I’ve been making a lot of progress lately, but it’s been a lot of little things that are difficult to write about. I’ll just lump them all together here in one big post. First I installed the new amber blinkers that I bought. Believe it or not the car originally had plastic lenses, but they …read more
My motor has an output shaft of 1 1/8″ with a 1/4″ keyway. How do I mate that to the mainshaft with an OD of .920″ and no keyway? Well, I machined a collar to slip over the mainshaft with an OD of 1 1/8″. Then, I milled out a deep keyway, to make sure …read more
Progress has been slow lately on the direct drive conversion for my EV. I’ve been a bit busy with life lately. There’s been a lot of planning and discussing with local experts concerning the best way to implement the direct drive system. I’ve settled on using the rear extension off of the back of the …read more
When I took apart the transmission and motor, I found the source of the annoying squeak at low speeds: my coupler was falling apart! I thought I had used Loctite to keep the bolts together, but I couldn’t find any evidence of it. The coupler was loose on the motor shaft, and the clutch plate …read more
I had some time to spend on the EV, so I decided to get cracking. I have some ideas of how I’m going to solve the problem of the broken transmission, but it’s difficult to know if they’ll work without getting in there and measuring clearances and such. The first thing I need to do …read more
After a prolonged bout with the DMV in Sacramento, I finally got my vehicle registered with the original black plates. It’s a long story involving repeat inspections, a letter to a dead guy, and unanswered phone calls. But all of that is behind us. A year after starting the process Sparkfire is registered! I was …read more
For the past few months I’ve been driving the EV Spitfire stuck in 3rd gear. “What?!” I can hear you say? “How do you do that?” You say this because you’re probably used to driving a normal gasoline powered vehicle. Let me explain… Internal combustion engines (ICEs) are much different than electric motors. Engines need …read more
Now that Southern California has had it’s last rainstorm until October, it is time to remove the hardtop and feel the wind in my hair again. I took it for a spin around town this morning and it was simply fantastic. I just love this car.
Every month or so, it’s time to water my lead acid batteries. It’s not particularly difficult to do this maintenance. It’s not even dirty. But, it does take about 30 minutes. Lead acid batteries have an electrolyte of sulfuric acid. The chemistry between the lead and acid stores and releases the electricity that makes the …read more