Finally got going in the new garage!
First task -- not EV related per se -- was to remove the sheetrock wall at the rear of the garage space in order to get a bit more room to work in.
Next task -- only mildly EV related -- I had packed the car's passenger compartment full of miscellaneous parts for the tow from Huey's to here. Most of those parts are going to live in our basement for a while, so I carted them out into the driveway.
James and Suzanne were just "hanging out" while I removed the wall and moved heavy bits around, but when it turned to working on the car he decided he'd like to help. Since we were standing at the rear of the car, we began in the trunk.
This is the compartment/tool bin on the left side of the trunk.
Notice that James is sitting in the trunk as we pulled out the liner.
This metal shroud that covers the fuel filler area is held by three screws. After I loosened them, James wrenched them all the way out. This is a staged photo to make it look like I was working.
It's nice to have a photographer around...
...she can take a series of pictures to show the whole...
...process as a piece of sheet metal is removed.
James wanted some juice after all that work and, as we had none, a run to the homestead was in order. I also asked Suze to bring back a tarp and some rope as we are going to have to tie the miata's hood on the top of her car to take it home.
While they were gone, I took my 900th look at the spoiler on the rear of my car and finally decided that it should go. This is a terrible picture (I'm holding the camera again now, not Suzanne) but the spoiler is removed and layed inverted on the trunk ahead of where it was mounted. It was held on by three screws, double-sided tape all around, and ...
...a layer of dirt.
I was able to reach Suze on her cell and added "goo gone" to the shopping list. When they got back I became engrossed in the singularly uninteresting task of removing double-sided tape and its residue from a surface. About twenty minutes later James decided that a visit to the lightbulb recycling bin at Ikea was what he really needed today, so they were off again.
The paint around where the spoiler was mounted was damaged in several places so I decided to just remove the trunk lid and see about getting it professionally repainted.
This project took a ridiculously long time.
Then I began the real work by jacking the car and putting her on jackstands. The first major task I'd like to accomplish is removing the gas tank. I got it drained at Huey's, but the job of removing it was too daunting to complete in the little bit of time I had left there. The subframe that holds the rear suspension components and the differential has to be dropped out of the car in order to have enough space to pull the gas tank. So, anyway, this'll be my first big project in the new garage.
Just as I was finishing getting the car jacked up, Suzanne and James arrived again, followed shortly by Dennis Gentle who used to run a pottery studio in the space I'm using. By the way, here's a pic of the garage.
This is a shot of the parts that were packed in the car during the tow.
Everybody left and I got back to work. This is the frame that connects the body and the rear subframe. I'd had it out before, but reinstalled it (probably unnecessary) for the tow.
While I was under there I noticed this heat shield above where the muffler formerly was. While I was pulling this out I began ruminating about how much trunk space was now achievable (at the expense of a bit of metal cutting and fiberglass work). Perhaps later.
No pictures of this, but I removed the rear tires and got the 6 bolts that hold the rear subframe to the body loosened.
This is a shroud that covers the fuel pump.
The rest of the day was consumed in tidying up and, of course, moving all that stuff to our house.