I have a son at Salisbury School here in Connecticut and have had a chance to work on
the
Tropica they plan on running in the Tour de Sol next spring. They have spent several
years
on the car (with lots of forced labor from their inmates....). I don't believe they
ever
had an original wiring diagram.
They seem to have spent quite a lot of time puzzling over the drive system and wiring.
Ultimately they pulled out the two series wound DC motors and pair of controllers and
have
installed a Solectria AC drive system. They have also done a gorgeous job laboriously
making a mold of a sports car roof (Mustang of non-current vintage?), building and
installing a fiberglass roof. The resulting look is stunning.
In response to earlier recent posts: I believe most of the running gear is stock
stuff. If
there are specific questions please ask me either on or off list and I'll chase it
down.
The school is very near Lyme Rock raceway and there are some area motorheads I can
employ to
chase down some of the esoterica. From my work on the 12v house system, most or all
of the
(many, many) lights are stock. The steering, suspension and brakes are also borrowed
from
other vehicles. Steering I believe is hydraulic; at least there are a couple of high
pressure hoses coming off the column. You will find the welding on this all aluminum
chassis to be exquisite and well worth whatever work you put into upgrading it.
A search of years old EVDL digests would be helpful. As i recall people found the car
not
at all geared for California hills, not surprising given the car's flat Florida
lineage.
The book on the subject ('The lost cord') is a must read certainly for any Tropica
buyer and
probably for any EV owner, or mass producer wannabe.
Good luck!
