From Roadblocks to Maker Faire

Written By Ryan Keiser

If you’ve been following along, you know the ARC (Assembly & Resource Center) has had quite the adventure lately. After getting pulled into the tow yard and fighting through frantic, last minute registration, she’s officially street-legal and back where she belongs: home and headed toward the future.

But the story didn’t end there. When I finally brought the ARC home, I discovered the tow company had sheared the bearing from the shifter linkage. At first, I tried a quick fix with a bushing replacement kit. It worked… for one day.

So, I did what makers do best: I replaced the entire shifter cable running from the cab to the transmission. It wasn’t quick and it wasn’t glamorous, but now the ARC shifts like it should — stronger and smoother than before. One more step toward making this vehicle truly reliable.

Meanwhile, I’ve been chasing down a strange quirk in the driver’s side door lock. Here’s the short version of my troubleshooting saga:

  • The passenger side switch works fine — lock and unlock both function.

  • The driver side switch will only lock, no change on unlock.

  • I swapped in a known good switch → no change.

  • Checked the fuses → all good.

  • Tested the actuator directly → it responds both ways when bypassed and polarity is switched.

    • Which means… it’s not the actuator.

That leaves me with either a wiring break in the harness or a hidden relay issue, both a little past my knowledge. It’s not fully solved yet, but I’ve ruled out the usual suspects — and for an ambulance with custom wiring on top of the factory systems, that’s half the battle.

And here’s the exciting news: despite the hurdles, the ARC is officially gearing up for its first big debut at Maker Faire Orange County, September 13–14. I’ll be parked in the cosplay corner, doing live repairs, running demos, and giving people their first real look inside this mobile makerspace. It’s been a long journey getting here, and I can’t wait to share the ARC’s mission with the Maker Faire crowd.

This is the first of many events where CausePlay will be out in the community, proving what’s possible when we bring the tools, skills, and creativity directly to the people who need them.

If you want to be part of the ARC’s journey, you can support in two big ways right now:

👉 Join our Discord community to connect with other makers and cosplayers.

👉 Donate to CausePlay to help fuel repairs, upgrades, and future events.

Thanks for sticking with this project through every twist and turn. Next stop: Maker Faire!

Stay weird,

Ryan

Ryan Keiser
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🛠 Unwanted Surprises