Nice journal / I think you are right on about the batteries in the bed to get that "boost" . That first ride , just around the block when you feel the "Magic" is what gets me fired up to finish the project. I live down a dirt road so there's no traffic. I think its interesting/wonderful how much time people who have done a conversion will take to help others with there projects. From each EV conversion will come others like a tree branching out . Your project/journal I know will start others doing projects which will again spread to others . People just have no idea about what EV's are about unless they see one and talk to somebody who has one. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rod Hower" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2002 7:00 PM Subject: Re: Donor Cars/Conversion Journal
> Seth, > You are correct, throwing the batteries in the bed > is not a long term solution and isn't real safe. > I used the S10 for a testbed of motor controls. > My point is that you can get the EV running in minimal > time and experiance driving 'YOUR' own conversion. > This in my opinion is a tremendous confidence boost > and gives you more incentive to finish the job right. > Many hobbiest spend tremendous time engineering the vehicle > just to get it running and many times become frustrated > and just give up. Throwing the batteries in the bed and > driving the vehicle gives the impatient person a real boost > so they can finish the job. > Rod > > Seth Murray wrote: > > Rod Hower wrote: > > > >> One of the biggest advantages for me was throwing the batteries in the > >> bed > >> with minimal restraint so I could drive it > > > > > > I would recommend against this for safety reasons, even if you plan to > > put them underneath later. if you don't plan to put them under later, > > then you lose functionality of your truck > > > > > >> You can then take the next step and put in a nice battery rack under > >> the bed > > > > > > do this right from the start > > > > > >> The biggest pain in the neck of converting a vehicle in my opinion is > >> creating > >> battery racks and getting them all stuffed into the vehicle. > > > > > > not really a pain for a pickup - that is one of its chief advantages. A > > simple set of steel flatbar U's supporting the actual boxes is not that > > hard to do. my dad and I had no trouble and we didn't have any > > experience working with steel (we hired a welder for the installation > > however) > > > > If anyone wants a good idea of what it takes to do an S-10 conversion, > > go to my website. I kept a journal for the whole project and pretty > > much everything is in there. There are also about 300 pictures from the > > conversion process. Feel free to email me with any questions... > > > > > > Seth > > > > > > -- > > QUESTION INTERNAL COMBUSTION > > > > My EV page, with lots of photos and a 25 page conversion journal. Check > > it out! > > http://members.fortunecity.com/electricityboy > > > > My EV Album page > > http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/387.html > > > > > >
