Spring Spacers VS Batteries

And the Winner is... Spring spacers... These little pieces of rubber that I got from Jeggs for 12.99 each. The only problem is that they are a bit difficult to put in on the small springs. On something with larger springs they wouldn't be that hard to put on but the springs on the Fiero are small. Dad and I had to remove the lower ball joint and take the pressure off of the springs so that we could get them in. I hope they dont stiffen the spring rate too much or too little. See the picture below for the before image.
I also wired some of the batteries. The crimper worked well and I hope that I have enough cable ... 60 ft

Batteries and more.

So besides getting my batteries I also got the cable ends from online today and started wiring the batteries. Then I got interrupted ...WORK.. only got up to 50 volts but that is fine. I have a long weekend and I think the motor controller is here. Dad said that UPS called and they needed someone to sign for a package. The motor should be too heavy for UPS and the only other thing I need is a motor controller. So hopefully there is a motor controller there. This is the heater core I built ... the box is the same size as the original and the two right angles sticking off are the same size as the ranks on the side of the original heater core ... two springs clips just hold it tight against the old tanks. this fits amazingly well...
I decided to cave in and put a aux battery for the 12 v system. There was allot to work around without it. Maybe some day I will do it but for now a lawnmower battery will do the job and save weight. the entire automotive system only draws 32A with headlights, wipers, brakes, and rear window defogger.
I did decide to save a little money and make some crimpers for the cable I bought a pair of bolt cutters from harbor freight and a set of sockets for splined shaft... They were on sale and looked right.
You will need a torch to cut the hole and a grinder to shape it ... You will never get a perfect crimp with these ... I mean the crimp is very functional but the caws squeeze first in the back then finish in the front so any pinching of the material seems to squeeze out the front. Me and dad cut one open and it is great crimp... The only thing that I have seen that does a better job is my Parker hose crimper at work but I wasn't gonna drag 30 pieces of cable in there and crimp 60 times on breaks and lunches. If I had a to do it again I think I would of just went with a 6 sided socket in the jaws. I think It would work just as good.
Oh yea. The front suspension... Lets just say if there was a fight between batteries and frame... Batteries won. Now is gonna be when I find out If my spring spacers do the trick or if I need to invest in some air shocks.
I have also added the DC/DC converter. One thing I have found is that the DC/DC converter draws from the 12 v battery if it hasn't been hooked up to 120v yet. Just a little heads up.

BATTERIES!

Just a short post before I go to work ... Yes, I got batteries and I am happy.

More materials

Needed some more raw materials for future projects ... I have come to realize that the fiero is not at all water tight and that I am going to have to protect some of the electronics from the elements. I wanted to get some corrugated cardboard for the belly pan and I also think it would work good for encasing the charger and motor controller from the rain. If I had put them in the trunk I wouldn't have this problem but I have been trying to keep enough trunk for groceries. I told my dad that when my friends stop buy we go get a 12 of beer and some snack food. Well I will drive the cool fiero so I wanted enough space for a 12 pack of something and 2 plastic bags of groceries. I did not want to stack them in my passengers lap.
I plan on covering the bottem of the car with the corrigated plastic to stop spashing and for the wind resistance. I also needed some angle Iron to make the heater core frame and to kinda restock some of the metal that I took from dads barn. Then I got a inline fuse for the contactors I added and a contactor for the Heater that I still need to find a place to run it from ... I want the heater to only run if the fan is on so it wont melt into a puddle of goo.
I am hopeing to get batteries buy friday and then I will be able to wire them and make interconnectors charge them and then hook up my packtraker system.
The only thing that I havent got is a pilot bearing. I will probably pull the fake motor this weekend and then I will have the measurments of the inner and outter of it ... Napa has then in a catalogue that lists the size. Hopefully I can match one up. Otherwise I will have to drill one to the propper inside dimention.

Sorry for the lack of bolging..

I been working hard really. First thing i did is finish the battery boxes ... ALL of them .... painted w/ hold downs and mounted in the vehicle. It really doesn't sound like much but the battery boxes were kinda a pain in the Butt!
Then I decided to mount the charger. It is going behind the drivers seat on the fire wall. I mount it with some carriage bolts and a little bracket at the bottom . The thing is, that there are 2 shifter cables and a throttle cable that come right out the center of the firewall and they don't flex really well so the charger is on the left of them and a battery is on the right. After that I decided to take a brake from mounting stuff and mount some other stuff. I haven't got to play with any of my gadgets or toys so I picked up the Paktrakr and started reading the manual ... I decided that the front packs would be a great place for my final negative and my current loop. Also this would be a good place for a 8 pack sending unit. then i found a hole in the front cab wall and ran the wires in ... I had already disassembled the dash and it was all tore apart and I wanted to get it back together before I forgot everything about Its reassemble procedure. I removed the actual fuel gauge and oil pressure gauge. Then I drilled some holes in the cover and mounted the display. I really like how it looks.
Next project is The mounting platform for the Curtis and the contactors. I found a nice piece of galvanized metal that should be enough of a heat sync for the controller but would be easy enough to shape. I load my 4 batteries in the car where they will give me the shape of the platform . I start bending and cutting ... polishing and grinding ... I don't have a brake In the shop so clamp 2 angles on something and persuade it with a body hammer to make the bends. The piece of cardboard is the size of my Curtis controller and the 2 white things are my contactors. The silver thing is my pot box and the cable will come in from under the trunk hinge to mate up with it ... I got to find something square to make a bracket out of for the throttle cable. When all is don this will be mounted solid and painted gray like my racks.

Lots of work . I took friday off.

Well it was easy so I went ahead and hooked up the vacuum pump and tank system. You can see the pump on the right fender, the bolts actually go into the wheel area but that wont be a problem ... then the vacuum canister is mounted to the front cross member... I don't know the quality of it seeing how the gauge read 5hg when i got it. But it will tell me if it is shutting off at the same place every time. The switch is mounted to the canister but i haven't wired it yet. The canister has a check valve in it like the check valve in the brake booster. I have always hated the fact that you need to have a pump for the brakes to be assisted. They make too much noise for a "silent" car. But power brakes on a heavy car is nice.
Then I decided to tackle the big monster rack above the motor . It holds 5 batteries 2 one way then 2 the other then one again . I ran some angle across the front and back of the engine compartment then I started building the boxes form the back up. everything was going fine . Then I tried to add the double tray on the front. I went to put it back in the car and There was no way it would fit . I tried and tried probably for 15 min. So I had to cut off 2 inches of bars and make the front bar detachable. Everything worked out fine just more welding and cutting than I expected.
Little things got in the way ... I had to remove the pins from the springs of the deck lid and replace them with bolts.

PARTS!

Last night at work I get a voice mail from Dad. There is a box of parts here. So I wake myself as early as possible. Then I actually get out of bed at 10:30 . I head out to the parents house to find a box of goodies. Carry it out to the barn and start disassembling.. I spread them out on the table and check the packing slip ... all there except for the motor and controller that are on back order. Heater, contacts, vacuum pump and the 100% useful part... the motor adaptor. first thing I notice. the pilot bearing is the wrong size. I kinda wondered because this is not a S-10 and the adapter is for a S-10. Not a problem I just need the pilot bearing out of the motor I just sold. @#$%^@... Oh well, I guess I will need to go to the dealership to get one. Then the adaptor that I always envisioned as Stamped steel Is actually 1/2 thick cast aluminum. Then I put it down there to see how it fits and It doesn't ... I have a CV joint where what looks like a 2nd starter hole would be on a overseas reverse steering Chevy would have one. So immediately I grab the jig saw and start cutting on my $800+ adapter plate .... All ends well and I mount the Cardboard mock up motor provided buy Bob in Dayton. Then I had to run home due to a prior obligation. I am so happy that I finally have other stuff to do that destroy my interior.

Blog UNDER CONSTRUCTION !!! I just recently started using Blogger and I am transferring the stuff from my old blog. It is still working and complete. here it is.

http://mycast.orb.com/orb/html/public/profile.html?l=ba1100ns

Lots of work this week and weekend.

Well I haven't updated this week because I think I was frustrated due to the lack of parts that I was told would ship. But I made up for it Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

First there was the Stereo. The old dash speakers sounded horrible so Adam found me a pair of acceptable 6x10's at the Anderson's. When I took It apart I was surprised that they had been replaced before. and then that they were in horrible condition for being replaced before. When I took them out I found that someone was fond of medical tape for electrical work and did not own a Soldering iron or cutting and stripping tools. Please, please don't let kids wire your car. You will get stuff like this.


Well the tape deck was just not gonna cut it so I took a older cd player I had out of a S-10. It fit great and everyone was happy :). Sounds great.

Next was some battery boxes. I cut out the original battery box to make room for a pack battery and I also took out the Fuel filler tube cover and air intake cover to make room for a pack battery on the left . Then a 3 battery tray in the trunk and I am at a standstill until i get some parts.



I have a mock motor that will bolt onto my adapter and allow me to make motor mounts and then eventually the final box above the motor.


I also took off the Oil pressure and Volt gauge off of the top of the center console. I will mount my PackTrkr there and a digital 12v gauge

The PRICE $ 9683.45 So Far...

Running Price of the conversion.

Curtis 144V DC Controller, 500A $1,448.88 USD
WarP 9 DC motor $1,700.00 USD
IOTA 96VDC - 190VDC 55A DC/DC Converter Kit $188.88 USD
Brake Booster Vacuum Pump Kit, 12VDC $358.88 USD
PakTrakr 800EV Display w/ 1 Remote $159.95 USD
PakTrakr 8-Battery Remote x2 $159.90 USD
PakTrakr 600A Current Sensor $49.95 USD
CEV Heater: 108 - 144V 1500W with Housing $88.88 USD
Curtis PB6 Throttle Potbox $98.99 USD
GM Adapter Kit for V6 (2.8L) and 4 Cyl. (2.2L) to 9 $898.99 USD
Tyco Kilovac 500A 320V LEV200 Contactor, 12V x2 $179.98 USD

Now I don't care what all this adds up to because there is shipping and handling. All the stuff Above was:

$ 5,637.36 so far!


Part # Qty Description Unit Price Discnt Total
88169 2 84-86 HEADLIGHT MOTOR REBUILD KIT $7.95 ~ 15.9
69674 2 84-86 PLASTIC HEADLAMP GEAR $14.95 ~ 29.9
62620 1 84-86 HEADLAMP RELAY $32.95 ~ 32.95
Sub Total: $78.75
Tax: $0.00
(US PRIORITY MAIL (US - 3-4 DAYS) ) Shipping: $5.34
Total charged to Visa **** **** **** xxxx: $84.09

new current total $5721.45$ and still growing
Angle Iron 20ft 1.25x1/8 $42.70
Napa auto parts: $48.54
cv boot.rear pads, brake tool
New total: 5812.69$

60ft of 2/0 cable $201.76

New grand total:$$$ 6014.45

Something I left out for a bit until I sold the engine:
Car purchase price 600.00$
Selling the Gas engine -300.00$
New grand total :$$$ 6314.45 $$$

Zivan Charger w/shipping 1049.00 $

8-7-08 total = $$$ 7363.45 $$$

spring spacers and throtle return spring 39.47 $
2/0 terminal ends 50 3/8 and 10 1/2 72.65 $
motor mount and pilot bushing 7.88$

new grand total $$$ 7483.45 $$$

BATTERIES 2200$

9683.45

EV on the brain

It is totally wrong when it is 12:52 on a Friday night and all I can think of is stupid stuff like this.

Hopefully I get some parts soon !

For those that were wondering ... the Dark big rectangle is the motor controller ... the 2 little dark circles are my contractors and the little long dark rectangle will be my battery charger . The 20 battery looking things are batteries.