Carl I believe you are correct about the vacuum canister in the car not being big enough to provide vacuum for the brake booster. I think he is going to need a larger canister with larger hoses. The hoses on my canister are quite small compared to the hose going to the brake booster.

And yeah Roger is right, with no trans in the car, a gps speedo is the way to go here.

 

pix of my neighbors 1967 Mustang ,full electric, 2 motors, batts in trunk.

two gearvendors overdrive units, less than 1to1 final ratio.

nice work and VERY FAST.

 

what electric power steering pump are you gonna use??

ron

 

thanks for the tips regarding the vacuum system guys, I'll see how it turns out and add another reservoir if the pump can't keep up with my foot.

Ron, that's a sweet mustang - I'm going for a little more useable trunk space though I'm using a power steering pump from an Opel Astra, it seems to be a popular one for conversions

Carl, most batteries up in the trunk, but I'm not going to let that 24 gallons worth of fuel tank space to go waste either... planning to keep the spare tire as well


I did make a little bit of progress today mounting the motor to the subframe. I've decided to try mounting the motor directly to the subframe. As the subframe bushings are rubber isolated, I'm hoping that this will be sufficient to mechanically isolate the two.

I've also decided on a method to mount the power steering pump and vacuum pump adjacent to the motor. This should take advantage of the motor's mechanical isolation via the subframe bushings and also by each pump's own bushings. I'm not the most seasoned hand at fabricating so this part is a little slow going unfortunately

 

1. Cut, weld and grind. It can be frustrating, yet satisfying. In my past repetoire, an HF sourced power metal cutting band saw. An oxy acetylene torch set. A hand held grinder, also HF sourced. I've turned out some fairly decent parts.


2. You might have a look at the two piece drive shaft. It's alignment s critical. And, as your changes are considerable....


Carl

 

Motor is suspended on mounts! Progress continues..

The driveshaft is exactly 6.5" too short, so I'll be taking it in to my local shop for a lengthen and rebalance treatment. It should look much like an OEM driveshaft when it's done

 

Great way to up date! Are the batteries going in front?
Seems like it will be light there now.

I check this thread every time I come here keep it coming!


Rusty

 

Thanks!

 

Finished up the motor, power steering pump, vacuum pump bracket and hit it with a coat of paint yesterday. Installed photo to follow today!

 

Aha, your fab skills are under stated ! Looking great.


However:


1. I hope your drivel line is now a one piece line sans the 'touchy" center U joint.


2. The front motor mount perplexed me a bit. I am not a mechanical engineer, or even close. But, triangulation came in to my lexicon early on. No evidence of it in the front mount. In view of the instant and high
torque inherent in motors as opposed to IC engines, it does need attention. Perhaps, a simple bar???


Carl

 

Thanks for the compliment! I'm certainly no professional but even since starting I can already see some progress in my weld quality. It's really fun to see it come together

 

Bonus evening update! This afternoon I was able to wire up the DC/DC 12v charge system and get the throttle pot hooked up to the original pedal. I am now running the car off of an outlet in the garage as my DC/DC also takes AC input

 

Got my doubts as to that mount handling an instant 4-600ftlbs of torque.

But this is a cool project, love it. Very heavy car for electric, but gorgeous!
Brakes... already have electric for the power steering, can't you plumb it to a hydroboost? Cheap used and simple to install.

Subbed...

 

we'll see how the bracket holds up. Hopefully once it's fully tied in, and along with the rear mount, it should be plenty to withstand the torque.

Hydroboost could be doable, but the conversion is one less thing for me to worry about!


Today was a pretty light day - I started fabricating the under tray/lower support for the motor mount and I also wired up the fuel gauge

I did run into a snafu while I had the center console out to run the reverse trigger wire and remove the shift cable. I probed the reverse light switch to ensure it was getting a proper 12v signal and it was repeatably operational, as this switch is going to be what puts the car into reverse. I then soldered in and heat shrinked a splice off of the switched side to run into the motor inverter. After doing this and hooking everything up, I no longer have a 12v signal into the switch! O_o I looked through the fuse box, checked my wiring for shorts, but found neither a fuse nor a hard short.

Question: which fuse controls this wire and where is it located? It's the same hot wire that also goes to the PRND illumination light

 

Have you considered solar cells on the roof, & a regenerative braking system? You're never going to generate enough to run off those entirely. But they could help extend the range.

 

Great ideas, both!

 

Backup light switch? I don't think you have one anymore. In my series 3, using later version of the BW transmission in your car, it was switch on the transmission. Left side as I recall. Multi purpose, Neutral start and back up lights.


Carl

 

Roll up Solar Panels are a thing, available online or in Camping stores.
The idea of solar panels is poo-pood on the DIY electric car forum as not justifiable given the weight, wind resistence, complexity and 'minimal' output. possibly just to help charge the 12v battery but not really for range extension. I think a good system can output reasonable wattage and a roll up/ ultra thin panel could remove the wind resistance factor.

Its something i had considered for my project, either the roll up kind or i was thinking about making the trunk/ boot lid, front bonnet and guards out of fibreglass and inlaying individual solar cells to maximuse the use of space. Its currently at the bottom of the list under 'cool but time consuming/ impractical' ideas.

 

There has been a major breakthrough in fflexible solar cells recently, with them now able to be printed onto plastic, which reduces weight, drag, & costs.
http://www.momentumenergy.com.au/habitat/renewable-energy/solar-cells-printable/

 

Progress! Lengthened driveshaft is in and fits like a glove. I've also got the inverter complete and started wiring it up to the car for testing without a high voltage DC bus. Here's a video showing the start sequence and what happens on the dash during that time:


and some photos to accompany the video