EV Trans Am

I had to edit this one because it was completely wrong.  I couldn’t find the manual for the regulators and the website had a bad link at the moment.  It is fixed now so I reread the manual and see what went I hadn’t noticed before.

I found 12″ 6-pin connectors at Walmart and compared the wiring and they were in the right order.  Problem was when I looked at them through the box the tangs were facing different directions.  According to Rudman, “TDBR” means tang down, blue right.  With the wires I purchased that is true for one but opposite for another.  That makes sense from the perspective of connection a phone to a socket, but not connecting in serial for communication.  I’ll cut off the plastic terminals on the wires I have and recrimp them with new 6-pin terminals.  More expensive than buying a spool of cable and terminals and doing it that way to begin with, but now I know store bought cables probably won’t work.

A little more progress fitting the rear battery rack last night. We may be able to finish up tomorrow with the tray and then will need to make a cover that will open to access (and show off) the batteries.

With the front complete I can do all the wiring and find out if I’m missing anything. I think I’ll add another contactor so there is one on both the positive and negative leads of the battery pack. That provides redundancy in turning on and shutting down the power to the controller.

I also need to add a manual disconnect, preferably a circuit breaker that can be activated easily from the driver’s seat in the event of an overload from the batteries or runaway motor or any other expensive misfortune. I’ve only seen one that is commonly used and I’m not sure if it provides enough protection to not nuisance trip. We’ll, I’ve seen others but they cost a whole lot more. Right now I’m leaning towards using it anyway and replacing it with a beefier unit if it comes to that.

Remaining items:

• Where is my charger and battery regulators?  I ordered them a little over a month ago.
• Manual disconnect, second contactor, ammeter shunt and wiring layout
• Complete battery cables
• Complete low voltage wiring (PS motor, brake vacuum, which also needs to connect to the A/C vent, master on switch for HV system, etc.)

Is moving within a month under E-power reasonable?  As luck would have it work is going to be very busy so hopefully I’ll keep making progress.  Pictures are overdue, next week maybe.

I haven’t heard anything from the vendor I ordered everything from earlier this month. Normally they ship very fast so I’m assuming that some of the parts are not in stock. I know the crimper I will be renting had a few days delay, but that may ship separately since it has an extra shipping charge. I’ll probably call tomorrow to see what’s going on. I also wasn’t able to order the mk2d regulators online so I asked them so send me an invoice for them separately and I want to followup there as well.

On a good note I’ve been directed to a local metal fabricator who is interested in the project and will be coming by sometime this week to look over everything. He’ll be helping with the battery racks, including the new one that will require cutting out the floor above the fuel tank and raising it about an inch. We’ll also provide an access hatch to install and maintain the batteries.

One Thursday I placed one of my final orders, I hope. This one included the charger and battery regulators, a rented bench mount crimper to make the battery cables, DC-DC convertor, and a pretty cool looking forced air cooling kit for the WarP11. I wanted to filter the air somehow and this kit makes sense to not only filter but force air into the motor. I’ll need to modify my control board layout because I think the hose will be pointed up right behind the accessory bracket, but I have to room to fit it all in.

Not sure how I will tie the power in to the cooling fan. It would be nice if it could be triggered automatically off a temperature probe, although I have a feeling that sealing the motor with the shround will block any ambient air, requiring the forced motor to be on at all times.

I ordered the wrong size lugs so I sent them back for smaller ones.  The screws for the batteries measures just over 5/16″ so I thought I needed to order the next size up – 3/8″.  Turns out the lugs, at least the ones I got, are oversized so they were 0.05″ too big.  The connections was a little sloppy so I’m going with the smaller size.

It works out well, because with the battery swap I’m going to need to use the SAE posts on top of the battery.  The new battery has both SAE terminals on top and screw post on the side.  If I want to put the batteries in rows front to back, the screws posts would not be accessible for the cable.

I also found a leak with the vacuum pump.  When I put the muffler on the o-ring slipped to the side and wasn’t sealing right.  While I had the reservior and pump off I added a pad beneath and to the side of the pump to keep it a little quieter.

Other progress was painting and bolting up the motor mounts.  I need 2 bushings and 2 more bolts and they’ll be done.  I should take some more pictures.

Not much change on the actual car, but I have been up to some stuff:

• Made wood mockups of motor mounts and then sketched them up. I’ll remake them and assembly from the sketches to see if it still makes sense.
• Thought a lot about the power steering and A/C pulley system.  They rotate opposite directions so it’s a little more involved than hoping.
• Realized the placement of the battery terminals means that a cable won’t fit between the batteries unless I purposely use an odd battery arrangement.  I have an idea on solving that…
• Got a new shipment of parts – battery lugs, plastic terminal covers, contactor, circuit breaker, fuse and holder
• Found the oversized 40 amp fuse at a boat store
• Found out the boat store has a cable crimper to make battery cables that customers are allowed to use, preferably if you bought your stuff there but they were pretty nice…

More later.

Got a shipment today! I didn’t expect it for a few more days because the check hasn’t cleared yet, but oh boy it’s here!

Included are my:
Adapter Hub
Spacer Ring
Transmission plate (so everything I need to install the motor…)
DC Power Raptor 1200 (I think the most powerful option since Zilla is out for now)
PB-6 throttle box
35 ft of cabling, just for fun.

Last night I ordered some fuses, contactor, terminals, boot covers and other electronics.

As they say in Rasslin – “Business is about to pick up!”

Tomorrow I’ll mail the check for the adapter plate and hub. I also ordered a Raptor 1200 controller, 35 ft of cabling and a PB-6 throttle. The feeling of mailing a large check to order something is a bit unsettling. I first noticed it after dropping some G’s for my motor, now again as I prepare to entrust the USPS with my next order.

So used to the internet and instant order confirmation. This must be what it was like decades ago when sending away for purchases was more common. Was it more common? I definitely have more anticipation because of the unknown. I think the motor took 6 weeks after estimates of 2, and then I wasn’t even in town for the delivery.

My vendor says the parts are in hand for this order, so it should be on the way to me within a week or so. Rumor has it that my friend who lent me the engine hoist is going to want it back soon. I guess the race is on to see if I get everything installed first or have to figure out another way to lift 300 lbs in a controlled manner over my fenders.

Here are some pictures of the battery and the layout for the rear. The piece of wood fit in the back, but I have some more test fits to do. I think I’ll go ahead and build it out of wood and see how it goes.

I also figured that the existing fual tank weighed about 125 lbs full. I’ll have 6 batteries at 40 lbs each plus the weight of the tray so I’m about double. It’ll need some additional supports to the frame.

Also of consideration is room for the battery chargers. I like the idea of twelve individual charger but haven’t thought about it enough yet. If I do go with a single charger I’ll plan on using a monitoring system to keep them level.

More good news – The adapter plate and hub should be machined in the next week, and a Raptor is on hold with my name on it, so I won’t have the 12 week expected lead time!

Got word that the adapter should be machined near the end of this month. So February could be a big progress month. Time to get started on he battery racks for sure.