instead of the 100 amps/75 mv shunt that would normally be used. Just add a zero to the reading and that will be the pack amps.The measured side is is also isolated from the power supply, so there will be no need to add a small DC-DC converter to isolate them from each other.

VOLTAGE AMPERAGE DUEL METER

SCHEMATIC FOR ABOVE METER

I have been putting of starting the bottom balance of the better place cells but thought today would be a good day to start. Two quartz spotlights were hooked up across the module and the pack is draining as I am writing this post. I have had quite a bit of interest in the one module I am willing to sell, but so far, now one has been interested in it at the $1500 price I put on it. That is really not bad as if you were to buy one of the remaining packs that turned up at EVTV, it would be around $2200 per module.

After the batteries were hooked up and discharging, I went back to the center console restoration.  The vinyl had swollen on the sides of the center dash enclosure, making unsightly gaps between the face plate and the edges. Glue was squirted between the vinyl and plastic frame and clamped into place with the face plate in position. If this works, the other side will be glued this afternoon. Then the console cover will be painted the new dark gray interior color that the instrument pod and glove box will be changed to and everything should match when finished.

CENTER CONSOLE COVER

Still looking for a good drivers side 1985 Fiero GT seat but may still get get a set of leather seat covers to install. I sent an inquiry to a salvage yard that had seats for a Fiero but they did not specify if they were for a GT.

Just 3-1/2 months until EVCCON and would really like to have the care there this year. Still trying to figure out how to transport it there without breaking the bank.

Until Next week,

Randy

INTERIOR PROGRESS

The ozite carpet arrived last week, so Saturday, I put it on the inner firewall panel and installed the finished panel in the Fiero. The installation went well except it was windy outside where I put the carpet on the panel and I had to use clips to keep it from blowing around until it was glued to the bare panel.

FIREWALL INNER PANEL INSTALLED

Next I removed the passenger side seat belt to clean the fabric and give it a coat of fabric dye. The seat belt mechanize cover was painted and all of the hardware was cleaned.

 

SEAT BELT CLEANED AND DYED

After a trip to Advance Auto Parts to pick up some more paint and some carpet spot remover,  the bottom of the dash was given a new coat of medium gray interior paint.

DASH BOTTOM PAINTED MEDIUM GRAY

Before going any further with installing the interior, I wanted to test the rear defroster. I checked continuity from the connector going to the defroster to ground and got continuity, so checked the lead going to the switch and also got continuity. Then the fuse and circuit breaker were checked, with both testing  good. I will need to check the switch next to make sure it is ok also and will need to check the schematic to see if there is a relay or timer that needs checked.

With the headliner and firewall interior panel installed and passenger side seat belts refinished, it was time to start putting the molding back in. I started with the piece along the bottom of the door and after finally locating to bolts, got it installed, then put the rear panel but realized wen I started to put in the windshield column piece, that it should have gone in first. Additionally, the clips that were ordered were not the ones I needed, so ordered some from EBAY. I will need to remove the rear panel that is installed when the clips arrive to make it easier to install the wind shield molding. The driver's side bottom door opening molding was installed and things are moving along pretty good now. 

To celebrate a productive Saturday, I went to Buckeye Lake Brewery and got a growler of their IPA.

The expenditure on the car is now over $11,000 and my goal is to build the EV for under $10,000, so I have been trying to sell one of my Better Place battery pack modules. Two modules should be between 14- 16 KW and should be enough to drive the 44 miles back and forth to work, so I have had several inquiries on the third module. I actually offered to sell all three to one of the inquirers, if the price is right. I can add 10 more 100 AH cells to the existing pack and be just fine but really had my heart set on putting 2 of the Better Place modules in the car. When the packs were first delivered, there was quite a bit of buzz but I have not heard of anyone putting them a conversion yet to report on how they are performing. With each cell have to be bottom balanced twice, there will be a whole lot of time needed to get them all to the 2.6 or 2.6 volts needed before hooking the packs in series and testing the EV with them.

NEW HEADLINER

The new headliner material arrived this week but I had to go to Autozone to pick-up adhesive, as it could not be shipped. During the weekend, the headliner panel was given a good cleaning and the new material was fastened to the panel. I watched a couple of YouTube videos before starting and everything went well.

NEW HEADLINER

Then I moved on to painting the plastic side panels and molding with interior paint.

FRESH INTERIOR PAINT ON MOLDING

Finally the seat belt attachment cover and coat hooks were painted.

PAINTED COAT HOOKS AND SEAT BELT COVERS

Everything turned out good but before starting to put everything back together, I want to install the new LED dome lamps that were ordered today. That will give me some time to recover the sun visors.

SUN VISORS

The dome lamp assembly and sunroof latch cover still look good and will not need any refinishing.

SUN ROOF LATCH AND DOME LAMP ASSEMBLY

There is so much more to a conversion that just the electrical work and I really want to get this interior done so I can start working on getting the Better Place Pack installed.

I have had a couple of contacts on the Better Place battery module and the crate that they came in, along with the HiPower cells that are all on Craigslist. I was hoping someone local would come and pick them up but so far, the closest prospective buyer is 100 miles away and the furthest in Great Britain. I really hate to have to ship these cells but if that is what it takes, that is what I will have to do.

Until next time,

Randy