Just in case anyone’s curious, no, I’ve not completely abandoned the Cobra build. The dash is in mid-build. I’ve just be…pre-occupied.

It’ll get done, just don’t know when.

I just discovered that I’m #1 for “cobra build” on Google.  Wow!  Except it’s for the old site.  The one I haven’t updated in years.  So, I’ve put in a redirect to the blog here and just to the Cobra related posts.  Please feel free to look around at the rest though.

And yes, more Cobra related posts coming soon.  I haven’t spent much time at all on the Cobra lately but I’m hoping to be able to get back to the dash soon.  Can’t wait to see those gauges move!

Powered by ScribeFire.

…should be the only electric rabbit.

I like to keep up with the goings on in the DIY electric car world.  Some day I hope to build one.  I’m waiting on a couple of things first though.  Mostly just trying to get through the multitudes of projects I’ve taken on at home but also so I stop spending money on those same projects.  The other thing is the hope of an Ultra-Cap from someone like EEStor.

In the meantime I read and try to understand the mechanics of motors, controllers and batteries.  There are pretty good strides being made in the power and longevity of modern EV systems.

Here’s the problem I see with the state of things.  The Electrified Rabbit.  Or Jetta.  Or CRX.  Or insert any other non-sexy 20 year old beater.  If you can think of a car like that I can guarantee someone has done an EV conversion for it.  What’s so difficult about picking an exciting car?  Something that stirs the imagination and fires the senses.  I know there area few of them out there.  The FFR Daytona EV conversion is a good example of a cool way to do and EV.  But I’m so sick of seeing cars that shouldn’t be on the road to begin with being elevated to something special just because they have a bunch of batteries.

Really guys!  Make it sexy!

On the way into work this morning I had the thought that maybe it’s come time to sell the Cobra, or what there is of it.  Staring at it every time I walk through the garage is a little bit of torture.  Seeing the empty body shell peaking it’s nose out the main garage door every time it’s open doesn’t help either.

I’m sure I won’t do anything except continue to find 8 hours every 6 months to work on it.  Selling it at this point would be giving up and that would be worse than having to look at it unfinished.

I know it’s been a long journey and at times I’m not sure I’m even half way through it.  Just need to find my way through it.  There have been some low moments through the build but this one might be the lowest.  For a moment I really considered it.

We’re just about into that period where everything starts to get really crazy for the holidays.  I don’t really enjoy it so much.  It’s more a matter of trying to get through it without losing my mind.  Many parties to look forward to, gifts to buy, house to prepare.

That’s at least a little of what I’ve been busy with the last few weeks.  Trying to make it through a number of house projects.  Finishing Belle’s room with some wainscotting, adding some molding to the dining room, various outside projects.  It’ll be nice when these things are done and we can work on some other things.  Like the Cobra, the garage (electric and insulation), possibly a back patio.  The list just seems to grow.  Somehow I really want to drive the Cobra next year.  My tolerance for looking at it unfinished has just about expired.

I did get a new car.  Ya hoo!  Went and bought myself an Audi A3 with the DSG transmission.  I haven’t sold the M3 yet, which is going to be a project all itself.  I’ll try to post a review of the A3 after I’ve driven it for a few weeks.  I’m very seriously considering autox’ing it in Decemeber if the CDC event doesn’t get cancelled.

powered by performancing firefox

I was fortunate enough to be able to take the last week off from work.  Didn’t go anywhere and the kids were still in school.  But, I did have some time to work on the Cobra.  In a nutshell I got all of the wiring in wire loom and routed where it’ll go in the car.  The rear harness is clamped in place but I ran out of clamps so the front is only hanging there.  Got more clamps but didn’t get back to that.  I spent the rest of the time working on the dash.  I went through cutting down most of the old dash wires to bus blocks I put on the firewall.  Then I began cutting the holes in the dash.  I got Stewart Warner gauges from Breeze so the holes aren’t the same size as the standard dash.  I just about have all of the holes cut.  The only ones remaining are for some of the switches.  I still haven’t decided on how I want to handle the headlights.  I might do a pull and turn type knob but I might just use a toggle switch.  Can’t cut the last hole until I decide and I can’t mount the gauges and start wiring them until I drill all of the holes.  It’s a vicious cycle.

I’ll post pictures sometime in the next week or so.

I’ve decided I have another problem that needs fixing.  The garage gets too damn cold.  When the wind blows it pushs the doors in to the point you can see quite a bit of sunlight coming in around the side.  I’m not really sure how to fix that since there’s already weather stripping on the outside of the door that’s supposed to be stopping that.  Add another item to the to-do list.

Still, it was nice to see some progress.  I see some light at the end of the tunnel and when the wiring is done I’ll feel better about making progress.  It’ll be back to mechanical stuff and things like e-brakes and loose ball joints. 

powered by performancing firefox

Chillin out reading my copy of Ultimate Garages today I came across a car in Jay Leno’s garage.  A little red thing that kind of looked like an older F1 car but had modern gear.  Unfortunately there’s no mention of what it is in the book!  A little digging and I present you with the LCC Rocket.  A limited production car from the early 90’s.  I don’t love it’s lines, the driver bubble on top doesn’t feel right to me, but I still like the concept of it.  I think I’m getting more and more in love with little lightweight cars like this.  Something about the idea of high horsepower to weight ratios and racing suspensions.  The DP1 and Kimini are two ground up builds of small, light cars that have caught my attention.  I’m sure the Cobra will have a similar feel, once it’s done.

Well, that was quick! The hazard flasher does work perfectly. I’ve updated the diagram to reflect the new design.

I just had the thought that I’ll probably be able to elminate some more cable by running the wires coming from the switches through the bus bar as well. I’ll save that for the final dash positioning though. No need to go hacking up wires when I’m not sure exactly what I’ll need. It’s always easier to take them out than it is to put them back in! I also had the thought that I might be able to use one of the female ends of the spade lugs I’ve been using for the lights. They might fit over the spades coming off the switches very nicely.

This small thing is another significant step. I need to think about this over night but I’m pretty sure I’m done with the rear harness now. I think I can start grooming it and tying it down. After I’ve done that I can install the trunk aluminum. Still a lot to do but it’s an important milestone that opens up other tasks for completion. One thing I need to remember to mention to Angie…a 3 link would go in a lot easier without the trunk aluminum installed. Reading this hon?

Spent a good part of the weekend hooking up the turn signals and the hazards.  I was a bit worried about making sure I was thinking straight so I did this diagram in visio real quick.  I missed a couple of things so I’ll be posting a “finish” diagram later.  Notably, using a DPST for the hazards works better than the SPST in the diagram.  Using an SPST will result in either a loop and everything flashing no matter which signal you use, or the necessity for diodes to stop the current flow back through the loop.  The DPST switch seemed much cleaner to me.

I also replaced the badly frayed coil plug’s wire.  Here’s what it looked like before:

Here’s what it looks like now:

Click on the pics to zoom in to the gallery.  I’m pretty sure I actually saw sparks a couple of times with the old pigtail!

Of course, here’s my Box O Wire that I never posted from the wire diet entry:

I haven’t weighed it but it looks significant!

I have a few more pics in the electrical section of the gallery.  I only have one outstanding problem with the signals and it goes something like this.  When I turn on the turn signal and then apply the brakes the turn signal freezes in mid cycle.  The rear turn signal is out while the front one is on.  I posted on FFCobra about it and got a very interesting response.  Seems the “turn signal” flasher doesn’t get enough load to kick over when the brakes are applied.  However, the “hazard” flasher doesn’t have that problem.  I’m going to try it out as soon as I finish here.  I actually like the hazard flasher idea better since it seemed to be a faster flash.  If that does work I think I might be able to pull the power lead for the turn signals from the hazard flasher instead of the turn signal flasher.  That’d be a few more wires to add to that box!

Last night I reached what I consider a major milestone with the Cobra.  I plugged the wiring harness’ back in after finishing the trimming.  It didn’t start on the first try but it did on the second!  Idled kind of rough but I suspect that’s because I didn’t tighten things down, like the battery terminals, and/or because I have a ground that I know I need to re-attach.  The important thing is that I didn’t remove anything I absolutely needed!

The wiring was a bit of a mental hurdle and I’m glad I’ve crested the hill with it.  I’m not done by any stretch, but I feel like I understand what most of the wiring is doing now.  At least from a fundamental sense.

Next up is hooking up the lights and making them work properly.  I’d like to verify that before I start tying the wiring into the car.  Easier to fix things while they’re draped over the frame.  I expect to have issues with the lights.

I’m excited about the possibility of actually having this thing on the road in a month or two.  It’s been a long time and I’m ready to drive it.