Here A Box, There A Box, Everywhere A Box Box!

8-7-2009 – How time flies when you make a million (or two) trips back and forth to school to weld something. I may have to ask Santa for a welder! The rear boxes worked out quite well if I do say so myself. The frame for the hole became the foundation for all of the boxes. I reused a double box from the Fiero that was extended so the batteries would be below the floor. This box was bolted to the hole-frame. The four battery box was originally going to get bolted to the hole-frame, but I cut the support piece 1” too short, so it got welded in place – no big deal. The final two boxes were welded to the top of the hole-frame and are sort of saddle bags resting above floor level. I included 6 tabs (three on each side) to be bolted to the frame. I am quite sure this box would never go anywhere, but when dealing with an EV, better safe than sorry. I test fit all eight batteries and I think I will stay with this configuration. With the extra weight, the back of the Tracker dropped two inches – and this is without the Airlift 1000 inflated (more on this). You may also notice I did not paint them orange. All of these boxes will never be seen, so I saved the orange for the front boxes. After getting everything bolted in, I applied a good bead of silicone all the way around the hole-frame. When I get done with the rear box, it will be completely enclosed (top and bottom). As I do this, I will continue to seal things up to make it as water tight as possible.
Now back to the Airlift 1000… I finished routing the hoses and installing the air valve. When I put in the first shot of air, the back of the truck shot right up – a good thing. But as quickly as it went up, it went down. At first, it thought I had maybe missed a hose clamp, but the leak was coming from the top of the right air spring. I am not really sure what caused this, but the folks at Airlift just sent me a replacement the next day – great service (until I opened the box) – it was the wrong air spring. This particular unit was for a motor home – over twice as long as the original. I called back and the correct one arrived today – again great service. I reinstalled it today and they work like a charm. The 600 pounds of batteries back there should be just fine. I think it gave me over an inch of lift without the weight and should remain level (or better when the weight is added). The back is basically done and I even took time to fix the three bolts I broke off when I removed the gas tank (these bolts held a lower bumper that protected the gas tank). That bumper is freshly painted and back in place.
Now to the front. I was really trying to keep this as simple as possible. The last thing I wanted to happen was to close the hood and have sparks. I know I could make protective covers for the battery terminals, but I just wouldn’t feel that comfortable knowing that spark “could” fly if someone leaned on the hood to hard. I came up with a good three across set up that would set next to the firewall. It was far enough back to stay clear of the hood (I hoped) and leave me with some room. I drew it up and was about to head off to school when I realized that I already made three single boxes for the front. The three combined were too big for the three across plan I came up with. I would have felt guilty making another box when I already had the singles, so I went back to the original plan – a three level “C” shaped box (the picture makes more sense than the description). The left side would be the lowest, the center box the highest (turned 90 degrees and against the firewall) and the right box would be about two inches higher than the left box (to clear the steering components). I rigged everything up took my measurements. I would also use the original motor mount points on the frame to secure everything. These two mount points were at different levels and at different positions along the frame rails. My goal was to weld a 1-1/2” square tube to the top of a mounting plate that would be bolted to these motor mount point (have I lost you yet???). Then I would weld a cross bar (1” square tubing) onto the other tube and then weld the battery box to these crossbars. This method was used for the right and left boxes. The middle box (along the firewall) would then be welded to the other two boxes via more 1” square tubing and diagonally braced for added support. I added a couple of tabs on the back side to go to two empty bolt holes in the firewall (more of that better safe than sorry stuff). I was on a role at school when I realized I welded the right and left boxes at the wrong heights (backwards). It was so nice too!!! I cut it back apart, re-welded and patched things up and brought it home for at test fit – yea it fits! Now to the motor mount supports and more measurement (and welding). To make a long story short – the first trip back resulted in one plate being about ½” off from the holes – I just missed a measurement somewhere. I cut the one plate off, marked it and did the welding thing one more time. The end result was my Tetris/wedding cake battery box. Prime it, paint it orange and get it installed. If you are wondering about the fourth battery, it is about where the radiator was – in front and down low. This poor guy will have a close encounter with the commutator end of the motor if I ever hit the front end real hard (but that is not going to happen). From what I can tell, there should be plenty of room for the controller stuff and vacuum pump under the hood and I might put the charger in the back – we’ll see.
I have already conceded that I will not get done before school starts, but the hard stuff is done. I need to get things closed up in the back to keep the squirrels (and whatever wildlife that may move in) out and get my batteries where they belong. I may start the big wiring this weekend (or maybe just drink and take a break). And I still want to make a box (and door) to cover the batteries in the back. There are always a bunch of things to do with an EV, so the list never runs out – just time.
So until then…

Get Your Motor Mounted, Part 2

8-2-2009 – Just a few days back I thought I had all of the motor mounting questions answered. I bent up the flat stock to make the bands for the front of the motor and when I did get it in, it sagged. With the 4X4 components just below, I couldn’t take a chance on it dropping any lower and maybe taking a hit, so on to Plan B. I was going through the EVDL and someone posted a blog site about a Honda S2000 (S2KEV). This guy did just what I needed to do – instead of bands; he made more of a cage. Box that motor in and tie it to the frame and it is now as solid as a rock. For the bands I made to brackets that were attached to two frame members. This gave me two solid points to attach the bands and it turned out two points to mount the cage. I took a couple of measurements and off to do some welding. The first try missed it by that much – about 1/8”. I knew this might happen, I just did not know by how much. There was a slight angle involved also and I was able to correct for that the second time around. I also made a new plate for the other end of the motor and dry fit everything – perfect! A quick disassembly to prime and paint and this part of the project was done. When I did the Fiero, I painted most of my parts lime green – more of a statement than for any reason. To keep with that theme, I am using orange – a nice OSHA safety orange. It’s a nice contrast to the white Tracker. So before I move on I just want to give a proper thanks to the S2000 guy – whatever your name maybe – and be sure to check out his blog (http://s2kev.blogspot.com/).
With the motor was done, I hooked the clutch cable back up and started thinking about batteries – all twelve of them. When I did the Fiero I had lots of examples of what others had done in terms of batteries. With a lot fewer Trackers out there I was more or less on my own. My plan was eight in the back and four up front. Group 31 batteries are big and take up a lot more room than I first thought. I could only get two where the gas tank was and four more in front on the rear differential – that’s just six. I looked up front and four would be the max. Probably in hindsight I should have made a big box on the existing floor space and did all eight side by side, but with a big hole there was no turning back. My head was tired from too much thinking. I am still not sure how the front will turn out, but the back was going to be first on the list.
I took the requisite measurements for the back to build a frame for the BIG hole. I needed to reinforce what I took away and make some plans for the boxes. As I stated earlier, two would go where the tank was. These batteries would set below floor level so I would have a space to put a few things if needed (groceries, beer, more tools). Four batteries would set above the rear differential and drive shaft at about three inches deep – this would leave about six inches above floor level. The final two batteries will be at floor level in separate frames. When done, I will build a door for the lowest two and a box to cover the other six – think of Tetris. The frame for the hole will be supported by the frame rails in the back. Once everything is in place, I will silicone inside and out on the frame and then insulate and cover the actual battery boxes.
As for the front, that will be another chapter to be written later this week. I see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Once the batteries are in place, the wiring should be fairly straight forward.

So until then…

Get Your Motor Mounted

7-28-2009 – Finished up welding the adapter plate and it turned out real nice. There are times I really enjoy welding, and that’s what happened today. Nice long welds that actually look good enough not to paint!
But let me back up a bit. As I mentioned before my adapter plates are made up of 8 pieces – bell housing plate, motor plate and six spacers (hexagon design). I welded the spacers to the motor plate and installed it all back in the Tracker. From there I lined everything back up and made sure the pieces were all flush with each other. When some people work with metal they talk of a few thousandths (.001) to keep everything nice and tight. Sometimes I am within .002-.003, but for the actual adapter plate, .015 is more than close enough. If you oversize your bolt holes a drill size (or two) you can nudge everything into place much easier than if everything is a perfect fit. I saw a friend cut his $800.00 adapter place to make it fit his Fiero. I used a scribe to mark all six sides of the plate on the bell hosing and took it all apart (again). Back to the welder and ahhh – such pretty welds. I came home and put it back together one more time and with a little persuasion it all slid together and turned with ease (no rubbing or grinding).
While it was all together, I started with the motor brace (mount). The existing motor mount brackets seemed too far back so it chose another point where some of the suspension was mounted. A quick trip to Lowe’s for some 1-1/2 x 3/16 flat stock and it was bending time. I first tried to us my MAPP gas torch but it was too slow, so I got out my oxy-acetylene torch. This is a system I bought back when I was building bicycle frames and has set in my shed for years. I made a bending jig (two 9” circles) and clamped the flat stock to it. Talk about easy bending! It took a few tries, but I think I have a good bracket to secure the front of the motor. I still have a few more bolts to install that require the removal of some steering components, but all-in-all, I think it will work. (Sorry that I have not included any pictures of the bands - it was a failed experiment and you will find out what I really did in the next post.)
It’s raining today, so I may have to postpone the Tracker a bit (for those new to my blog, I work outside in my driveway, so I am very weather dependent). Had a visit from a student (from Canada) who was at OSU and he made the trip to see what I was up to. Karl is working on convert a Chrysler Pacifica into a hybrid – good luck! Also, thanks to all of you out there that read my blog and have questions – my advice may not always be the best, but at least I’ll write back!
So until then…