The interview for Fox 2 aired today on the 9 pm news. It was exciting to see 30 seconds of my 15 minutes of fame. Overall I am happy with the piece. My wife sent a text message to my family and friends before it aired so some of them watched it as well. They jokingly said I should start a fan club.
You can watch it yourself off their site here. Ron did a great job talking about his truck.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
A step in the wrong direction
When installing the new electric motor in the truck I made a mistake. I forgot to place the small foam piece that sits between the transmission, shifter, and the vehicle's interior. The mistake wasn't noticed until after the entire drive line was assembled. It probably isn't a critical component but I would imagine at a minimum it helps cut down on road noise.
Tonight I decided to rectify my blunder and disassemble the drive shaft and transmission mount so I could insert the missing foam part. All-in-all a fairly simple procedure but I would rather be making progress on something else rather than backtracking. Oh well.
Tonight I decided to rectify my blunder and disassemble the drive shaft and transmission mount so I could insert the missing foam part. All-in-all a fairly simple procedure but I would rather be making progress on something else rather than backtracking. Oh well.
Fox 2 Interviews Me
Paul Schankman and a vidiographer from our local Saint Louis Fox 2 station came to my home and interviewed me today about my EV conversion project. Ron Erb, fellow member of Gateway EV, was the one that actually setup the interview and will be in the final piece with me. Ron has his own custom Ford Ranger EV already completed so he thought it would be good if Paul could see a finished conversion and one in progress.
It was fun talking with him about my project and it will be cool to be on the news. I am not getting my hopes up too much though because Ron is much better at EV promotion so he will probably have most of the spot. I laid down a horindess weld bead on camera for them so I should at least have that. They will probably get calls at the station commenting about how I shouldn't be trusted with a welder.
It was fun talking with him about my project and it will be cool to be on the news. I am not getting my hopes up too much though because Ron is much better at EV promotion so he will probably have most of the spot. I laid down a horindess weld bead on camera for them so I should at least have that. They will probably get calls at the station commenting about how I shouldn't be trusted with a welder.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Electric Motor is in
I spent the weekend mounting the Canadian EV adapter plate and adapter coupling to the electric motor and my transmission. It took me several attempts to get it together exactly right. My first few attempts I couldn't get the transmission shaft and the adapter coupling to mate properly. After a few hours of frustration I took a brake and searched the internet for ideas.
It ends up that I should have been using a clutch alignment tool to make sure the clutch plate was centered properly to accepts the flywheel and transmission shaft. I went to my local auto supply store (O'Reilly) and picked up the tool, it was cheap to purchase because it is just a small plastic thing but they just let me borrow one from a clutch kit they had (thanks guys!). With proper tools in hand I was able to finally get all the pieces together, although it still took a bit of work.
I then put the transmission and motor combination into the vehicle with my engine hoist. I also purchased the Canadian EV mounting kit to bolt directly into my existing frame's engine mount holes. The tricky part about this is that the holes the kit uses are actually the holes for the larger V6 ICE and not my inline 4. Chevy has all mounting holes for all engines already drilled in the frame but not all are threaded. So I had to use the kit's bolts, which are self tapping, to thread the mounting holes. You just place them in the hole and start to screw them in. The tapered end of the bolts digs into the frame and automatically thread the holes. This was not incredibly difficult to do but there was no documentation with my kit so had to figure it out on my own.
Closeup of the mounting brackets and the self tapping screws going into the frame.
Here is the top view of the engine mounted. whoopee!
It ends up that I should have been using a clutch alignment tool to make sure the clutch plate was centered properly to accepts the flywheel and transmission shaft. I went to my local auto supply store (O'Reilly) and picked up the tool, it was cheap to purchase because it is just a small plastic thing but they just let me borrow one from a clutch kit they had (thanks guys!). With proper tools in hand I was able to finally get all the pieces together, although it still took a bit of work.
I then put the transmission and motor combination into the vehicle with my engine hoist. I also purchased the Canadian EV mounting kit to bolt directly into my existing frame's engine mount holes. The tricky part about this is that the holes the kit uses are actually the holes for the larger V6 ICE and not my inline 4. Chevy has all mounting holes for all engines already drilled in the frame but not all are threaded. So I had to use the kit's bolts, which are self tapping, to thread the mounting holes. You just place them in the hole and start to screw them in. The tapered end of the bolts digs into the frame and automatically thread the holes. This was not incredibly difficult to do but there was no documentation with my kit so had to figure it out on my own.
Closeup of the mounting brackets and the self tapping screws going into the frame.
Here is the top view of the engine mounted. whoopee!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Electric Motor is here!
I purchased the Advanced DC FB-4001A 144V motor off of ebay. The seller was actually the very reputable EV parts retailer Cloud Electric and I ended up getting it several hundred dollars off what they were listing it at on their site, so I was happy.
The motor is so heavy, ~ 160 lbs, that it had to be shipped freight. This means it comes on a pallet and either I have to pay extra for a lift gate truck to deliver or I have to pick it up myself from the UPS freight center in Saint Louis. I opted to save about $60 and just go pick it up myself. The freight center was an experience in itself but once I figured out where I needed to go they quickly loaded up my new motor onto the back of a f-150 I was borrowing from my father.
Once at home I couldn't wait to open it up to check it out. My model has a dual shaft so the drive shaft sticks out on both ends. Some other EV converters have used the other end to power accessories like power steering, alternator for 12V system, climate control, etc. I don't see how practical that is considering it spins at the motor's RPMs and only when the vehicle is moving. In the end I will probably not use both ends of the motor but at least I have the option.
My camera broke while the family and I were in Florida so sorry no pics. I hope to have a new one soon.
The motor is so heavy, ~ 160 lbs, that it had to be shipped freight. This means it comes on a pallet and either I have to pay extra for a lift gate truck to deliver or I have to pick it up myself from the UPS freight center in Saint Louis. I opted to save about $60 and just go pick it up myself. The freight center was an experience in itself but once I figured out where I needed to go they quickly loaded up my new motor onto the back of a f-150 I was borrowing from my father.
Once at home I couldn't wait to open it up to check it out. My model has a dual shaft so the drive shaft sticks out on both ends. Some other EV converters have used the other end to power accessories like power steering, alternator for 12V system, climate control, etc. I don't see how practical that is considering it spins at the motor's RPMs and only when the vehicle is moving. In the end I will probably not use both ends of the motor but at least I have the option.
My camera broke while the family and I were in Florida so sorry no pics. I hope to have a new one soon.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Getting Ready for Battery Boxes
With the motor in place it is time to start on the battery boxes. There will be four boxes in total, one in the front engine compartment (4 batteries), two along the sides of the drive shaft (4 batteries each), and a large box behind the rear axle (6 batteries). I based the design of my boxes off of Kurt's S-10 conversion here.
The frame of the boxes is going to be a combination of square steel tubing and flat steel bar. I have never purchased steel before so I had no idea where to get it. I visited a local welding supply store and they pointed me to a supplier in my town so I headed on over and purchased what I needed. I ended up purchasing the following:
The next issue I had to solve was how to build the rear cages of the battery box. The problem is the 2" bar I am using needs to be shaped like a 'U' and the batteries placed within them. I initially thought to just used my chop saw to cut the pieces and then weld them back together to make the 'U' shape. This sounded good at first as I already had the welder and chop saw in the garage. However, I opted not to go this route because I have never welded before and am already worried about how strong the welds I need elsewhere are going to be. So rather than add more possibility for failure due to my inexperience, I opted to purchase an oxyacetylene torch and cylinders so I can heat the steel and just bend it. I was shocked at how expensive the cylinders were but I bit the bullet and purchased a 80 cubic foot oxygen and a 75 cubic foot acetylene and a cheap $50 torch off Amazon. I had the option to rent the tanks on a 5 year lease to save a little money (about $100) but ended up not doing that in hopes that if I don't need them in the future I can recoup some of the cost by selling them.
Well it has been an expensive day. Lets hope these are few and far between.
The frame of the boxes is going to be a combination of square steel tubing and flat steel bar. I have never purchased steel before so I had no idea where to get it. I visited a local welding supply store and they pointed me to a supplier in my town so I headed on over and purchased what I needed. I ended up purchasing the following:
- 1.5" x 1/8" square tube: 28' total - rear box upper supports
- 2" x 1/4" bar: 60' total - front and rear box supports
- 3" x 1/4" bar: 12' total - rear most box inner supports. Used this wider bar to support the longer spans in the middle of this box.
- 2" x 2" x 1/8" angle iron: 8' total - Front battery box
The next issue I had to solve was how to build the rear cages of the battery box. The problem is the 2" bar I am using needs to be shaped like a 'U' and the batteries placed within them. I initially thought to just used my chop saw to cut the pieces and then weld them back together to make the 'U' shape. This sounded good at first as I already had the welder and chop saw in the garage. However, I opted not to go this route because I have never welded before and am already worried about how strong the welds I need elsewhere are going to be. So rather than add more possibility for failure due to my inexperience, I opted to purchase an oxyacetylene torch and cylinders so I can heat the steel and just bend it. I was shocked at how expensive the cylinders were but I bit the bullet and purchased a 80 cubic foot oxygen and a 75 cubic foot acetylene and a cheap $50 torch off Amazon. I had the option to rent the tanks on a 5 year lease to save a little money (about $100) but ended up not doing that in hopes that if I don't need them in the future I can recoup some of the cost by selling them.
Well it has been an expensive day. Lets hope these are few and far between.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Shopping Spree
My wife is kind enough to be giving me fathers day weekend to work on the truck when my daughter and her go up to Chicago to visit her family. Personally I think this is a great fathers day gift and beats a new tie hands down.
In preparation for the big weekend, actually 4 days but 2 of them I have to work, I am lining up a bunch of parts to be delivered.
In preparation for the big weekend, actually 4 days but 2 of them I have to work, I am lining up a bunch of parts to be delivered.
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