Friday, June 27, 2008

Scavenger hunt...

It rained last night. However, my secondary dike behind the garage door retained the water! Yay me! I really wish I had some "before" photos to show how much my work area has changed. At this point, I'm taking a look at the instructions and getting the most obvious hard-to-get items on their way to my house. For me, since I live in a sort of rural area, the cost of the item is mostly the transport. Basically, if I need to get something, even the smallest screw, I have a $10 premium of petrol and my time that I mentally add onto the cost. When taken in that context, shipping to my door doesn't seem that expensive given what gasoline prices are. Thank goodness for online ordering!

Here are today's items (including shipping):
JigSaw, Blades, 1/2" wire wrap, 1/4" wire wrap - from Harbor Freight - $44.16
Headlights (going with the standard choice) - NV-503W from TruckAndVans.com, $48.03
(Just one set for now, but I may eventually a second set for high beams)
Seat rails (optional, but I want to do it) - from NorthernTool.com, $22.98
Metra Tsunami Premier Gn604-75 Ground Cable #4 AWG, BeachAudio.com, $82.99
Power cable lugs (25) for #4 wire, 3/8 connector, Ebay, $14.50
Speedometer (illuminated/wheel pickup/odometer) Koso XR-SA from dynotunenitrous.com, $136.90
Items from Salina Electronics (a local retail electronics store)
1- 470Ohm 10Watt resister (10W_470Ohm 5% 10W147-nte) $1.19
1- Suppression Diode (1n4004-NTE) $0.05
1- 6 Amp Diode (R-100PRV_6A 5812-NTE) $1.84
1- 5 Amp Fuse (AGC-5A-BUS 3AG-5A 312005-LIT) $4.80 (5pack)
1- Inline fuse holder (150145-LIT - or whatever matches the 5A fuse) $2.95
3ft (or package) of Wire wrap 3/4" diameter $3.78
1 roll 3M electric tape $1.89
Shipping (car trip) about $3 in gasoline.

Whew! Other items such as the handlebar and mirrors I'll wait on for now. I'm still searching for a decent mirror and turn signal combo. However, with the exception of the batteries, I'm now down to items I can get from the hardware stores in my area. Although fasteners such as bolts and rivets tend to be inexpensive, the trip to the store isn't. So, I'm spending some extra time to come up with an accurate pick list so I can combine trips whenever I can.

Total time ordering (and blogging to tell about it - around 10 hours)

POST CONSTRUCTION NOTE:
This is not a recommended shopping list, just what I happened to buy. Some of these items such as mirrors and lights have since been upgraded to meet DMV requirements. Buying too much expensive #4 cable also drove the overall cost of the vehicle up since I bought a whole spool rather than the lengths needed. If anyone is building a BugE, let me know. I have enough cable and ends to make up several several cable sets for the standard BugE motor & controller with reversing option.