Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Overall Philosophy

I've often seen advice to the tune of:

Come up with an overall vision or philosophy for the project before you begin. This will help with the countless small decisions you will have to make as you plan and complete the project.

This is something I seem to struggle with on a lot of projects, not just EV-related, and not even just car-related.

There are two areas in which I'm struggling with this, and being something of a perfectionist*, I want to be consistent with whatever route I choose.

So the first question is how true to original the restoration should be: For instance, do I need to locate window seals with a molding groove, or go for the cheaper and more available "Cal look" versions? The second question is more subtle, but basically it boils down to whether I want a more plug-and-play or a more integrated conversion. For instance, do I adjust or replace the torsion bars to correct the ride height, or do I add air shocks? Another instance of this question is how much sheet metal surgery should I do to get the batteries in an optimal location.

Some might advise to take the easy approach to each question, but I've seen some awfully homely restorations and conversions that take this approach. Or one can take the "perfection at all costs" approach, much like my EV conversion role-model, John Wayland. But given real-world constraints on things like time and money, where do I draw the line?

Suggestions are appreciated, and failing that I'll probably follow up with a post of what I've decided. In the mean time, I'm going to take care of the few obvious no-brainer tasks, like fender beading.

*This is coming from a guy who having received a Lego model of a Ferrari Enzo, decided to assemble it so that all the pieces, where possible, had the little "LEGO" text on each button aligned.

1 Comments:

Blogger Todd said...

Thank you for the insight on this project. I recently purchased a '69 Fastback with the intent to convert it to EV. When I found your blog, I was a bit bummed that I was not the first to arrive at this marriage of old and new. But I can acknowledge that there are other resourceful people out there who are thinking the same thing. I caught the bug (no pun intended) with the Lehi, Utah folks at e-volks.com. Their EV conversion kits are a bit light compared with those from Cloud EV, but seeing these sites as well as what you have listed in the northwest I'm convinced there's a healthy community out there.

I am off to a slow start, as I'm debating the same conundrums as yourself with true restoration vs. bare bones conversion. I look forward to seeing your progress as I work on my own type 3 EV.


P.S. I found this restoration in Georgia. It's among the best fixed up type 3's I have seen. Not exactly true to stock, but definitely a nice job.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2205469

10:44 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home