Mon 24 Mar 2008
I got to spend a few hours in the shop on Sunday. After some modifications, I got the shifter installed and working:
I also picked up an “el cheapo” racing seat. It’s not actually bolted to the chassis yet, but it sits there very nicely. Now that I can drive the chassis around, it’s great to be able to sit comfortably.
Thu 20 Mar 2008
Last night, I filled up the brake fluid reservoir and spent some time bleeding the lines. The pedal feels pretty good, except I found that the firewall (what the master cylinder is bolted to) flexes a bit when you press hard. I’ll have to do some welding to reinforce it.
I connected my vacuum pump and tank to the brake booster. I turned on the pump and it pulled a nice vacuum. However, I really couldn’t feel any difference on the brake pedal. I’ll have to check with the experts on this one…
At the end of the night (it was a late night), I started installing the cable shifter bracket. Even though it was designed to work with my Audi transmission, the bracket that mounts to the transmission required some modification just to make it fit. After a little drilling and grinding, I was able to wrestle it on. Next time I’ll mount the shifter in the center console and then adjust everything so it actually shifts.
Tue 4 Mar 2008
Yesterday was very productive. I cut and welded my transmission mounts and added some tabs to attach the motor plate to the chassis.
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Once the transmission and motor were mounted, I decided to take it out for a quick test ride. I wired up a single 12v battery and hopped on:
My friend Joe jumped on the back to share in this momentous event.