Tesla Powered 33 Hot Rod

[Nigel Allen]

Looks fantastic! I reckon you will have a very busy weekend.

Cheers,

Nigel

[BradC]

Looks great. Nice company too.

Thanks. The cobra next to it is my friend David's. It's a FFR MK4 but with a top from Australia I think. It's a really cool design and transforms the car to something completely different. The rear hatch opens to the trunk and when you open the side doors the windows hinge up out of the way.

[BradC]

Looks fantastic! I reckon you will have a very busy weekend.

Cheers,

Nigel

Thanks Nigel. Yeah, it'll be fun to see how things go. I'll go back there today for the opening but can't stay all day. I'm out of town Saturday and then I'll go back there Sunday for most of the day.

[BradC]

The weekend show went great. I guess Saturday was the busy day which makes sense but I wasn't there. They told me there was lots of interest in mine though. I left the hood up Friday for the "wait... what is that??" effect. Ha. I spent 3-4 hours there yesterday and had the chance to talk to a lot of people about it as well as wander around checking out the other cars. It was fun but we didn't get let out until close to 6:30 - so I had to drive home in the dark. No issues other than I realized my bights were on about halfway home - oops.. That and it was pretty chilly. The seat heater worked great but I wish I had brought gloves. I think I'll stash a pair in the car from now on.

[JimLev]

Do you have the FFR halogen headlights or the LED ones that draw a lot less power?

[BradC]

I have the LED headlights...

[BradC]

So - I drove the car on all backroads going the show the other weekend to lower my risk of rock chips on the highway. While I was leaving the venue I flipped something up in the parking lot at about 10mph and chipped the rear fender. Ugh. Small chip but that sealed the deal in deciding on PPF. I took the car in Tuesday and just got it back today. They repaired the chip for no extra cost and did a really nice job on the PPF.. Obviously you can't tell in the image but it's covered everywhere but the trunk now in self healing film. It's nice being able to just drive it without constantly thinking 'crap, what was that I just heard'.

IMG_4995.jpg

Just need to put my headlights back on now..

[BradC]

While putting the headlights back on I noticed the rivets holding the mounting flange to the can were all loose. That allows the light to rotate a little no matter how tight it is to the chassis and it was definitely some of the rattling I was hearing while driving that I've been chasing down. Without the lights on there everything was much more solid on the road. Must be the heavier LED lights working the rivets loose. I was able to crimp them tighter but I'm pretty sure it's just going to happen again. I think I'll knock the rivets out and replace them with some nice bolts and lock nuts.

Anyone else have this happen?

IMG_4998.JPG

[BradC]

Much better now - no more rotation. It was way too easy to remove those rivets so I'm positive they would have worked loose again. M5 screws gave the tightest fit with the hole sizes.

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[BradC]

It's been a while since I posted here but the car is doing great. My range is pretty consistent at 120-150 miles depending on how I drive it. I haven't run it to zero but I've done charge cycles ranging from 40 to 90 miles and it calculates out to the same projected range each time. I've been slowly messing with the suspension and the handling is great now - much better than the first drives.

I FINALLY got the first pass CAN channel file for the BMS yesterday so that's on my list this weekend to see if it works and get it integrated into the CD7 display. I'll finally have state of charge and other battery details on the display now instead of having to connect a PC. It will also enable fault screens on my display real time should anything go wrong. I plan to change the display wiring so that it comes on during charging allowing me to see progress without a PC.

I decided to pull the trigger on doing something about the boring flat top of the main battery pack. I machined some reveal openings to break it up and give it some depth. I'm happy with the end result. I added some snap in bezels that go down to the battery pack surface that I 3D printed (on my new printer I bought for home) but I have a few design options that would integrate some machined aluminum if I wanted to change it later.

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[BradC]

Couple of shots it at a friend's house last weekend...

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[toadster]

Couple of shots it at a friend's house last weekend...

IMG_5115.jpg IMG_5107.jpg

I wish that guy on here still did FFR calendars, that first shot should get the cover!! Looking awesome!

Love your crate motor mod too - gives it a bit more industrialized look!!

[BradC]

Thanks Todd!

[BradC]

Partial success with the BMS info porting to the display! I got the channel address info last week like I mentioned but it still wasn't reporting to the screen. Thunderstruck Motors has been so great with support on this. I'm the first one trying to get their new MCU BMS module to report to the AEM display so we're both figuring this out as we go. With their help we added some data request lines to the AEM software and I finally got state of charge and pack capacity values showing up! May not seem like much but it's a huge step for me given how long I've been working on this. We seem to be on the right path now so hopefully getting the rest of the info is just a matter of a little more troubleshooting.

Data request lines we added:
Screenshot 2024-01-02 163606.png

Two channels showing up!
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SoC battery gauge on the bottom of my main screen showing 100%
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[BradC]

Did the local cars and coffee new years day polar bear drive yesterday morning. I'm guessing there were about 200+ cars that did the run up through some really nice winding roads to a place called Georgetown in the foothills here. Someone got nice shots of the cars on the way and posted a bunch to the facebook page with two of my car. Despite apparently looking like the frozen Unibomber, I had a really fun time! It wasn't too cold actually with the seat heater on high. The is the longest single drive I've done with the car so far and I was pretty nervous about range since it was a 2500 ft elevation increase. Stupid me forgot to check the odometer before I left but I think it was about 85-90 miles. Would have been much better to have the state of charge info available but I was one day off apparently. I was constantly watching the voltage but it's not a linear discharge curve and really hard to predict. I gained a few volts back on the downhill drive home and when I checked the SoC by laptop it was still at 37%. Really happy with that actually! The car handles great too with the Tesla rear suspension through the winding roads.

Polar Bear Drive 2.jpg Polar Bear Drive.jpg

[Ted G]

Brad, Looks great! Wish I went on that drive too, but I was driving home from So Cal (in the Jeep) and my car is currently on four jack stands replacing the oil pan gasket and a few mods/improvements. See you soon!

Ted

[cvacca]

Brad, amazing creation. Great looking HR! I am thinking of ordering a set of bike fenders from McQueen. I like their shape. Can you tell me what width tire you went with in the rear? Trying to figure out the max I can get away with.

[BradC]

Brad, amazing creation. Great looking HR! I am thinking of ordering a set of bike fenders from McQueen. I like their shape. Can you tell me what width tire you went with in the rear? Trying to figure out the max I can get away with.

Thanks!

I have 285's in the rear. Wheels are 18x10, 6" BS, +12mm offset. They fit perfect on mine but my hub to hub width is a bit wider than FFR standard because of the custom rear suspension. I'd have to go dig it up but I think I'm about 1/2 - 3/4 inch or so wider total.

[BradC]

No solution yet with the BMS info on the display. We've been working on it but so far we're still stumped. I contacted AEM today and I did get an initial reply which was encouraging. I'm hoping to get them and Thunerstruck talking on it since I'm by no means an expert in CAN protocol.

On to something much less complicated that I can fully control.. My first longer drive this past weekend made me realize I really do need a cup holder. My water bottle flew off the seat on a windy road and almost got under the pedals, which is less than ideal obviously. I looked over the interior and decided to design a part that leverages the existing attach point for my phone holder on the center console. This is the design. I also added a spot for my AirPod case. It's printing right now on my new printer at home in a PETG, carbon fiber infill material. Perfect test part for the new machine.

Console Cup holder (1).jpg

[Dan Cooper]

Glad to here you are making progress on the BMS display. When I get further along I may consult with you on that. I really like your cup holder and cellphone holder. Got to hand it to you, you are always thinking.

[BradC]

Glad to here you are making progress on the BMS display. When I get further along I may consult with you on that. I really like your cup holder and cellphone holder. Got to hand it to you, you are always thinking.

Thanks Dan. Yeah, I'll send you the AEM display file once I get the BMS sorted. I got Thunderstruck and AEM talking on it so hopefully they can work it out.

[BradC]

Center console mod came out pretty good.

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I'm really impressed with this new printer! It's the Bambu Lab P1S. It's so crazy how far along they've come in a very short time. This newer $1000 printer is giving the 5 year old $90k one at work a run for sure. Very good print quality and significantly faster than the work machine. There's basically endless super affordable filament options and multi-color print capability. It's about 10-50% the cost of the filament we use at work depending on material type. It can't do quite as strong of parts but they're certainly not $89k weaker!

P1S.jpg

Makes it a "why not?" to print completely pointless things like this. About $4 in material and 4-5 hours each vs. about $35 and probably 12+ hours on the other machine.

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[Dan Cooper]

That is amazing, price seems real good. Although I probably won't run out to get one, I would like to focus on the batteries.

[JimLev]

Brad, what’s that material you used for the carpet?

Thanks, JimLev

[BradC]

Brad, what’s that material you used for the carpet?

Thanks, JimLev

It's just gray automotive carpet. I used a bright LED light for the picture though.

[BradC]

That is amazing, price seems real good. Although I probably won't run out to get one, I would like to focus on the batteries.

You mean you're going to priorotize functionality over a cup holder and plastic bearded dragon toys?? How weird... haha

[J R Jones]

My OEM cup holders are challenged by G forces, and taller water bottles / SS travel mugs. I rarely brake at high Gs but my beverages have launched across the interior while cornering.
I have found the rubber diaphragm fingers help secure the container and limit tipping but in a shallow well, they are not effective enough for my enthusiasm.
jim

[BradC]

My OEM cup holders are challenged by G forces, and taller water bottles / SS travel mugs. I rarely brake at high Gs but my beverages have launched across the interior while cornering.
I have found the rubber diaphragm fingers help secure the container and limit tipping but in a shallow well, they are not effective enough for my enthusiasm.
jim

Thanks - I'll keep an eye out for that. Should be easy to modfiy the design if I have issues.

[BradC]

I finally got all the BMS info reporting to the display!! It took a week of back and forth bewteen AEM and Thunderstruck but the engineer at AEM came up with a clever way to get it working. Now I have all needed info available on my display. So glad to have that solved...

[cvacca]

Love the look of the McQueen bike fenders, especially the rears. Question though, the fronts don't come as far down on the backside of the tires as the FF ones do. I've spoken to a few builders at shows and they have said you need to keep the fronts as low in the back as possible to help with rock chips in the paint. How has your paint held up with these on there? Also, thanks for the heads up on the front brackets. It will be interesting to see if they changed them.

[BradC]

Love the look of the McQueen bike fenders, especially the rears. Question though, the fronts don't come as far down on the backside of the tires as the FF ones do. I've spoken to a few builders at shows and they have said you need to keep the fronts as low in the back as possible to help with rock chips in the paint. How has your paint held up with these on there? Also, thanks for the heads up on the front brackets. It will be interesting to see if they changed them.

Agreed - they have a nice look to them. The fronts are basically just cosmetic. They don't do much at all functionally to protect from rocks being thrown at the body - maybe just a little from things being thrown upwards. I had a chip in the rear fender happen quickly, before I was able to get protection film installed. I had to wait 3 months on the paint before I could cover it in film. The chip was small and easily fixed before the film went on and since then I have about 400 miles with no damage at all to the film. I would say the PPF is a must have if you're worried about chips with these fenders.

I've since decided to run with no front fenders just because I like the way it looks. Also has a little to do with three people thinking it was a Prowler honestly - haha. I had my custom made front brackets reinforced even more with welded on gussets but I haven't put them back on yet. I had a few slight tire strikes even after having the brackets made in stainless steel - although MUCH less than with the ones they came with.

[RoadRacer]

Also has a little to do with three people thinking it was a Prowler honestly - haha.

LOL. Given that this looks nothing like a prowler.. you're going to have to get used to idiots. Or embrace it and sit behind your neighbor's car at a car show and drink a beer when an expert starts telling their kids all about it!!!

[BradC]

LOL. Given that this looks nothing like a prowler.. you're going to have to get used to idiots. Or embrace it and sit behind your neighbor's car at a car show and drink a beer when an expert starts telling their kids all about it!!!

Yeah I know. It definitely wasn't the main reason, just kind of funny. I had the fenders off while I was having the gussets TIG welded on and the more I looked at it the more I liked it without them. I can go back and forth easy enough but for now I'm leaving them off.

[cvacca]

Agreed, I like the look of only the rear fenders. Unfortunately, I live in New England where we don't have the cleanest roads and in order for me to get it registered, I was told I need all 4 wheels covered. But luckily, the fronts fall off easily when you get back home and sit nicely on a shelf for years to come...

[BradC]

Agreed, I like the look of only the rear fenders. Unfortunately, I live in New England where we don't have the cleanest roads and in order for me to get it registered, I was told I need all 4 wheels covered. But luckily, the fronts fall off easily when you get back home and sit nicely on a shelf for years to come...

Roads aren't great here too. Such a shame that your fenders fell off but at least they landed in a good spot! We have the same law here too but nobody seems to care about it in practice either.

[Just 1 More]

ANy tips on mounting the McQueen rear fenders to the body?

[BradC]

ANy tips on mounting the McQueen rear fenders to the body?

I just used 1/4-20 Nutserts - I forget how many per side (maybe 5?) but I can check.

[Just 1 More]

I just used 1/4-20 Nutserts - I forget how many per side (maybe 5?) but I can check.

Thanks. I've got the 1/4-20 nutserts made for fiberglass so I guess i'll be using those. Does 5 of them hold it good and tight? Would 10 better? LOL

[BradC]

Thanks. I've got the 1/4-20 nutserts made for fiberglass so I guess i'll be using those. Does 5 of them hold it good and tight? Would 10 better? LOL

Yeah, seems to hold just fine. No creaking or anything.

[Tom Veale]

ANy tips on mounting the McQueen rear fenders to the body?

When I installed mine back in 2009, I had an upholstery shop make up some piping for in between the fender and the body. We then spray painted it to match the body color.

Pindetail1.jpg

You can see it here in this image just below the pin stripe. It helps to keep crud from building up between the two pieces and is much like what was used for decades back in the "olden days" and on British sports cars through the '70s.

Hope this helps,
Tom