[bennelson]

Was able to do a little more work on the car today.

I headed over to the machinist, who had carved 5/8 of an inch of solid cast iron right off the the commutator end of the motor.

When I got back home I re-installed the end of the motor, not an easy thing laying on my back on the floor of the garage. Seems like everything is always complicated by weight and lack of a lift.

I only lost two screws inside the motor, which I had to dig out with both a magnet and a pliers!

Eventually, I got the end cap back on. I was then able to reconnect the shifting linkage.

The motor still doesn't seem to sit on the adapter plate just right. I think somehow the spacing in the coupler is off. The entire motor is now completely inside the engine compartment.

I figured a better way to hold up the far motor end as well. I got a 16" turnbuckle with eye bolts on both ends. I put a big bolt through the eye bolt into the end of the motor and attached the other end to a piece of unistrut above the passenger side support rail. I could then rotate the turnbuckle to tighten up the whole thing and adjust the height of the motor end.

Riding is a lot more fun when you can shift! I still had some mechanical noise and no gauges. I was able to pull away in second gear, and then shift to 3rd and 4th gears when at speed.

I got the car up to 45 mph! (no idea how many amps though!)

It was also nice to have shifting, because it meant I could use REVERSE! Made turning around in the driveway MUCH easier!

When I got back, I hooked up the 15 amp Zap Xebra charger. When I came back out to the garage later, all the power was out. I had blown the 15 amp circuit breaker. I reset it, but it happened again later.

I ran the charger through the Kill-a-Watt. Did you know it beeps at you when pulling over 1500 watts? Well, you do now.

I was also using my standard extension cord, which was 16 gauge. I did notice that it got a little warm. The cord I wired up directly to the charger was also a lighter gauge. That got warm too.

I have some Romex household wiring, which I think I will use to wire the direct plug.

For the extension cord, I think I will purchase a dedicated 25' 12 gauge cable. They cost more, but I know I will get lots of use out of it.

I also picked up some hose clamps and teflon tape while I was at the hardware store. I took the power brake setup apart, and then put it back together with all the threads taped and tightened up with wrenches. I also ran the vacuum hose through the firewall so I can have the vac gauge inside on the dashboard.

More updates next week!