Well, the guy from EVTV.ME (Tom) met all of us down at the shop. It was the first time I'd seen the car in a while as well. The good news is, it's coming along as advertised -- almost finished. The car has impressive acceleration and runs nice and smooth. Unfortunately, the bad news is Tom discovered that the rack holding the batteries (the one in front, under the hood) isn't structurally sound and will have to be rebuilt.

The rack's made out of aluminum and the batteries weigh over 300 pounds, so the rack needs to be built pretty solid. It looks solid if you look at it, but Tom (who has a LOT of EV experience) pointed out that every time the car hits a decent-sized bump (e.g. railroad tracks, pot hole) that aluminum was going to bend slightly. There are two racks, one on top of the other, and the top one was eventually going to crush the one underneath. It probably wouldn't hurt the batteries directly, but there's some electronics (the BMS) on top of each battery that could easily get damaged. Brink agreed.

So Brink has to remove the batteries and rebuild the rack. He thinks it won't take too much work. He shouldn't have to rebuild the whole thing, just reinforce it a bit -- especially the top rack. He's got some ideas of how to secure the top rack to the bay wall for support that he (and Tom) think will work.

So, in the end, probably not a big set back. But I'm anxious to get the car back and start working on the restoration. And after all the other setbacks and re-work, this is frustrating.

Still it was a fun day. Good to see the car, meet some new people, talk a lot about EVs. We also went over to Brink's house afterwards for a cookout. A fun day.

 

Almost done.

This will likely be the last weekend Brink works on the car -- I'll drive down next weekend and pick it up.

The priority now is the battery rack, which (as he's dug into it some more) is even less stable than we thought. Apparently the whole thing was being held down by two bolts and gravity -- not good. Brink's going to completely redo the top rack and add new mounts for the bottom. He's also going to add the diamond-plate cover. Here's a pic of the test fit:



Should look real good once it's finished.

Then I bring the car home and finally start working on the restoration!

 

SOOOOOOO coooool! I can't wait to see all the pics when you get it back in your hands and can take more detailed and finished pics.

 

I got the Mustang back last weekend. It's 99% finished, at least as far as the EV part goes -- still LOTS to do on the restoration.

Brink was able to get most things done before we ran out of time -- my job is moving me to Milwaukee sometime in the next month or so. I wanted to get the Mustang back home and do a little work on the body before shipping it out to Wisconsin.

The only EV things left to do are install some hold down fasteners to the batter rack lid and install belly pans underneath for aerodynamics and to keep the motor bay dry.

Here's the (mostly) finished motor bay, with the battery lid open:



...and closed:



Brink had to move the MC bar back a bit to allow it to be used as a hinge for the lid. He added a spacer for stability -- I think it'll be fine.

I don't know how much I'll be able to work on the car now, with the move coming up. I'll definitely wait on anything cosmetic until after the car is in Wisconsin.

Anyone know any good Mustang shops in the Milwaukee area?

 

I haven't posted in a while, so I wanted to give a quick update.

The Mustang and I made the move to Milwaukee last month. My family and I are still getting settled in -- lots of boxes and scattered furniture around the house.

I found a shop nearby that specializes in restorations: Street Works (http://www.streetworkshotrods.com). They're going to take on the major body work -- I don't have the skills or the equipment for welding.

So that's happening now, over the next several weeks. I'm going to hold off on painting for now to let my finances settle a bit after the move. My goal is to get it driveable (meaning all the body panels attached and the top put on), then work on making it pretty as I go along.

Speaking of getting it on the road, I drove the car about four miles to get it to Street Works. The car ran great -- even up hills. I didn't push it or try to really open it up, but accelleration and speed were both good.

The regen is VERY aggressive right now. I can bring the car to a stop just by lifting my foot off the accelerator. I only need the brakes if I want to stop quickly. I can adjust that later if I want -- not sure if I like it this way or not.

More to come!

 

I'm glad you posted again. How about some video of it?

 

without the car being able to coast with normal drag would drive me crazy

 

Yea, an electric car will never coast with "normal" drag. Cars like the Prius use sophisticated algorithms to simulate engine braking. Without regen, an electric car would coast just fine with almost no drag.

I could also wire the regen to the brake instead of the accelerator -- I kind of wish that's the way it was now. We'll see. I can always adjust it later.

 

I think you will find that after you drive it a bit, you will control coast with the accelerator pedal. At that point, you may like the strong regen better.
It works nicely coming down hills and in heavy traffic, as there is no need to go between brake and accelerator pedals. It can really mess with the guy tailgating behind you though, so watch your mirrors!

 

That's true -- we'll have to see how it feels after I get used to it. I can also coast without friction by taking my foot off the accelerator just a bit (feathering).

But that's all for down the road -- for now, I just want to drive! Hopefully Street Works will be able to get her put together quickly.