ETA on Electro Auto adapters

I ordered around the same time, they told me at the time about 6 weeks.

damon


>From: "Brian Pikkula" <[email protected]>
>Reply-To: [email protected]
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: ETA on Electro Auto adapters
>Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2007 23:58:50 -0500
>
>I asked Electro Auto several times before I ordered and once after I
>ordered what the lead time was for their adapters. No answer from
>them.
>
>What should I expect for an ETA? I ordered my adapter about a month ago.
>
>
>--
>Brian in TX
>http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/960
>http://www.evdub.blogspot.com/
>It may seem like I am doing nothing, but on a cellular level I'm
>really quite busy.
>

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Lead time will depend on the work load in the queue, and whether the
adaptor is "in the can" or requires new design. We currently have 36
adaptor orders at various stages. We have have four machinists
working on them (three of them CNC). One is doing his first batch of
hubs for us, so has been a bit slow while he gets up to speed on the
design and gets it programmed. I just checked in an order of more
than a dozen motor spacer rings. Bryan Pikula's motor spacer ring
was in that batch, and his plate and hub should be in the next batch
(one machinist specializes in rings, another hubs, and two do
primarily plates and hubs).

In general, if the pattern is in the can, 4-6 weeks is good, although
it may get longer this time of year when there are a lot of orders
coming in, and machinists take vacations. There are also the wild
cards when a machinist throws his back out, or the lathe breaks
down. Sometimes there is a delay if the machinist doesn't have a
large enough piece of aluminum on hand, or if a pattern proves to be
too big for his machine and has to be reassigned to someone else, etc.

The only adaptors we attempt to stock are for the Rabbit, 914, and
Bug, as these are the fast movers. Of those 36 currently in
progress, half are one-offs, and one pattern is a three-off. If we
get an order for an adaptor that's the same as one already in the
work queue, we bump it up the line and have the machinist make two
(or three) instead of one, because it's more efficient. Outside of
the three fast movers mentioned above, we almost never get more than
three of the same thing at the same time. Of those 36 currently in
progress, 14 require some degree of CADD work before they can go to
the machinist.

If the adaptor requires design work, that will slow things down
because we only have one CADD designer (Mike) and he has many other
duties as well. We have tried without success to bring in a CADD
intern. If we have the transmission pattern on file, but not mated
up to the same motor, there is some delay while Mike takes the motor
from one file and the transmission from another and mates them up in
the CADD. This is the current situation on Damon Henry's adaptor.

If it is a completely new transmission, that will take the longest,
and how long depends on how many of them are in the design queue, and
how many other jobs Mike has to do. We are working on a new design
system that will speed this process up by getting digital at an
earlier stage, but we're not there yet. If the transmission has a
"floppy" mainshaft, it has to be centered and stabilized first, and
this adds some time.

We do not accept extra money to move someone to the front of the
line, as everyone is equally anxious to get their parts, and we don't
feel it would be fair to others who are waiting patiently.

I am sorry we have not been able to answer inquiries as promptly as
we would like. While we have an office assistant who can handle
routine questions, many inquiries require more technical answers from
me or Mike, and there are a large number of these coming in every
day. We prefer to communicate by email because we can send ten times
as many emails in a day as we can make phone calls - phone calls take longer.

Shari Prange
Electro Automotive POB 1113 Felton CA 95018-1113 Telephone 831-429-1989
http://www.electroauto.com [email protected]
Electric Car Conversion Kits * Components * Books * Videos * Since 1979