This weekend the securing fixture for the front battery was fabricated. It's a fairly simple arrangement, holding the batteries side by side in contact with each other. A "C" channel on either side holds the outboard edges of the batteries and a strap down the middle holds the inboard edges. The whole thing bolts down to the cross-beams I installed. All bolted down, it seems quite secure. The entire assembly is removable, which will allow a tray to be fabricated out of aluminum sheet metal for the batteries to sit in. A cover will be installed over the top (probably made from fiberglass and/or carbon fiber) to seal the front battery box. The BMS, contactors, and current sensor will all live in the space between the front batteries.

The power steering pump had to be replaced. For some reason, the first one I bought was dead. This one works fine. we powered it up and loaded it for the first time with no issues. Turned the wheel against the lock and the pump draws more current just as expected.

I also finished up the coolant routing for the lower battery (just waiting on some clamps to arrive) and installed the first high voltage connection. The flat orange connection cable-tied to the bar is made from one of the original bus bars from the Volt battery. It was folded to the right shape, cut, and stripped. A quick bead formed on the cut corners with the TIG keeps the laminations from separating. The stack is then drilled to size. Very handy stuff, Much neater than heavy gauge cable I think.