That’s where my time has been lately. There has been a lot of work trying to get the Tesla ready for driving. Many parts bought, lots of youtube videos watched and even one created.

Salvage vs rebuilt title

This week I’m going to look into how to register this car so I can finally get it out on the road. It looks like some certification about lights and other things is changing Sep 24th. I’d like to get it done before then. I’m going to follow the guide here and hope the California DMV doesn’t take forever to help me

Seatbelts and Airbags

Unfortunately both drivers airbags and passenger airbags deployed when this car hit whatever it hit. I missed it somehow in the pictures because I was hoping to purchase a car where this had not happened. In case you wonder what happens, it’s not as complicated as you might think. There are essentially three steps (that you can break into more if you want)

  1. Replace airbags
  2. Replace seatbelts 
  3. Update SRS (safety restraint system) computer

When doing any of these 3 things it is important to power down the car completely. I wouldn’t want them to accidentally go off while I am repairing them.

Replace airbags

Driver’s side airbags were relatively simple and easy to fix. If you are wondering the process and time it takes, here are some videos/resources I used:

  • Driver’s steering wheel airbag replacement (3 mins) $150
  • Driver’s knee airbag replacement (30 min – 1 hr) $180

I haven’t done the passenger airbag yet. But I’m sure the knee replacement will be just as easy

Replace seatbelts

The seatbelts were much simpler to replace. I found a couple videos, but other than needing a T50 bit it was pretty straightforward how to replace them and their pretensioners. Also buying this seat belt buckle tool made my life much easier

  • Driver’s side (2 hrs because I didn’t know what I was doing) $140
  • Passenger side (1 hr) with the help of a cat $120

One thing that surprised me about the seat-belts and replacing them is that you can’t do it wrong. The belts are built in such a way that they can only be installed one way. It made me realize that even though people don’t do a lot of work on their own cars, they certainly could.

Replace SRS module

I haven’t done this yet, but there is a service where I can send my module in and they’ll clear the codes and send it back to me for about $100 bucks. I will do this once I’m a little further in to replacing the passenger dash airbag. That one is going to take way too long. Here’s the video I’ll follow

Trees

When I’m not working on my job or my Tesla, or being a father, I’ve been trying to cut the weeds around my trees. It’s labor intensive, but nice to see how big they have gotten. I bought a new tie tool to tie them to bamboo stakes. I’ve also bought new bamboo stakes

When I was cutting some weeds I found this monster in the field.

I was going to knock it down, but saw online that wasps are actually good at taking care of other garden pests. Since I ran away and they didn’t bother me, I figure I won’t bother them… for now.

Getting it on the road

Matrix headlights

I purchased matrix headlights for my Tesla. Also known as global headlights. I figure since I needed new ones I might as well get the better ones. But unfortunately tesla requires you to upgrade it via their toolbox first. That took some research…

Tesla Toolbox 3

I paid for a day of use in the morning, because I was worried that Tesla would do a calendar day instead of 24 hours. I was right!

Items needed:

  • Ethernet cable that has the right connection under the drivers dash
  • Laptop computer
  • Subscription to tesla toolbox. 
    • I paid for 1 day for $175

Then I had to figure out how to upgrade my headlights. It turned out to be under Dashboards -> infotainment -> and then there were settings. I had to set my headlights to “Global” That was it. It took me a couple hours but I did it!

Now I’m ready for inspection and registration of my Tesla. Next post will explain 

How to register a salvage car in CA (before Sept 27 2024)