Weekend Update... with Norm MacDonald

I got a few things done this weekend. My wife took care of the baby on Sunday so I got most of that day to work and then her mom watched the baby on Monday afternoon and I got 4 more hours in.

On Sunday I did more work on the install process for the battery racks in the motor bay. I got some American made Cobalt bits and metal cutting oil on Saturday from Harry J. Epstein Company. This helped my metal drilling immensely. Having the right tools, (and knowing what the right tools are) is a major time, stress, energy and money saver. I am thick headed, so I plow ahead and make mistakes and then learn the hard way. I know this about myself, and still amaze myself at how often I could have taken a few minutes to learn a bit before trying it out myself. Anyways, onward ho! I drilled some more holes in the battery racks, as well as cut off some unwanted portions.

Firewall rack with unwanted angle removed

Bumper rack primed and ready

Next, I installed 6 rivnuts into the bumper area for the bumper rack. I am also going to make some brackets to attach the top of the rack to the bumper. This should stop any shifting of the rack when I brake or accelerate quickly.

6 Rivnuts in place

Close up of RivNuts - Surface was not flat, but they will hold well

I put some bolts in the Rivnuts and borrowed my daughters fingernail polish and put a drop on top of each bolt. Then set the rack down on them to get a mark for where I needed to drill holes. I quickly learned that I should have done this 1 bolt at a time instead of trying to do all six at once. I made a couple holes that were off and I had to re-drill. Definitely do this one hole at a time to make sure the mark is correct.

All the mounting holes were drilled, so off to get a coat of paint. I cleaned the racks with Acetone, then ran a metal brush over them to scuff them a bit. Someone gave me that hint. I guess it accepts paint better. Primered and added the first coat of Hunter Green Spray Paint. I also bought a regular can of Hunter Green and a brush because one of the guys helping me said it wastes less paint. I already have a couple cans of spray paint, so I will use them and save the regular can for any touch-ups and the frames for the battery boxes in the hatch of the car.

Well I have sufficiently bored you with some battery rack details, but maybe someone will learn something from my mistakes and do it right the first time.