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Here's an update you won't like. This generic snow storm has collapsed the roof of the temporary shelter I had built over CarBEN, and several hundred pounds of snow and the shards of wood have shattered the hatch door ...

The sides are also broken. Here's a video of the next morning:

See here for pictures:

I'm planning to clean out my 1-car garage an to move the CarBEN chassis inside this Saturday. I would appreciate it if anyone could lend a hand.

I won't be able to glue anything back together until it gets warm. But I think it will be repairable. The one piece that I have not spotted yet is a small (but important) one from the floor; where the ridge punched through. This is essentially supporting the rest of the frame that is left (sorta') standing.

So sorry Neil, I can imagine the anguish of pouring yourself into something and have this kind of thing happen. Hope the repairs go well.

I cleaned things up today - totally dismantled the shelter, and cleared out enough of the garage to get the chassis inside (just!). I had a friend's help and it made a big difference. (My strapping 6'-5"+ 16yo son on the other hand only managed to help stow 9 tires(!) in the basement.)




It was a near perfect day to do this - ~53F and partly sunny. Lotsa' melting goin' on! We are due to get rain, so I was not going to let CarBEN sit out in that - the shelter was a giant funnel right down into the inside ...

CarBEN EV5 sat safely away in my little garage through the winter, and finally have a sunny warm day - and some time to start repair work.



Large piece on left side of hatch door.



One piece glued to another, and it was partly dried before I had top move it inside, because of a strong rain shower. Hopefully, I'll have more time tomorrow.



It is sitting in front of the splintered remains of the framing of the shelter...

Monday was a good day in the end - I got most of the repair gluing done. That is despite two extended rain showers, I managed to get the hatch door and the roof and sides of the chassis put back together. Only 6 small pieces remain to be glued in the floor. It is a bit scarred up, on the edges that collapsed, and where the wood framing hit.

Another big piece of the hatch:


Two pieces on the left side:


Three pieces on the right and center of the roof:


A couple more pieces on the hatch:


Last big piece in the roof:


The six pieces yet to go in the floor (plus some small bits of the hatch that got glued in, and one piece of scrap):


Several shots of everything on the top back together and drying:


The worst scar on the hatch is on the edge of what will be a window, so that will be fine. The other missing shards will have to be filled in with some spray foam.

It is almost back to where it was in early winter...

I had a productive day (so far) - I have cut the windshield opening! Here's the progression:



The big moment has arrived!









An interesting sidebar: Nissan is selling a new and improved Leaf battery pack for $5,500. I could buy two packs and fit them into CarBEN EV5; which would be awesome!

I had a productive day (so far) - I have cut the windshield opening! Here's the progression:



The big moment has arrived!









An interesting sidebar: Nissan is selling a new and improved Leaf battery pack for $5,500. I could buy two packs and fit them into CarBEN EV5; which would be awesome!

The windshield is now flush!

After several hours of work today, I got the wiper system almost into place.



The firewall has several holes in it that will need to be filled in from the inside. The base of the 'A' pillars need to be built up - both to cover the holes needs to clear the ends of the push rods, and to make the ends of the vent bezel flush. I put the nose and the hood into place and the hood will need some more work to get it to fit over the bezel.

The 'A' pillars are a lot straighter than they used to be but I still see some wobbles ...