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New Tools

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Weeks of staring at the partially modified VW front spindle and its need for a large clearance hole to fit the Tesla bearing had me feeling a bit stuck. Fortunately a friend who is a master machinist happened to stop by. “An adjustable boring bar is the tool for you,” he advised. I had seen these odd looking things before without really understanding what they were for, now enlightened this tool seems like a great investment. Buying new tools is always a satisfying experience.
This should help get things moving again, one step at a time.

Meanwhile, the still-gas-powered donor Multivan would like an engine evaluation before I disassemble it since my other camper, the temporary one, has been making upper rod bearing noises for years. The Multivan’s freshly rebuilt engine was said to be burning oil but had synthetic oil during the break in period. So I’ve changed to regular oil, did some maintenance on it and am using it to explore Oregon waterfalls. Hopefully it will still break in properly so the ICE can see a continued useful life in the other camper.

Visiting Waterfalls

 

Steering Rack Fixed

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The Land Rover steering rack arrived from England and I have good news. It works!

I confirmed the width of the tie rods (the tie rod ends are clearly different) and guessed that the steering ratio and torque sensor would match up. I then swapped in the old brushless power steering motor since it’s programmed for the Tesla and tried it out. With the car on the lift, (no load) it feels normal so it looks like this was a success! I think it was fun to learn about the inside of the EPS system, but I’m also thankful I didn’t need to reassemble the old rack and pinion.

Cash saved: Almost $2500. Time spent: Many hours over the last month and a half. Was it worth it? Probably, who cares? It was fun. 🙂

btw: If you are looking for Model S parts like a -A 85 kWh battery, Drive unit and rear spring suspension, Charger, but not much in body parts from a 2012, let me know. There’s a salvage one I could get but it only has a few parts I need so it’s only going to be worthwhile to me if someone else can make use of the major parts.

Salvage Model S