no comment, except...

It costed $116.00 to transfer title and registration.  (Done)

Oh, and by the way....YES, I'm keeping the eggplant-purple color, even though I'm catching a lot of bullshit about it!  I can't very well call it "The Electric Eggplant" if it's not eggplant-purple, now can I?

And if I paint it candy-apple red, I'm sort of making a promise that I won't be able to keep (remember...I don't expect a top speed of much over 40 mph!)

ANYway, that's all beside the point.  I'll get the damned thing running before I make it look pretty.  Ease up!

Doug's Idea....

Given that there is no engine...

and, there's a big hole that Dad cut in the floorboard,











We could save a lot of money by not bothering with a motor and just having a "Flintstone-mobile"!

(Dad later replaced the rotten floorboard with fresh 20-gauge sheet-metal, riveted in place.)

Evaluation

The Eggplant has found a home.  Dave A.'s truck, Mike A., Dave B., and Art A. came along for the entertainment.  I ALMOST missed out on the trailer...the monkey on the lot told me I didn't need a reservation, but I got the last one with only two minutes to spare!  $70 with the insurance (ALWAYS get the insurance!  I ripped the bumper off a Mercedes-Benz with a 24-foot UHaul truck once...SO glad I bought the insurance!)  Got the car home from Santee, no problems.  I spent a while giving it a once over.  I drained the fuel from the tank and ripped out all the fuel-supply stuff.  I found a rotten place in the floorboards, but I can patch it.  The kids had a blast crawling around inside.  Nico helped me with the fuel tank connections.  (My eight-year-old motorhead!).

SCORE!

When I was digging around in the front hood and taking the spare out, I found a bonus!  Gen-yoo-wine Save-On brand Vodka in a plastic bottle!  The Universe seems to be unfolding nicely.

I'll spend some time patching up the rusty spots, while I try to save the cash for the motor kit.  I found space for 5 of the batteries in the engine upper-deck, and room for two under the rear passenger seat.  If I DO go with the 120-volt kit, I have room for more batteries up front.  I will most likely go with the 72-volt kit for the prototype.

I need corporate sponsorship!  Any ideas?

Pick-up day

Piece of shit. Don't need it.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the opportunity to weigh the thing with the engine in it, and I probably won't have a chance to weigh it without the engine, either.  I'm guessing that with my 7 X 60 lb. batteries, and the 60 lb. motor, plus all the other electric crap in this kit, the converted car may outweigh the original.  But I guess I'll never really know.  I'll have to find some truck scales around here eventually...there may be some down at the Border (hassle!) or at the SBX offices down in Otay Mesa.

Gobs of room for batteries!

I'm taking Dave Ayala's diesel truck and a UHaul trailer to go drag the thing home today.  Dave wants to provide heckling-I-mean-help in loading and unloading it.  Dave Bump wants to come along, too.  It's an adventure!  These guys are my best friends, and they need an excuse to get away from the house.

It may take some time to raise the $$$ needed for my kit, but I'm sure there's work I can do in the meantime, i.e.  rust repair, taking out gastank, figuring out battery locations, building racks, etc.


Anyway, I have to make a decision soon.  The 72-volt kit needs 6 batteries, and has a top speed (according to supplier) of around 50 mph, for about $3,000.  The 120-volt kit needs 10 batteries, can get to highway speeds, but costs $4,650!  Damn.  Do I want to spend the extra $1,600 to go a little faster?  Decisions, decisions!

Meet the Electric Eggplant

$1300, I'm buying it without the engine.

On the Hunt!

Spent the morning cruising around the auto wrecking yards in Otay Mesa.  All of the Beetles down there have been heavily molested!  I'm not looking at a total renovation job, here!  I just want a VW that rolls and has all its parts!  It seems that now it is trendy for people to scarf up vintage beetle chassis, fix them up, and sell them for $$TOP-DOLLAR$$!

Ugh.

I may have a line on a type 3 here .  Maybe I can convince him to sell it to me for less without the engine.  Stay tuned, sports fans!   (Like the purple? I kinda do!)

DAMMIT!!!

My Bradley was sold out from under me!

Oh, well.  At LEAST the guy e-mailed me to let me know...I can imagine how rip-shit-pissed-off I'd be if I drove my ass all the way up to LA to find that out!

Still looking for a platform, then...stay tuned.

October 19, 2011

Ok.  I am SICK to DEATH of blowing $80.00 a tank for petrol every week in my old POS Jeep Cherokee V-8!  I'm done with that!  Time to start practicing what I preach.  I teach biology at community college in San Diego, and I am an oceanographer trained at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and MIT.  I have some firm convictions about climate change, and I believe that I am partially responsible!  I want to do something about it!

I am heading up to Orange County with a UHaul trailer ($54/day) to drag home an old Bradley GT II fiberglass body on a 1973 VW Beetle framehere.  It has no engine, but who gives a shit?!  It also doesn't have a transaxle, but we'll see what I can do about THAT!  Anyway, I'm looking at around $500 for the body and maybe the transaxle.

The plan is to buy a 72 volt electric motor and controller kit from a supplier for about $3K ($2995 plus shipping!)here.  I've started buying up Marine Deep-Cycle 12V Lead-acid batteries from the local autoparts chain, about $100 per (the manager gave me a discount and a break on the core fee.  I'm grateful.).  I'll need seven:  six to drive the motor and one for accessories.  Lots of weight, but the highest energy density for the price!

My wife already knows that I will probably come home with the Bradley.  Hell...it's light!  Lighter than a VW Beetle body, even!  It's fiberglass!  AND, it has the coolness factor to it!  She would rather me buy a VW Beetle, for practical considerations...I can carry both kids in a VW.  I may not be able to carry both kids in the Bradley.  We'll see.  Anyway, she's right about one thing...I probably will come home with the Bradley instead of a Beetle.  She knows me pretty well after 20 years.