From: Richard Brown
Totally new to the idea of converting a car to run on electric. I have
started to trawl the internet for resources and how to's but it is
difficult to find anything.
Welcome, Richard!
Actually, there seems to be an excessive amount of information on the
internet. But while the quantity is large, the quality is often lacking.
You will have to read and Read and READ, until you begin to get a feel
for what is good information, and what is bad. :-/
I got started building EVs way back in the mid 1970's. As it happens, my
first EV was almost a Morris Minor! A friend of my grandpa's had one he
wanted to sell cheap. But I looked at it, and it needed *way* too much
work. And here in the USA, parts for the Morris are pretty rare and
expensive.
So, I settled on a Datsun pickup for my first conversion. It was much
easier to convert than the Morris. I just put the batteries in the bed.
I used a surplus aircraft starter-generator as the motor, and made my
own (crude) controller and battery charger. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't
fast, its range wasn't very good, but it was cheap, and it worked!
The lesson to take from this is that EVs don't have to be complicated or
expensive. Even a beginner can build a serviceable conversion, as long
as your performance requirements are modest.
It helps a lot if you can find a local "expert" to help. You're in
England? See if the Battery Vehicle Society has a chapter near you.
http://www.batteryvehiclesociety.org.uk/bvsorguk/portal/
I have no idea where to start or what I need to
purchase in terms of a motor.
A fork lift motor will work fine. They are a bit on the heavy side, but
are easy to control even with simple controllers. They are low voltage
motors, which saves cost on your battery pack.
You will need some machining skills (or need to make friends with a
machinist). It takes some custom work to connect the motor to the
transmission. The two key parts are the adapter plate (which physically
mounts the motor to the transmission), and the shaft coupler (which
connects the motor's shaft to the transmission's shaft). Things are
easier if the Morris has a manual transmission, and you keep the clutch.
Anyway, this is my first post and I would love to be able to visit some
sites that might be able to give me some further information and also see
whether it is possible to convert a Minor.
It is possible to converter *anything*! From what I recall of the Minor,
it would in fact be easier than most.
--
Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the one who is
doing it. -- Chinese proverb
--
Lee A. Hart, http://www.sunrise-ev.com/LeesEVs.htm
_______________________________________________
UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub
http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org
For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
