These have been a slow couple of months on the car, and I realize that I haven't made an update in a while. As everyone here is surely familiar - sometimes other things come up. :) One of those things was installing a NEMA 14-50R outlet in the garage, which now has a "Level 2" 40 amp EV charger in place (240V * 40A = 9.6kW). This is more than the 32A max that the Bolt/DeLorean charger will accept, but we just bought a Mustang Mach-E that can charge at 48A. 40A means we can do a full (0-100) charge in under 10 hours, though we keep it capped at 80% unless we are doing a long trip. This is a huge improvement over the level 1 charger (120V * 12A = 1.4kW).
One big thing is that my custom drive shafts have been shipped out from The Drive Shaft Shop, and are scheduled to be here on Friday!! While that isn't even close to holding me back at the moment, it is a requirement to get the car to move, so I'm very excited to get them installed!
Next is that I've taken some time and I've pivoted on the brakes & steering situation. I decided to stop working on the steering and instead get the brake booster and pedal box installed so that I can confirm placement and fitment of the pedals, and then I'll go back to the steering linkage. This required me to make 2 brackets - one that holds the Bolt's pedal assembly to the interior firewall plate/pedal box, and one that holds the Bolt's brake booster - plus an arm that holds the brake "clevis" in the right spot on the brake pedal. This has been tack welded and I'm planning on testing it over the next week. Testing it will mean the brake booster is installed and I can press the brake pedal to activate it.
With the booster working, I'll switch over to the steering linkage - and I *might* have a new path for the linkage where I can go to the driver's side of the pedal box, rather than passenger side of the box. At the moment it is basically right in the middle of the car, and if I can move it to the driver's side it will come out a few inches from the stock location. If I can do that, I'll likely be able to remove one of my U-joints, which will make me very happy, and simplify the linkage.
I also have both small battery boxes tacked together. On the short list is to weld the rear small and large packs together, which will let me properly place it in the engine bay and get the mounts fabricated. I think having the full rear pack (empty) mounted will be a huge milestone!!
- Brake booster stuff - SendCutSend - $66
- Bolts for brake booster - Bolt Depot - $35
Tools
- Grizzl-E 40A EV charger and 50A NEMA 14-50 outlet
- 3" die grinder mandrel w/ cut-off discs
- MIG welding wire, TIG electrodes, other consumables
- Riv-nut install tool (for use with a drill)