4451 will be out on the rails before we know it! Paint, ceiling, roof, wiring, and windows are coming along really well, so today I had the goal of getting the batteries serviced on this car, so we can start testing controls, compressor, etc.

The 4000 series had the battery box in the middle of the car with very limited access!

I started with removal of the top, and folding the sides down

Not much room for inspection and servicing

Quickly the decision was made to remove the four battery boxes in order to service the batteries on a bench. Some contortion was required to get these out, but it was necessary!

Good call, as this is one of the issues found

Looks to be freeze damage, but either way, this one is toast! There was another cell found to be leaking at the bottom from rust. 

A quick run to our storage, and two replacement cells were ready

So now as I am servicing the cells, one at at time, I start to charge some cells. I must admit that I felt a bit like a mad scientist !

Soon I have all the cells serviced and ready to charge the entire bank as a series, to equal 36 volts.

So far so good. Only one cell is really weak, but we will see what tomorrow brings.

And the fruits of the day's labor! 

24 cells with just a little bit of a charge, were putting out about 34 volts, and lit this 38v bulb !!!  Tomorrow I will cycle these cells through some charge and discharge cycles, and hope to reinstall them into the car!

Don't mind the lawn chair and fans, it was quite a hot one today and I sat between two fans, on the chair and just worked away! No way anything outside was happening today!