Bad Cat

Bad Cat
Officially Bad Ass

Monday, June 17, 2013

Sprucing Up The ElectroJunk

We're enjoying calling BadCat "ElectroJunk" these days with a 'wink, wink' out to "He Who Shall Not Be Named ;)."

Royce actually received a super nice compliment this past weekend when the guy who sold him the Manzanita (!) Charger told him that the 'Cat was the most professional conversion he'd seen, so, well, there you go. Thank you.

There are a couple of updates we wanted to add to the blog...

One is that of the aforementioned Manzanita Charger that Royce received and installed last weekend. There is a video link at the end of the post that will show it.

And here are the new rims Royce bought on Ebay for $500, shipped. That sounds like a lot of moola, but for these particular rims, it was a very good price:


If you look closer at the center cap you'll see this:


Royce found these center caps on Ebay last fall and has been saving them. They were $12 for all four, shipped. He's enjoying adding these final touches to the car as the restoration is wrapping up.

In the quick vid we made you'll also see Royce's new tires that he bought today. They are a Bridgestone Ultra Hi-Performance All Season Radial.

Here's a link to the vid we made. (We make videos for us to document the car and we add them to the blog because there might be details in them other people enjoy. These are not meant to be professional, they're personal, but hope aspects are interesting anyway):


67 All Electric Mercury Cougar




Friday, June 7, 2013

Everyday Driver


Here is a current photo of the 'Cat where it's perched during the day. Most of the time it's driven back and forth between the shop and home unless it's having battery issues. Using batteries that have been laying in wait for several years has been slightly challenging, but The Mechanic is working out the kinks. It gets a lot of reaction out in the world, people love it, and we have our logo and business info on the back now. This is something we wanted to do with the car, using it to promote our business here in town and it's getting the attention we expected. The signage we have on the back and side windows was done by our sign-guy, Jim, through a barter. He's excellent, having been making signs locally for 50 years. That's been a very good association for us.

Royce is in what he calls "Stage 2" as far as the battery packs are concerned. He is adding modules to step-up the voltage to it's final 200 volt resting place. He still needs to finish the transmission mods for racing and he still needs to upgrade the rear diff. He has the parts but the shop has been super busy. It's just a matter of getting to it. Our buddy Bob (with the electric TVR) is here most days doing this and that to his car and ready to get both cars on the track, but he is being patient.

Final report: We should have our Manzanita PFC-50 battery charger installed by next Saturday!

Not bad for Electro-junk, eh??




Thursday, May 9, 2013

EV GRIN

Just wanted to update the site. We did a vid of the EV Grin as Royce was driving down the road from home to pick up our daughter last week. It was great fun to see how happy having Bad Cat on the road at long last has made him. Unfortunately, he lost power and had it towed.. not once, but twice. Luckily we have the support of an excellent tow guy who helped us out. Royce is working out the kinks and should have it ready for daily driving very shortly.

Also unfortunately, for those of you who were looking forward to seeing Bad Cat at EVCcon, we will not be attending. It's no skin off our pretty red nose. We're here and he's there. A tip of the hat and The 'Cat bids adieu.

But, what part of EV on a ShoeString is unclear here? We're budget people. We're working class. We're blue collar. We're middle America. We've never made a secret of that. In fact, we blared it above. So yeah, we do our best with what we have (or find or make or buy or trade or bargain or barter). We're making no apologies for being thrifty. It makes us happy :).

Anyhoo.

The short of it: Is Bad Cat going to EVCcon? No.

The less-short of it: Hands washed of all that. Merrily we roll along!

Final synopsis: Feel free to stop in the shop, Locals! Keep an eye on the blog. We'll be taking the 'Cat to local shows and running it for speed at the track. We're open and Bad Cat's purring, happy in the next of it's nine or more lives, stretched out in the lot soaking up the sun during these beautiful Spring days!

Monday, March 4, 2013

Super excited to get these today. A great find on Ebay $25 plus shipping.

It completely changes the overall appearance of the car. Much Better.