Friday, August 24, 2007

Ground Control: We Have Contact

Electro Automotive has finally gotten back to me. They say that they were thrown a curve by the Warp9 rear shaft engine (the original Warp9 didn't have it and was supposed to have the same mounting holes as the ADC they used in the past). They are now working on modifying the engine mount to fit the rear shaft Warp9 and it will probably be a few weeks (I'm guessing that's optimistic). I think I will go a little out of order on the manual and start working on the suspension. The car needs a heavy duty suspension upgrade, which is part of the kit. This is because of the extra 1,000+ lbs. of weight added to the car from the lead acid batteries.
Also, someone is coming by for the old combustion engine this weekend, which will free up a little space in my garage.

4 comments:

Richard Krog said...

Wow, that's good news. I just received a Warp9 from FedEx this morning. I was a little surprised to see the Warp9 (with tail shaft) because EA told me they would send the ADC as a back-order replacement. I hope they have everything sorted out with you first. :-)

I didn't see any instruction manual or documentation with the Warp9. Did you get anything? The reason I asked is because when I tried to spin the rotor by hand, it didn't want to budge. Is there some sort of packing bolt in place?

Steve said...

I didn't get any instructions either. I just assumed that it wouldn't turn unless it had juice, but it's worth asking (I tried to ask the Warp9 people a question by e-mail and they have yet to get back to me - so someone out there has slower customer service than EA!) On the positive side, it's a sweet looking red engine, don't you think?

Steve said...

Heh, heh,
I just noticed that the Warp9 did get back to me and the e-mail was spammed. I asked them if the the rear shaft is removeable and here is their reply:

Steve,
You can certainly remove the tailshaft! The simplest method is to
run the motor on 12-volts and place a hack-saw on the tailshaft. Keep
the shavings from getting into the bearings! Good luck with your
conversion!

Enjoy,
George Hamstra

I think I'll wait for the new mount.

Richard Krog said...

Yes, I've heard that trick. Essentially, it can be an effective, albeit very expensive lathe.