ELECTRIC CAR PROJECT 9311 DIARY, NOV 96
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11/6/96
The Power Grip cable bushings from Germany via the Eastwood Company
arrived today. They fit the cable and require a 1.45" hole. Ordered
a Greenlee part number 733EBB-37 (1.457" diameter) punch.
11/7/96
Put the rear end of the car on jack stands. Removed the cables and
grommets in preparation for installing the Power Grip bushings. The
existing holes are 1-5/32" diameter and spaced 1.5" apart. The "web"
between the holes is 11/32" wide. A web of 7/16" is required so that
the inside nuts of the bushings will clear each other. Punching
the new holes properly spaced will leave remnants of the original
holes near the web. The outside nuts are somewhat larger than the
inside nuts and will cover the remnants. The outside nuts may have
to be positioned flat to flat, however.
11/13/96
The Greenlee punch arrived so punched the larger holes for the cable
bushings. Worked out fine.
11/16/96
Daubed primer on the bare metal around the punched holes. Installed
o-rings in the groove on the bushings and installed the bushings
with the collet seals to the outside. Cannot tighten the bushing
nuts really tight as they "pop" over the threads. Drilled a 5/16"
hole below the bushings and installed a grommet for the 12 gauge
wire to the charger. Cut this wire at the previous splice. Routed
the wires into the engine compartment. Installed a new charger wire
from the contactor to the splice point. Reconnected the wires in the
engine compartment. Made and soldered the splice in the charger wire
and sealed the joint with shrink tubing. Installed cable ties.
Applied a little RTV on both sides of the grommet to seal it.
11/17/96
Installed the myterious self-adhesive foam pads (original Porsche
parts) between the backs of the rear seats and the cross member in
the engine compartment to which the shock absorbers attach. Removed
the jack stands.
11/18/96
Ordered the batteries. Applied teflon tape to the sliding surfaces
of the rear battery loader and battery box. Installed the loader in
the car.
11/20/96
The batteries arrived. The delivery people dropped them in to the
boxes. They fit! Cleaned spilled acid off tops of batteries with
baking soda solution.
11/21/96
Fabricated the four battery interconnect cables. Made one fusible
link cable assembly in an L-shaped arrangement so that the fusible
link doesn't block access to the battery filler caps. Shortened the
positive power cable in the front battery box about 2 inches.
11/23/96
Made the other fusible link cable assembly. Pushed the rear battery
box into the rack and removed the loader. Installed the rear battery
rack stop plate to hold the box in the rack. Installed the battery
interconnect cables. Disconnected the negative wires from the DC-DC
converter and the charger and removed the DC fuse from the charger.
Installed the fusible link cables. Connected the external cables to
the batteries.
11/24/96
Reconnected the DC-DC converter and the charger negative wires and
reinstalled the DC fuse in the charger. Connected the start battery
negative wire. Turned the ignition on and pushed on the accelerator
and the motor ran! The ammeter moved the right way, too. Put the
rear of the car on jacks, put the car in first gear and repeated.
The wheels turned the correct direction. Took the car off the jacks.
Drove the car forward and back a few feet. For the first time, the
car moved under its own power. It is now officially der EPorsche!
Installed the fan on the rear battery box anmd attached the vent
hose. Put the battery box covers on temporarily. Ran the motor for
15 minutes at 50-60 amps to drain the batteries a bit. Plugged the
charger cable into the wall and adjusted the charger to 15 amps in
the constant current mode then 113 volts in the constant voltage
mode. Charged and discharged the batteries several times to check
the mode changeover voltage.
11/25/96
There was acid on the tops of the rear batteries and at the bottom
of the rear battery box probably from charging on 11/24. Four of the
cells were overfilled. Removed the excess acid. Sprinkled baking
soda around the batteries in both boxes and sprayed the tops of the
batteries with baking soda solution. Very little acid on the tops of
the front batteries. Cleaned up the mess with paper towels. There
must be a better way! The acid does not appear to attack the painted
surfaces. The acid at the bottom of the rear box was still active
24 hours after charging. Made and installed some 1/4" plywood shims
around the batteries to keep them from moving around too much in the
boxes. The left-side shim in the rear battery box is 1/2" plywood.
Measured the voltage of each battery. Measured the specific gravity
for each cell in front battery box only. Not enough room above the
rear battery box for the hydrometer.
11/26/96
Began work on the interior of the car. Removed the hand brake lever,
cleaned up and painted with Chassis Black. Reinstalled the mount for
the window-mounted rear view mirror. Reinstalled rear carpet pieces.
Polished the chrome parts salvaged from the used seats bought at
Campbell Nelson.
11/28/96
Reinstalled the hand brake lever with a new boot. Reinstalled the
original floor mats. The replacement floor mats didn't fit properly.
Cut out a worn-through spot on the left-side mat and plugged it with
a bit of left over living room carpet. Put the replacement mat over
the old left-side mat. Reinstalled the shift lever boot and the rear
view mirror. Reattached the new seat cover at the bottom edge of the
seatback, swapped in the salvaged chrome parts, lubricated the
splines and reinstalled the left-side seat. Reattached left-side
seat belt. Noted that the rear battery rack cover no longer seats
properly. Maybe the box twisted a bit from the weight.
11/30/96
Repeated the procedure on the right-side seat. Noticed that the
seatbacks had been swapped when the new seat cover kit was installed
by Hammer Auto Rebuild so unswapped them. Note: Deliberately swapped
the seat hardware so that the seatback release levers are on the
inside. This allows one to enter of exit the car without sitting
upon the seatback release lever. Used the router to take off a bit
of the rabbet around the edge of the rear battery box cover so that
the cover would fit the box. Painted the bare wood thus revealed.