Work-In-Progress

As of today, I have one side completed. I would have been done, but discovered yesterday that one upper strut bearing plate was worn beyond limits. No one in town carries the part so it was ordered thru Schuck's Auto Parts. It will be here Monday AM. (I endorse Schuck's. They are very responsive to parts orders.)

A Bilstein performance strut assembly ... The Best!

New driveshaft/CV joint assembly. Both left and right were replaced.

Upon initial build of the car, I did not attach the upper stabilizer bar because it interferred with the mounting plates for the DC/DC converter, the main contactor and the throttle pot. I trimmed down the mounting plates and now the bar fits. (I put a lot of work into getting a great paint job on the bar.)

Here is a pix of the strut assembly installed in the right side of the car. The springs are not stock, but custom wound units designed to handle the added battery weight AND lower the car about 1-1/2" (38 mm)

A new ball joint.

Time-Out

The V-Dub is down for a little maintenance. It has been very reliable transportation for me for over 3000 miles, since the conversion was completed almost exactly one year ago.

Last night, while driving to town, I heard a very distinctive "grinding" sound. I had a very good idea what it was: The CV joints. I knew they needed replacing, even when I first started to drive the car after conversion, last year. In fact, I have had the replacement drive shafts/CV joints on hand for several months, waiting until "I felt like" replacing them. I now "feel like it!" Today, I started the disassembly of the front end and will do the following repairs:

* Replace both drive shafts and CV joints. (Interesting note: The shafts I have had for several months are the wrong ones! Fortunately, I have the original receipt and can exchange for the correct ones.)

* I discovered that the wheel bearing on the left-front wheel was totally worn out. I'll replace that, along with the right-front, just as a preventing measure.

* The right-front steering tie-rod end will be replaced. (It was actually OK, but got a little "banged-up" during removal.)

* Both front strut cartridges (shock absorbers) will be replaced. I bought new ones when I did the conversion, but they failed almost immediately. (That's what you get for trying to save a buck ... even though they were advertised as "performance.")

* I have had a tachometer adapter for almost a year, but never installed it because it takes a little drilling into the transmission case. I'll get that done this time.

* Since I do a lot of driving at night, I need to do some work on the headlights. The wiring is old, resulting in less than optimum light output. They also need to be re-aimed.

That's probably enough work for this cycle. This winter, I'll catch up on a few more improvements/repairs. The major deferred project is a heater!

Watch this blog for photos and updates as the work progresses.