LSA SLC Build Log

[Brian]

I bought a pair of the Tesla electric E brakes off ebay a few years ago with the intent of adding between the drive shaft and differential. They seemed a little heavy to add to the upright on such a light car, but that seems to be most OEM parking brake solution these days. Wifey's RX350 has them as did our pooky little Jeep Renegade. But they're integrating them into the main caliper now.

There's 4 wires. 2 are straight to the PMDC motor, but I couldn't figure out the other 2, but I guess they're some sort of feedback to let the controller know it's moving. My plan was current limit the actuate, but full beans until current fell off for the retract. But the idea of some sort of malfunction letting the motor lock the rear wheels at speed scared the crap out of me. Needs to be some interlocks to prevent accidental application.

Nice bit of manual machining work there.

 

[Scott]

Brian,

I used an actuator-on-caliper solution from HiSpec which has a lot of benefits:

• Lower total weight than the solution offered by RCR
• Lower un-sprung weight than the solution offered by RCR (this surprised me)
• ECU with cast metal case and potted electronics
• High-quality harness and connectors
• Floating caliper design (bracket doesn't need to be spot on)
• Optional Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS) input to prevent brake application when car is at speed (the scenario that you mentioned)

 

[Rob Hurley]

Cardboard it will be. Thank you for responding.

 

[Kurt Hoffman]

Cardboard it will be. Thank you for responding.

Rob,

Here is another option for you. I purchased the mounting brackets from Pantera Electronics and tig welded a bar of aluminum to them. I was able to utilize two existing tapped holes on the SL-C uprights to mount the bracket to. Sorry, I do not have a print either, fabbed it up on the fly by clamping in place and using transfer punches for the mounting holes.

 

[Rob Hurley]

Nice. I never considered anything like that. Simple and effective no machining required. I went ahead and made a CAD drawing for the angle bracket like Bob made. I used a sheet metal template, the carboard one was too flimsy. I'm not quite finished though. When done I'm happy to pass the drawing along to anyone else adapting the Tesla parking brake. Cheers!

 

[Joel K]

Heading out for paint soon !

Bob, just checking in to see if you’ve made progress on the build.

 

[Bob from Cleveland]

Car is back from paint ! Removed all the body panels last night for one last go at wiring and what not before I bolt down the spider.

 

[Bob from Cleveland]

 

[Joel K]

Looking really good Bob, your car is one of my favorite builds and appreciate the update.

 

[Bob from Cleveland]

 

[Bob from Cleveland]

 

[Bob from Cleveland]

(2) BRAND NEW RaceTech Seats .. I ordered these for my SLC and I'm too tall for them to fit correctly. They were $550 each.
I'm asking $750 for the pair, but I know shipping will be an issue …. So I will work with any one interested !

 

[Bob from Cleveland]

A couple pix before I put the body on for the last time.

 

[Bob from Cleveland]

 

[Bob from Cleveland]

 

[Joel K]

Love the updates Bob, your build is a work of art!

Have a couple questions for you. I see you re-profiled the front roll hoop. I am looking to do the same thing.

Was wondering if your hoop was hand rolled with multiple radiuses or you used a constant radius?

Also, if you had a fabricator roll the hoop, do you think they could reproduce it? Would really appreciate better understanding the approach.

Thanks!

 

[Bob from Cleveland]

The hoop is the OE one from RCR. I used a hydraulic porta-power to widen it at the base. Then made solid steel inserts to go inside the tube and extend back to the mounting tab. Probably way overkill but was easy to do !

 

[Bob from Cleveland]

Installed some DEI on the underside or the rear clam .. Will be installing on the car finally this week !

 

[Dusty]

that dei you attached to the clam is beautiful.
how did you get it to sticK?

 

[Bob from Cleveland]

The product is self adhesive backed. I added a little 3M contact spray to the clam for good measure.
I am hoping it holds once it gets hot ! LOL