263: Saturday 30th November 2013

Friday I Connected the ends of the rows of batteries in the rear. These were the parallel links so there were 3 rows of 5 and 3 rows of 2, this effectively makes 3 rows of 7 batteries. Today I completed the links in each row with the copper straps I made from plumbing pipe. I ordered some M4 bolts, but it was actually M5 that I wanted, so I was bitterly disappointed when I realised my mistake as I could not get replacements quickly. My neighbour had a stock of short countersunk M5 screws, so I used them for now and I shall replace them when my order comes through. The disadvantage is that they are as tight as I can tighten with a screwdriver. This would probably be o.k. for all time, but to be sure I have order hex head screws so I can put a spanner on and get them good and tight. While I was doing this I had a guy come round to install a free type 2 charge point, cool. The picture below shows the charger beside the garage door. My neighbour asked for his house to have one fitted too, so I get a £20 Marks and Spencer voucher for the referral. I got a couple more neighbours to sign up and get theirs installed too, so more vouchers for me. I sold it on improvements to the house value.

262: Sunday 24th November 2013

Before I started working today, I borrowed some lengths of construction timber from my neighbour and set up a long bench with 2 trestles. This was so that I didn't have to keep bending right down with the  and avoid hurting my back (I have my chiropractor on speed dial).

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I bought a pack of wooden battens to construct the racks and I also used Some metal L section to go over the spare wheel well. I had several fixings in the trunk as I have had several different battery types in the past, so I made use of them to fix the new frame down. So back to wood shop class. Fortunately I have quite a good snip saw and and power screwdrivers and a pillar drill etc.

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Just chucked the batteries in next. Caught my fingers a few times. The air was blue, and my finger nail is now going black.

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My wife Mary came out and helped by fixing the rear bumper.She made up the fibre glass, applied it and clamped the bumper. She then wiped off a couple of spots where it had gone on the paint, and then left it to dry.

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Later I took the clamp off the rear bumper and it was stuck good and proper, so hopefully it will stay that way. I shall give it a little touch up on the paint when the weather is good. It looks good now, but there are a few minor chips along the edge.

The next step is to make the connections, then put the hold downs across the top to stop the batteries jumping up. Once they are connected it becomes like one huge battery, so it doesn't move.

261: Saturday 23rd November 2013



I took all the batteries out of the trunk and then placed the 21 batteries in ready to be connected and mounted. Sunday I shall make up wooden racking to mount the batteries properly. I am not going to do metal racking this time as I know I shall get Lithium batteries at some point, then it will be like permanent. This is just another set of recycled batteries that I managed to acquire. I went to all my local hardware stores and could not get 30 x 4mm hex bolts and some washers. Each shop had nearly the right one, but not quite. I had some in my hand then I thought about the price (£15) and they weren't what I wanted and too expensive as well. I came home and got some from eBay for £2.36, then some split washers and flat washers, exactly what I wanted and all for about £6. Only problem is that Sparkie is going to be out of action until they arrive as I won't be able to make the connections. Good job I still have my little Fiat. My daughter Sydney has her driving test coming up and I am sure I will lose the Fiat when she passes. So I have my wife Mary's car to use too, but I need Sparkie to get me to work.  I still need to finish my charge cable, but I have all the bits now, just need time. I am having an operation on my left knee on 13th December and I am trying to get everything done and back on the road before then too so I can drive as I only need my right foot to drive.

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With all the batteries loaded I checked the rear suspension and there is still a fair travel even with all the extra weight. At 14.2kg each for 21 batteries that's just under 300kg. I had a set some time ago that weighed in at 400kg in the trunk, so I know it works o.k. Also the ride height still looks good, so I am happy all round. Now to get them all mounted and the connectors made. I am also going to fix the side of my rear bumber where it popped off. I shall just fibre glass it and clamp it. If it pops off again I shall screw it too, but that involves drilling and filling and rubbing and painting etc. It might not be necessary, so see how this holds up.

260: Thursday 14th November 2013

My Friend came round last night to take my car to the garage for the MOT test. I gave him a lift to work today and on the way home we stopped at the garage to pick up Sparkie. MOT passed with a couple of very minor issues. I had reached 10 miles range when I got home and this was good to start with. I put him on charge and went out for a drive later, but it didn't have a full charge so I got only 8 miles before the levels dropped. It felt like a single battery was failing. I need to rejig the batteries now to get more of the fresh ones I have on board. I probably could have stretched it to 10 miles, but there was no point. He shall get a full charge overnight and be ready for another test tomorrow. It takes a few charge / discharge cycles to wake the batteries up. and I hope to be on a happy 10 miles or more to do the trip to work. I also got a circuit diagram for the charge cable so I can make my cable and use the level 2 charge points at work again. It is inconvenient having the charge points changed, but at least now I will have more options for charging up at other places once I have made the cable.

259: Sunday 10th November 2013

Spent time today putting all the interior trim back in where I had been working on the inside of the body panels. I also made a hold down strap for the new batteries. I took it for a little drive and found the battery level had drop a lot after just a few miles. I had my tester on the new batteries, so I could see it was not them that were dropping the whole pack voltage. I checked all the batteries and found they were 12.6v except one that was 8v. I swapped it with the spare I had in the back and it seems better now. I took the key round to my friend so he can get it MOT tested this week, then I can do some more testing. Looking forward to having him back on the road again.

258: Saturday 19th October 2013

Today I finally got round to changing the height of the rear suspension again. I needed to drop it down 25mm that meant changing the 75mm extension to 50mm. The process was quite straightforward once I had the strut removed and the 3 extenders off, then each one had to be drilled a further 25mm using a 9mm drill for an M10x1.25 thread. I drilled down through the existing thread and when I hit the bottom, zeroed my height on the pillar drill, then drilled down another 25mm. The drill started squealing on the first bolt, so I needed some lubrication to help it along. All I could find was some 2 stroke oil, but it did the job. I had to drill about 2 - 3mm at-a-time then bring the drill out to clear the swarf, also my drill was jamming when I tried to go too deep without clearing it. I clamped each bolt in the vice and ran a cutting tap down, followed by a plug tap to get to the bottom. I also used the 2 stroke oil to lube the tap. I then set the bolt in my vice so that 25mm was protruding from the vice jaws and then carefully cut through with an angle grinder. I used a thin 1mm disc that is normally used for stainless steel. I find these cut better and neater too. A quick touch up with a hand file then ran the tap back down the start of the thread. Then fitted back onto the strut. I put the struts back on, wheels on and dropped it back down on the deck.

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I am happy with the height now. Just dropping 1 inch has changed the look of the car and now the relationship between the wheel and the wheel arch looks good and regular. It also by coincidence looks about the same as the front, just luck.

257: Friday 20th September 2013



On Sunday I fitted the standoffs to my rear suspension.

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To me the suspension is now about 25mm too high.

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In the photo below you can see the centre of the wheel opening for the body is about an inch above the wheel centre. However I had a little drive and did not catch any speed bumps, even at some speed. I shall endeavour to get air suspension at some point. I may change these standoffs again for 50mm instead of 75mm. This is only a temporary solution until I can afford air suspension. I found a system that bolts straight on for a Probe specifically, but I shall keep looking for other options. With air suspension I can program the ride height and also drop it right down when parked, cool...

256: Thursday 12th September 2013

Sunday I made 4 cables and some copper strips to link up the new batteries. I made the cables using 50mm squared wire and lugs with 8mm holes crimped on. The copper strips were made by flattening some 15mm plumbing pipe in my bench vice. I ran out of time as we had my daughters football match to go to. She is now playing semi-professional in a women's team and our matches are all in stadiums now (nice and dry). I took my car for a brief drive and the extra weight meant I caught every speed bump. The side popped off the rear bumper and needs repair. So I needed to raise the back end. I had some 3 inch standoffs made so I can raise the top of the rear suspension struts and hence the rear of the car by 3 inches. That should be enough. Anyway the parcel came today and they shall be fitted at the weekend. 

255: Saturday 7th September 2013

So I finally took delivery of some fresh batteries. They are from a UPS back-up supply and they are in real good condition. The only thing is that they are only 38Ah. So to try to complement the 92Ah batteries already installed I am running 3 in parallel as equivalent to 1 battery. But as there are 2 batteries to be replaced, I am going to configure them as 2 in series making 24v and do this on three parallel branches. This makes the connections much easier and gets a better balance across these 6 batteries and then the whole pack will work better. I am now desperately trying to figure out how to fund Lithium batteries as this is probably the last stock of recycled batteries I can get as my sources have all dried up. So I have made the racking from wood and it just need the bar across the top to hold them down and that is done. Before that I need to make up the connections. Before that I need to identify the 2 duff batteries again. I know one of them, but not too sure about the second one. Since the car has been on charge for months the batteries have recovered slightly, but I know the range will be crap. The problem is that I cannot take it for the MOT test so that I can use it on the road, but I cannot find the battery that is giving me the crap range until I take it out on the road for a bit. I am going to try my load tester, but at the moment I am not confident. With the extra weight in the back the car sits lower now and when I did take it around the block, I caught every speed bump and popped the rear spoiler off the support bracketry, so that needs repairing. I am now looking for some extender bolts so I can raise the rear suspension a few inches. The rear bumper is only a few inches from the ground now and this is just too low. I need to find $1600 plus shipping and tax etc. to buy an air lift kit then I can raise and lower the car on the move. That's another one for the upgrade wish list!

 

 

254: Sunday 14th July 2013





 

It's been a while since I last added a blog. 2 weeks ago I painted the roof and sunroof panel red and this was the last of the painting to complete the temporary paint job. I had one repair where the front bumper was fitted it was stressing the area where I had joined the 2 panels together and a crack had appeared. So today I cut the crack back and started work on rebuilding it.

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By applying fibre glass while it is held in position, there will be no stress in the join. I pushed and poked the fibreglass right into the gap so it was filled all the way down and waited for it to set. It didn't take long because it was very hot today.

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I ground back and sanded the fibreglass then applied layers of body filler. I then waited for it to set again then sanded this back smooth.

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As before I applied a coat of white primer and when that was dry I gave it a quick rub over then applied the red.

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Once the red was dry I gave the other panels a quick wipe. Once this has had a chance to set it will be time for good wash, wax and polish. Next job is to remove the front bumper again, mount some driving lights and fit wire mesh on the back like on the rear bumper. I shall be fitting the battery monitoring system soon hopefully.