Well a wedding stalled the process for a few months, but I now have all the parts out of the S10. It was about 5 days of tracing wires, and trying to figure out why things were hooked up the way they were. I still have questions, but the huge amount of pictures I took and notes on what wires go where have lead me to believe that one day I’ll be able to put the Vitara back together.
One thing that amazed me is how everything fits together. When you’re used to working on Gas motors as I am the size of the electric motor is so small! And it mounts up in such a simple manner! All that space you save is taken up by batteries though so don’t get too excited!
I’ve noticed one thing about DIY’ers… they tend to cut corners. I bet I will as well but when I opened up the electrical boxes there were wires EVERYWHERE! I get that happens, but there needs to be some method to the madness. No colour coding, not notes makes it very difficult. Also, once a wire is outside the electrical box there was nothing covering them up. In modern cars they all use convoluted tubing (or wire sleeves) so that it looks neat and tidy but also protects the wires. I know I will go that route… the previous owner did not.
Once all the parts were out and I listed everything for sale, I actually sold a large part of the truck. So much that I actually had to pay someone $100 to take the S10 away. I know I should have taken a picture but I completely forgot. Let’s put it this way, there were no doors, windows or axles on the truck! Still some left over but made back close to $2000 on the cost of the S10 so that is a great accomplishment!
Now that the S10 is done I can move the Vitara into the working bay and get it all underway! Next step is to get the outside of the Vitara prepped for paint and finish the interior.
