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Post by vmrod on Jun 24, 2011 12:52:07 GMT -3
The machinist finished last week. Finally. Top notch quality, though. Here's a couple pics of the adaptor plate to be used with the stock clutch. This is the side that the Warp 9 motor gets bolted to... ...and this side gets bolted to the tranny. I post pics of the coupler later.
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Post by vmrod on Jul 5, 2011 9:11:37 GMT -3
The old gas engine has been loaded onto a pallet and will be sold shortly. (along with the other ICE components)
I'll order foam for the trike once the shipper gets the pallet from me.
Next thing to do, is to order a tranny seal and a few other Opel parts. Then I can start working on it.
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Post by vmrod on Aug 1, 2011 9:20:07 GMT -3
The bell housing with new seal was installed this weekend. Nice to get busy on this project again. The flywheel (now a little lightened and balanced) and motor coupler were bolted together. A new tranny shaft pilot bearing was installed inside the coupler too. (pic to come later) The adaptor plate was fit-tested to the bell housing. Perfect fit! I need to get (2) M10 dowel pins to install in the adaptor plate, so that a perfectly aligned fit will be achieved. The local hardware store didn't have this, so I'll have to search around town this week. (otherwise internet shopping) The adaptor plate will get removed soon, the dowel pins installed, then it gets attached to the motor first. THEN it gets attached to the bell housing. It appears that the motor will be able to sit right ontop the horizontal crossmember in the engine compartment. There are ample places for securing the motor, so attachment is not a problem. That horizontal crossmember has since been removed. The motor will be installed from the bottom of the car, then the horizontal brace re-installed. Just gotta get those (2) dowel pins next!
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Post by vmrod on Aug 5, 2011 19:16:49 GMT -3
The adaptor plate was mounted to the motor, then the coupler, then the flywheel. I was able to wiggle the motor around and get it in the engine compartment from below. It was then set on a tranny jack, so it could be lifted higher and moved around. The clutch disc looks worn, so I tried to get a new one locally. No stores stock Opel GT parts, and most stores have no clue what it is. So, I'll have to stop for now, and order the part online. (I really should have gotten this a long time ago.) Who knows, maybe if I order it now, it may come in by next weekend. I also had ordered a mounting bracket that I might be able to use for the motor. More on that later...
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Post by vmrod on Aug 15, 2011 9:14:21 GMT -3
After reviewing the motor and how it will be installed, I decided to chop the Opel's lower chassis brace which supports the motor. (Charlie Rickman had done the same thing for his electric Opel.) I simply cutout a portion of the brace, then welded a piece of metal in there to stiffen things up again. A little grinding and paint, and presto! Once the chassis/motor support was installed, the original motor mounts were installed. It took a little wiggling, but the motor/adaptor plate/coupler/flywheel, slid onto the tranny shaft as it should. I have to give props again to EJ (machinist) for his good work on the parts. Next came the red, motor bracket, which fits very good. (EBay purchase). The bracket was cut, so as to fit between the motor mounts. A couple holes were drilled, so the bracket pieces could be bolted directly to the motor and not just rely on the outside bolts for gripping the motor. This is really a good setup! An aluminum channel was cut and fitted to form a bridge across the motor mounts. (Not bolted yet) The red, motor bracket will be bolted to the aluminum bridge. (need bolts for this) The motor will not touch the lower chassis brace at all. There's about 1/2" or less of clearance down there. The motor is full supported by the aluminum bridge and utilizes the original motor mounts. Nice, nice, nice! All that is needed is a couple nuts & bolts, and the motor installation will be complete! Controller mounting coming soon!!!
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Post by vmrod on Aug 19, 2011 23:03:50 GMT -3
Without further adeau (spl?) I used rectangular, tube steel, then a plate of aluminum ontop. I left the plate a little large, because I plan on mounting the main contactor and fuse onto the plate, right behind the Zilla. It is very sturdy, and provides ample room to run the motor cables underneath. I can always add a cover ontop later too. Tomorrow (time permitting), I'll mount the main contactor, and the DC-DC convertor. Maybe the little radiator that I use for the Zilla too. Wow!! what's great is that I have pretty much everything needed to make this thing go. I just need an electric vaccuum booster. That will come soon enough though.
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Post by vmrod on Aug 21, 2011 20:19:04 GMT -3
For those hip on Zilla equipment, the Hairball was mounted, along with the DC-DC convertor, main contactor, and speed sensor. I never really had a plan where things were going to go. I just laid stuff out and mounted the biggest item first. I made a little platform for the hairball, which turned out good. All the wiring will come from under and then thru holes in the platform. This will make the wiring neater. I'll likely add a cover over the hairball, once completed. Try as I could, I couldn't find a good way to use the HEPA accelerator pedal. I do not want to go down the route that Charlie Rickman did. (He spent a day beating, cutting, welding, grinding, the area so the HEPA pedal could get mounted. I may order a different HEPA throttle assembly which would make installation easier using part of the original linkage. I need to order a fuse holder for the main fuse too. I saw one on one of those EV sites. I'll browse tomorrow and order one. It will be real nice to have it mounted near the main contactor. Wanna see one more Opel pic? Alright, I know it's cheezy, but thought you might be curious as to where I work-on and store the Opel. I also have a car cover on it, just to keep the dirt off. You really can't see it well under there. Next time I work on it, I'll take a picture of it, when I have the sides hiked up.
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Post by vmrod on Aug 27, 2011 20:35:09 GMT -3
Well, I had a nice writeup here, and the system crashed on me. No doubt it was cuz I-tunes was upgrading itself in the background. Where was I...oh yes, the circus tent was opened up today. No animals inside, just a yellow Opel. Now before you start commenting on the crappy wiring , keep in mind that this is for initial startup. Wiring will be routed in nice, neat wireways, once the instrumentation is installed and the motor spins. OK, here's the aux. battery (12V-48ah). It's a LiFePO4 battery, so it is real lightweight.It would benefit from a BMS (Battery management system) board, but that will have to come later. The DC-DC convertor will supply 13.4V to the battery most of the time, and 14.2V during overnight charging. This should keep the aux. battery happy. The cool "light" switch (remember no comments) ensures that I can isolate 12V power during wiring and/or storage. As cool as it is, it will be removed after completion. ;D The main fuse was installed, then the Hairball was next. I was able to figure out the engine wiring harness, and wire everything up to the Hairball. I still need to wire the accelerator pedal and maybe a warning light or 2. (at least the pedal) Sorry for the blurry pic, I just noticed it, and the tent is closed up for the evening. The Hairball wiring will get tie-wrapped before initial startup, just to keep it out the way. I'll start on the high voltage wiring tomorrow. It is possible that I could spin the motor over then, if I really wanted to. I might, just a little. But, the instrumentation needs to get installed that monitors the battery power (current) used. That way you know when to recharge.
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Post by vmrod on Aug 28, 2011 20:37:59 GMT -3
I was busy today! Besides doing house-hold chores, I was able to brave the heat for some high-voltage wiring!!! I made-up a few pieces of 4/0 cable as required (Zilla to motor connections), and installed them as best as possible. I'll probably install flex-conduit over the cables later. Since I haven't mounted my temporary pack, I just left it in a wagon, and rolled it up to the car for testing. (kinda like starting a fighter jet!) After checking everything out, and connecting my palm-computer to the Zilla, I fired up the motor. Wow!!! Smooth! www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j_3r6BM2zcThe next thing I'll do is connect the original tachometer to the system, then figure out what gauges I wanna keep or re-purpose. There's also some important instrumentation that needs to get installed, but we'll get to that soon enough. Oh yes...the batteries need a place to sit (in the car), even if they are temporary.
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Post by vmrod on Sept 5, 2011 22:47:48 GMT -3
Since a tropical storm occupied the Labor Day weekend, I planned for some fun & challenging inside activities. (EV related!) I dug up a 12volt, 4-cell, LiFePO4 Battery protection module, and checked it out. Rather than use the on-board circuitry to shutoff the battery, I built another board to do that. Why, you ask? During a low-cell alarm, the 12V battery will disconnect itself from the car's 12V system. (The DC-DC convertor will provide all 12V power during this event.) If the cell gets a little higher, the battery will reconnect to the system and attempt to charge itself. If it is super-low, then it will need special measures at the shop. Since the DC-DC convertor is on 90% of the time, the 12V battery should never have a low-cell alarm. If there is a high-cell alarm from the 12V battery, I can assume that either a cell has failed and/or the balancing system has failed. If I am driving, the battery can just shut itself off for protection. I'll see an alarm light, and know to check it out when I get home. The DC-DC convertor will be supplying the 12V needed for the trip home. (I just may not want to turn on a bunch of accessories.) Alternately, if there is a high-cell alarm and I am not driving, then the DC-DC convertor will simply turn off. This should allow the 12V battery to drop back down to normal levels. (If so, it will turn the DC-DC convertor back on.) I decided on this, because 12V power needs to be on at all times when charging the main battery pack. Why you ask? (you are curious, huh?) The main battery pack (traction pack) is a 168Volt pack. When fully charging, the voltage can reach 205volts before the charger shuts off automatically. The Iota DC-DC convertor has a high voltage input limit of 200volts DC. Anything more, and the internal circuits will fry. (I spoke with their engineers on this one.) So, when the traction pack is charging, voltage is closely measured. Once the traction pack gets to 190volts, the DC-DC convertor is taken off-line to protect itself. After the traction pack is fully charged at 205volts, its charger shuts off automatically (and stays off). The traction pack immediately starts to settle down from 205volts to 188.8volts. (a few minutes) Once 190volts is noticed, the DC-DC convertor turns back on. It is during the time that the DC-DC convertor is off, that I want to have the 12V battery connected to the system. That way it can turn the DC-DC convertor back on again, and also keep the EV instruments powered up to maintain their memory. A few things to note: I have planned an optional switch, that would let the main traction pack charger turn off at 190volts. That way the DC-DC convertor could always stay on. Problem: the main traction pack will not get a full charge that way. So this switch may never get used. A capacitor could be used to store enough energy to re-energize the contactor for the DC-DC convertor and put it on-line. The 12volt system would be immediately refreshed and this would keep the DC-DC convertor on. Problem: During the time of no 12volt power, the EV instruments would forget their history. This means the gas-gauge would be off, and perhaps some other items. Since the vehicle was going through a full charge, then it may be OK that that gas-gauge get reset anyway. Those are my thoughts on that. OK...since you worked so hard reading all of that techno-blab, here are some pics... Here's the 12V battery and its balancing board. Cute, huh? You'll see more pics of it as it 'grows up'. This is the relay board I made this weekend, which interfaces with the balancing board. The LEDS come on for either low or high cell alarms. The board was longer, but I accidentally broke it. Fortunately, I was able to jam all the parts onto it. Barely! Here's the sloppy wiring/soldering work. I really should have gotten a smaller soldering iron-tip, but use what you got. This next board is an interface board to the EV-Display. The EV-Display was able to control 'normal' sized relays, and also only had grounded signal outputs to indicate "low fuel", and "full fuel". By making this interface relay board, I'm able to use relays to tell the Zilla to go into 'economy mode' during low fuel, or shutoff the DC-DC convertor when 190volts is reached. Oops, I started to blab again. This board was easier to connect. I also had more room, since I didn't break it like a clumsy oaf. Now, I would have done more, but the tropical storm dropped a branch through the roof of the Opel's tent. I went out there with curved needle and strong thread and sewed the 24" tear up. After a fair job, I gave a coat of clear silicon over the mend. Looks like it will hold up! I haven't gotten to anything else yet, and still won't. I'm hot on completing the 12V battery, and it will be uber cool! ;D
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Post by vmrod on Sept 19, 2011 9:06:54 GMT -3
Armed with the little circuit board, I assembled and tested the 12 V accessory battery. As you may or may not know, LiFePO4 batteries (the internal cells) need to remain balanced for proper battery life. Inside the 12V accessory battery pack (ABP), I wired up a 4-cell balance board, my custom PCB, a 60amp relay, and a 40amp automatic-reset circuit breaker. (I wanted a 55amp breaker, but didn't see one available). The ABP has 4 wires that leave to interface with the DC-DC convertor and the ignition system. A shutoff switch was installed, so I can turn the battery off for any reason while it is installed. (I removed that light switch in the car already! It should be noted that the task of building the brains of this pack was challenging. During construction, I shorted out a small wire, and once assembled, had to tear it down again to swap out a couple more wires. In the end, it was well worth it! As a side note, I still need to go back and install a small switch on the back of the battery, to enable it to get back online during a low-cell voltage failure. Think of this...if the car is sitting, doing nothing (or driving for that matter) and you get a low-cell failure, you should want your pack to turn offline ASAP, or risk losing that expensive hardware altogether. Well, if it is offline, because of low voltage, how do you get it online again once the current hog is gone and you are ready to charge it. So a small bypass switch will be installed later. Since this pack is going to be seeing 13.6volts 95% of the time, it should never have a problem with low-cell voltage anyway. The ABP will be able to produce 40amps before tripping the internal breaker. This should be plenty enough power, as the battery is there to assist the DC-DC convertor which can output 55amps. Judging by the wiring in the Opel's fuse box, it doesn't look like it was designed to hande much more than 20-30amps tops. The ABP was installed (not bolted down yet). It has been properly grounded, and #6 cable routed to the Opel's fuse box for power. The DC-DC convertor has a #6 cable routed from it to the fusebox as well. However, I didn't have any black cable to use as a ground cable, so this will be installed next weekend. The 12V system was powered up with no problems. The (2) new fuseblocks work as planned. (1 always on, the other only on during ignition). The Zilla came on too as planned. One small catch. I have a button that allows the Zilla's memory to either stay on, or come on when the ignition is switched on. Well, it looks like it only comes on when ignition is switched on, no matter what the switch is flicked to. This should be resolved next weekend after a brief look. It is only a couple wires and a switch, nothing complex about that. So next weekend, is Zilla switch troubleshooting, and then EV-display installation. More fun stuff! ;D
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Post by vmrod on Oct 3, 2011 9:25:49 GMT -3
Well, I have been fairly busy working on the car, but not working IN the car. I've spent alot of time working on the wiring diagram, which is the roadmap for the project. In the near future, I'll be pulling the 12V LiFePO4 battery, and performing a small wiring update to it. My plan is to have a remote "on/off" switch that will be located in a better accessible place in the engine compartment. This will allow the 12V accessory battery to be totally shutoff for maintenance, troubleshooting, energy management, or simply experimentation. The engine compartment switchboard will have several other control options too. 1. boost DC-DC convertor output to 14.4v during traction pack charge. 2. feed Zilla hairball from either 12V+ (always on) or 12v+ (ignition only) 3. A 4-position selector switch to have the DC-DC convertor always on, on during certain conditions, or always off. 4. An option to allow the main traction pack to charge to full power, or partial power. (I'll use partial power until I get a true BMS installed) Here's a pic of the switches so far... This next pic is my EV-display controls box. The day after I put it together, I realized that I need to move 1 wire inside the box. Tonight it will get opened up again, and revised. Pretty soon, I'll be able to mount all these components, and simply connect them all up! This should provide a fully functional and configurable EV! ;D
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Post by vmrod on Oct 10, 2011 9:19:08 GMT -3
All of the switches and electrical components in the prior pictures have been installed! Before you jump up and 'hive five' me, I gotta admit that they are not wired up yet. On the upside, I worked feverishly yesterday and nearly completed the interconnecting wiring harness. Once this is done, I simply plug in all the connectors to the switches, 12V battery, and rotary switch, and I should have a working and configurable system here! ;D The main things left are a relay (or 2) for the charging system, and the EV display needs to get mounted in the car. There are still a few more wires to run, but they are not many, and not complicated to figure out. (Pretty much straight runs) I'll take some more pics soon. Right now, it looks a little messy.
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Post by carlnelson on Oct 15, 2011 15:02:06 GMT -3
Hey VROD!
Been loving the Opel conversion!! It's great to see a fellow designer work.... give me hope to one day do the same. I had followed your XR3 build and understand how that one will be taking some time!!! Glad you are progressing with this one and have to say that you are doing it the right way, beautiful work man!! Great use of Autocad or whatever in the wiring diagram... just like I'd do it!! I bet it doesn't seem like work when you're doing it for yourself!!! lol ;D
Carl
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Post by vmrod on Oct 31, 2011 19:16:32 GMT -3
Yea, I've been making wiring drawings for 27 years!
Even a complex system is manageable with accurate drawings.
Despite being busy on other projects, a couple more tasks were completed. First, my brother helped me mount the Zilla's radiator, cooling pump, and coolant tank. The pump is all wired up, now new tubing needs to get installed.
That charging system relay box is complete and sitting in the car. I need to find a place for it, but that's not too hard.
Lastly, I cut the pedal off the HEPA throttle. It will get mounted in the engine compartment and a cable will control it via the original pedal inside.
It's a lot nicer under the hood. Closer for more pics.
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