Christmas Time!

YeeHaw! The crate from Electro Automotive finally showed up. I'm in business again!


Here's the crate on the semi-truck. They remembered the liftgate this time (whew!)


Here's the delivery person rolling the crate on a pallet jack to my garage. I'm very thankful that today was sunny. The single-car garage doesn't have the space to store the crate and the 914.


The crate arrived just as I was cooking dinner (er, baking a frozen pizza...). I'm reviewing the inventory list over a pizza and a Mike's Hard Lemonade.


First crack! Here's the rear battery box which sits over the motor in the engine compartment with the rack on top of it.


Opening up the box reveals many packing peanuts and hidden packages in the bottom.


With the first box out, here the front battery rack and box.


Inside the front battery box is the middle battery box (goes in the fuel compartment) and a bunch of other parts.


My garage is quickly running out of space with the batteries on the floor and the boxes and parts stored beside and under the vehicle.


The crate was still too big to fit anywhere, so I unscrewed all the support boards and cardboard.


Here's the leftover crate pallet and cardboard. Fortunately, FreeGeek (the computer recycler I volunteer at) has a large cardboard bin and takes old pallets too.

After going through all the inventory, I now have all the custom hand-made parts. Everything remaining can be purchased elsewhere. Now is the time to go back and review the instructions to see what the next step is.

On minor disappointment is that the cable supplied in the kit is #2 gauge cable. I might go out and splurge to get 2/0 cable instead for better current carrying capability. I suppose the AC kit doesn't require as much current as the DC kit, but I'll take all the efficiency I can get at this point.

There were some pieces in the kit that were called for early on that I skipped (like the starter block-off plate), so I'll have to review all my notes and see what I have to go back and do.

With the sun shining and the NEDRA races coming up in August, I'm motivated to get this project moving. Another 914 EV'er (John Benson) lives a 20-minute walk from my house. He converted his 914 with the Electro Auto DC kit and challenged me to a duel at NEDRA. We shall see what awaits...