Power Brake Compressor/Guages

I'll be moving again soon and so I was cleaning out the garage and I found this.

This is a EV power brake compressor.  It was on my first EV I ever owned - a 1980 Nissan Pulsar.  I remember it would come on when I would start the car and shut off, then come back on only when the pressure had dropped.

Oh, look! Here's some more stuff.

These are the standard car guages that came with the Bradley.  The real reason I'm posting these is I need to have a URL listing to put them on the Bradley site and DIYeleccar forum site to see if anyone wants them.

Battery Sag?? Not so fast.

Back on the road and enjoying the morning commutes when I notice that my batteries are sagging pretty bad on the hills.  This is odd.  I slow down and get to the charging station on campus.  There wasn't a problem with energy - I made the trip without problems, had plenty of juice left.  The problem was power, not being able to pull the usual 250 AH going up the hills.

As I drive up to the charging station, it dawned on me.  The water cooling pump and motor fan aren't running. Hmmm...  It must be the either the DC to DC or the relay that turns them on.  Because I didn't have any tools with me I decided I would recharge then limp home pulling no more than 100 AH.  Thank goodness there wasn't much traffic behind me.  With 80 degree weather, clearly the controller was fighting the heat. Once I got home I began looking at the relay and connecting wires.  Even after I replaced the relay, I decided to change the "switch" to the controller.  (To be honest I couldn't remember what the switch was actually hooked up to.)  My Solitron Jr has several outputs that are capable of doing different things.  In this case I wanted it to turn on the water cooling pump and motor fan after it started up.  This required connecting my laptop to the controller.  Since it's been awhile, I had to refresh what to do by looking at the manual.  The setting I needed for the output dialogue box was battery power. 

Unfortunately, while making the change, I accidentally pressed "factory defaults."  Oops!

Now I had to start all over for everything, including the throttle settings.  I'm not sure what changes I made from the previous settings but I sure do like them, I have this rush of power.  Caveman voice: Ummm...power good!!!  Me like power.

Here's a wiring diagram for a four post relay, in case you get confused like me.

CB Performance Shift Coupler

I love it when someone comes up with a great idea to improve a part that drastically needs it.  The shift coupler on the VW Bug chassis just plain sucks.  I'll bet the original designer wishes they could take it back and replace it with something else.  I updated to a newer one about a year ago with fancy urethane blocks but it still had the same way to attach the coupler to the transaxle - a screw going into a odd shaped sleeve that doesn't fit any tool I own.  I had to make something special.  In order to install the new I had to take the old coupler out and that took the better part of an hour while I was bending over on my knees in a contortionist stance.  Installing the new coupler took less than 10 minutes and used tools that I own. Wow!! I'm digging this.

In addition my old coupler made a lot of noise, this one is very quiet.  Once again, CB Performance gets a thumbs up from me!

CB Performance Camber Compensator

I stumbled upon this item while looking for various VW Air-cooled Bug parts. (Will my chassis ever stop needing repairs?)  In theory it makes turns a whole lot better. You don't feel like you're going to tip over.  In my case the extra weight on the back axle seems to make turns worse. I usually have to slow way down before I take a turn.

It looked pretty simple to install, the straps on the end attach to the axles, and the plate in the middle attaches to the bottom of the transaxle.  I read on a critique that someone said it was a pain in the @## to get this on.  I decided I would take the middle plate off first just to make sure it fit my transaxle.  Good thing I did, it was about 1/16 of an inch off, I needed to grind down forks on the inside.

I spent probably about 45 minutes going back and forth from the grinder to underneath the car to make sure it fit.  Another small problem was the Butt Sag bar was sitting in the way.  So I loosened that up to make room.  The plate in the middle uses the existing bottom bolts from the transaxle.  To install I first attached one side, then the middle then the other side.

Eventually I took a short 5 mile drive and was very impressed.  I felt like I could take corners at the normal speed I'd take my Pruis at.  I'd highly recommend anyone get this, as long as they have a grinder to make the necessary adjustments.
The only negative comment I can make is this plate covers your lower transaxle drain plug.

MiniBMS Fixed

Previously, my MiniBMS was in the state of constant alarm.  It happened one day, long ago when I was backing out of the driveway when the alarm started buzzing and just wouldn't stop. I drove it home and from there, it's been an off and on project throughout the winter.  For the meantime I would recharge the battery pack by bypassing the MiniBMS charger relay and manually control the current and do a top charge every now and then.

Since I was convinced it was the MiniBMS headboard that was at fault, I bought another one.  I installed it and felt like Einstein's definition of insanity - not the workout, the madness.  NO CHANGE.  Domitri, the guy that owns MiniBMS stated in an email he thought it was a "wiring problem."

Remember the fire I had sometime ago?  When I went poking around I found some crispy wires that sure needed to be replaced.  After that I completely rewired the MiniBMS headboard with all new wires.  Then I decided I should check all the cell boards. I was shocked to see 10.4 Volts coming from the cell loop.  I tested most of them and found a board that was stopping the flow completely.  I hit the emergency disconnects, disconnected the DC to DC and replaced the board - I have a few extras on hand.  Then when I tested the cell loop again I got 0.7 Volts flowing from all the boards.

I took the car for a quick drive and voila! The light for the charger came on when I turned off the car.  I then went to radio shack and connected a new buzzer to the headbaord and there was no sound. Yes!!! Thank you, Lord!  Then I disconnected one of the cell boards from the loop and the buzzer went off. (stand test to make sure the buzzer is working)

I'm not completely sure what was at fault but either way, it's back to working.  Now if the rain here would stop so I can drive it.

At one point I was looking at the possibility of buying another BMS.  There's a neat page on the Lithiumate site that compares all known BMSs.  http://liionbms.com/php/bms_options.php If one would combine the monitoring capability of the BlueWindow and the reliability of the MiniBMS with the capability to top charge/discharge as necessary and provide real time individual cell monitoring, I'd buy it.  The Lithiumate Lite comes close, but it isn't cheap - $1300 was what I priced my set up at. Then I'd have to find a computer to put in the car for real time displays. For now, I'll stick with what I have.

1967 VW Bug Ball Joint Installation

My new parts came in on Friday, so the big day for the install was yesterday.

One of the new parts I ordered was the big orange VW Repair Guide by Bentley.  I should have ordered the blue one, for my year 1967, but ended up with the orange book which actually covers everything I was looking for.  You'll see I refer to the book in this blog prtimarily because I had questions and couldn't find the answers on the internet...imagine that!

First, I had to install the "torsion arms" that I removed previously.  (I think I was calling them trailing arms previously)  I had painted them and had the new ball joints installed.

I took the opportunity to scrap off alot of the dirt and crud on my shock tower.

I also replaced the old gaskets that sit between the torsion arm and the front axle.  The old came out easy enough using a pairs of pliers.

There's no real trick to putting the torsion arms back in.  I did use a stick with a towel on the end to get out the old grease inside the torsion arm.  I put in new grease then lined up the grub screw hole with indentation, pressed it in, gave it a little wiggle/jiggle and it lined.  Used the allen wrench to screw in the bolt then added the nut on top. I read somewhere where there's really only one way for this to get on and that's the right way.

Now for the hard part, installing the brake spindle.

When I took off the spindle, the disc brake  rotor was still attached to the spindle.  You'll want to take this apart and just install the spindle.  It's all about the weight - very awkward with the rotor on.

The bottom of the spindle goes on the torsion arm easy enough - but wait - there's two washers a little one and a big one where do they go?  Bentley shows the little washer on top of the bottom arm before the nut is screwed on.  The big washer goes on the bottom of the top arm.  This big washer keeps the top arm attached to the spindle.  (I knew this book would come in handy!)

The Bentley shows a special tool to use - kind of a spreader.  I used a jack and lifted the bottom arm up about an inch.  Then I took two 2X4s, one laid flat on the bottom arm and the other (one end was cut to a 45 degree angle) sits tall on top of the flat board.  I then used a 5 lb sledge hammer to pound the top board in between the top and bottom torsion arms.  From there I was able to pry the top arm up enough to get it to line up with the camber hole. (Make sure the camber nut is already attached.)  Once these guys are untied, it"s a pain to get them apart.  (The way marriage is supposed to be!) This took some manipulation of the spindle.

Before you add that big washer and tighten you'll need to make sure you have the camber nut properly aligned.  The new EMPI ones didn't have the notch the originals had so I had to mark them.

The Bentley book shows exactly how they're supposed to line up.

Notice the arrow.  It points toward the front of the car. That's looking at the driver's side.  Both sides, according to the book, the notches point toward the FRONT.

Now you can add the big washer and tighten up the bolts.  Not too much, they do need to turn. : )

Then I installed the disc brake rotors, the brake calipers and finally, the new tie rods.  Slap on the wheels and away I went for a test drive.  Whee!!!

1967 VW Bug Ball Joint Removal

I figured this would be a great winter project for my Bradley GT II. When I go above 60 mph, the front end starts to shake. (Yes, I checked the tire pressure)

There's a very nice thread on theSamba.com about replacing ball joints. There are also a couple Youtube videos that will inspire you to try using a ball joint press.  To summarize here are the different approaches some have done:

With the ball joints still attached to the car:
Use a ball jointpress
-- You can rent for free from Autozone (wrong size - didn't work for me)
-- Ebay has a cool tool you can buy - $200 - 500 (like I'm gonna use this thing over and over)
One guy used a puller - really?? (Mine were completely rusted in)
One guy used a ball joint extractor with some pipe ends he had especially cut for the job - he doesn't say what the sizes were and he's in Finland

With the trailing arms removed from the car:
Use a huge vice with sockets (my vice is too small)
Use a welder to heat them up then knock them out with a sledge hammer (I don't have a welder)
There are a couple sites that will take your old trailing arm and swap them for a reconditioned one with new ball joints installed.  Yes, there's a core charge:
http://www.chircoestore.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=186_189_230
Take them to a auto shop or machine shop and have them replace them -- BINGO!!!

Removing the spindles just to get to the ball joints can be daunting enough. 
Jack up the car, remove the tire, detach the tie rod (see my previous post for complications), remove the disc brake caliper from the disc brake and place on the shelf behind the spindle.
Move the disc brake all the way to one side, spray with PB Blaster, hit a few times to get the lubricant to soak in and use either a 17 mm or 25/32 socket to remove the ball joint nuts.
Now comes the hard part. Both of the trailing arms are under tension and it's difficult to lift the top one up. I used a pickle fork but it just wasn't giving me enough clearance.
The trick that worked for me was using a 2 foot long 2X4 to lift the top trailing arm up enough, with a prying motion between the two trailing arms to get it out of the spindle - usually with the camber still stuck to the ball joint bolt.

I tried using the free rental tool from Autozone but the all adapters didn't really fit.

Then I tried getting creative by using a few large sockets...nope!

I read where it's easy to remove the trailing arms by loosening the grub screw, I couldn't find a picture of one and mine was covered with dirt and grime.  So I unscrewed the bolt......now what???  Once I got myself into a position where I could see, it still needed an allen wrench to take it out.  Here's what it looks like.

To remove the bottom trailing arm you might have to cut off the sway bar like I did.  Quick cut and it revealed that the bushings were old, hard as a rock and cracked.

Here are the trailing arms after I removed them, notice I had one ball joint partly removed - argh!!

You can see where the grub screw mounts to the inner leaf springs in the front end. 

I took my trailing arms to Eastside Auto in Ellensburg and Mike was able to take out the old, replace with the new ball joints I had previously bought, all for $20 each.  He had to use extreme heat on one because it was so badly rusted in.  That's a bargain!!!

I still had to order new gaskets for the leaf springs, new cambers and a new bushing kit. $120.

1967 VW Bug Tie Rod Replacement

Sometimes we find out the bad news mid-project.  "Gee I wish someone would have told me that sooner.."  It's kinda like watching one of those home improvement shows where after they get started and have torn into something they find..asbestos, a large monster of a pipe that needs to be relocated etc.
Replacing the Tie Rods on a 1967 VW bug chassis should be a cakewalk.  From what you can see, it's four bolts and they come off.

Then why are mine !@#$ stuck?

Silly amateur!  Don't you know that 1967 was the year that the VW Bug went through some changes in the ball joint front end suspension?  They went from a less efficient tapered bolt to a straight bolt.

Naturally, I was ill-informed of this valuable piece of knowledge.  Judging from the picture above, I went and ordered new tie rods since they looked ugly and I was questioning exactly how old are these things?  So I went to Appletree Automotive and ordered some pretty chrome replacements - hey, they were cheaper than the regular ones.

Don't get ahead of me here.....

While waiting the delivery of my new tie rods, I went to work trying to take the old ones off.  That's where I exclaim once again, Why are mine stuck?

I tried using a puller, I tired using lots of PB Blaster, I tried heat with my butane torch.... and had to eventually cut it off with a power tool (my favorite). Yes, most of the bolt is still stuck in the spindle.

Since I thought about replacing the ball joints as well, I removed the spindle and tried removing the tie rod bolt using my vise on my bench.  No luck there either.

Totally frustrated at this point, I took the spindle to a local auto shop and they were able to get the bolt out with extreme heat from a welder. $40.

In the meantime my new shiny tie rods arrived....Ooooh, Ahhhhhh.

Probably hard to see in this picture but the new tie rods have straight bolts - not the tapered bolts I needed.  I called up Appletree and talked with one of their VW guys and finally was alerted to the fact that I had a freak of a VW chassis.  Now, I had to send them back.  Let me tell you now, it ain't cheap. $35

So, at this point I have an option of replacing the spindles to straight bolts by seeing if I can find some from a local junk yard somewhere or just stick with what I got.

Before you throw the old tie rods away, you'll need to take the new and lengthen them to the same length of the old tie rods.

If you have a 1967 VW Bug Chassis like I do, you'll want to look and see what kind of tire rods you have before you dive in - straight or tapered and think about your options.