Starting to Put Things Together

We have quite a collection of parts now, and are at the point where we can start putting it together. Expecting the batteries to arrive tomorrow.

Today we dropped the sway bar to make room for the nose rack and did some other assorted cleanup.  Almost have the manual steering rack in place.  The transmission adapter is a little more DIY than I expected, and we need to trim it up quite a bit before making it fit, then need to locate the holes.  I'm going to match drill 2 pins from the outside to locate it, since that was part of the engine, and all the bolts are a loose clearance fit.

Sway bar dropped with black square tubing lowering block

Empty Compartment - Have refrained from cutting excess wires off just yet

Tesla Distraction

I've been a bit distracted by the Tesla Model S which I reserved last June (for the days you don't want to drive a 2 seat convertible).   We received a surprise "Invitation to Configure" email 2 weeks ago, which is a nice way of saying "Lock in and commit now or lose your 2012 pricing".  So Lauren, Joan and I took a little road trip to Chicago this weekend just to pick out colors:-)

 Joan evaluating the seat comfort.

Lauren picking out her 16th birthday present early.

I was delighted when the Product Specialist, Zarina,  invited us to take a test drive!   We had a Performance edition and got to do the same loop that we took in July, except we had time for 2 laps and much more time to explore the car.  Other than Lauren feeling a little woosy after testing the 4.4 second 0-60 spec,  it was great!  Additionally, Zarina was extremely helpful with questions about the car.  In particular it was good to learn much more about the display and controls.   She also had more information about Tesla's planned "Superchargers", across the country.  These give you a 1/2 charge in 30 minutes and will be placed along major routes.  Currently in California, the red dots are planned in 2 years and the dark dots are in the long term plan.

Other than that, we now have a motor and transmission adapter waiting in the garage.  Batteries, brackets, controller, charger, DC/DC Converter etc. are on the way.  The engine compartment is cleaned, but I didn't think you needed a video of that greasy project.  Manual steering rack is just waiting for the stubborn tie rods to come apart on the old one.  Vacation requests are submitted.  We shouldn't have any excuse for not making lots of progress over the holiday.