This morning we mated the transaxle, clutch, adapter and motor together in preparation for the installation. This allowed us to do a final sizing up of the chassis and mount point changes that will be required.
After sizing everything up, Bruce set about removing the petrol engines mount points. There was some discussion about needing to lower the rear bottom chassis rail , but after checking out the transaxle's axle shaft alignment with the suspension geometry in its normal position it was clear that we did not need to lower it any further.
Everything fits where it is meant to and there is heaps of room either side of the motor and in front of it for batteries (The Saker is a rear engined vehicle, so don't let this next photo confuse you).
It also appears that a decision about half shafts has been reached. We will source a set of Subaru STi axles (stronger than standard subaru axles) and modify them to fit the UN1 transaxle.
As well as this, the dash structural changes have been finished. The Dash2 is mounted but the eVision still needs some work (mounting requires the creation of a two layer lexan bracket with spacers. The front layer is the cover/lense and the back is the mount plate).
Tomorrow I need to make a decision about the trailer (buy one here, or use a transporter and source one back in Auckland). It will come down to cost effectiveness of the deal and how well the trailer is going to cater for the Saker (the trailer needs some specific features to handle the long front overhang and weight distribution of the rear engined vehicle). We will be visiting a very good local trailer manufacturer who has one completed and slightly run in trailer plus a semi completed trailer that might be a better starting point given the modifications we will be after.
Check back tomorrow!
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