The Motor Support Is In Place

Above, you can see the piece of steel I spent several hours shaping. It's the black one just underneath the red motor, and resting on top of the black metal sub frame. I put a piece of high density foam between the bracket and the motor, mostly just to keep the motor from getting too scratched up. That little piece of steel lifts the motor up to the proper alignment and keeps it from resting on the steering rack.

On top of the little bracket I built, you can see I've bolted to it a strap that goes around the motor, holding it firmly down in place. I used some scrap steel (those little gray tabs) to hold the strap down on top of the bracket. I still need to trim the length of those bolts. Don't want them catching anything as I drive over it.

Motor Support

I know I mentioned before that the motor is almost in perfect position where it is, but it's slightly low and resting on the steering rack. Well, that won't do. So today I spent most of the day fabricating a support that will rest on the sub frame just behind. That will raise the motor off the steering rack about 8 mm, and bring it, the transmission and the drive shaft in line. It has a coat of primer drying on it right now. I'll give it a good coat of paint tomorrow and install it Monday (I'll post a picture of it at that time too).

At one point I bought an old 120 VDC treadmill motor, and I planned to use that to run the compressor for the AC system. After getting the big traction motor in place, I've realized that's not going work. There simply isn't enough room.

The only option now is to run the compressor off of the traction motor. But of course, that means when I'm sitting at a light, the compressor won't spin unless I rev the motor a bit; after all, an electric car's motor doesn't move when you're sitting still. Not the best solution, but the only one open to me at this point. Later I might invest in one of those self contained complete systems they sell for golf carts. They're close to $2400, so I think I'll see how this goes first.

I'm going to need a pulley that will fit on the tail shaft of the motor and will accept the serpentine belt the compressor needs. As it turns out, the old power steering pump has one that will work. It was held to the pump by three bolts. I was thinking that I could have it machined a bit to fit the tail shaft and all would be well. Turns out it's plastic! Ok, machining it is out. That just means that I'll have to have a bushing made that will fit on the shaft and hold the pulley. Now to choose a machine shop.

Console Work

One of the things that's been on the list for a while is to prepare the center console for a new radio (the old one would forget to play CD's once in a while) and for the Link 10 battery monitor. The monitor does a number of things, but most importantly, it acts as a "fuel gauge" telling me how much charge is left on the main battery pack.

As luck would have it, the Link 10 is exactly the same size as the clock that came mounted in the center console in the car. I thought I'd be able to take the clock out by removing the radio, and reaching down into the cavity behind all the HVAC switches and controls, so I gave it a go. Well, there was more stuff in the way than I'd hoped so that plan was out. On to plan B, removing the console.

The manual gives pretty clear step by step directions for removing the console which looked quite straight forward and easy, and which just happen to be wrong. The manual covers every model and every year of the Z3 so some of the info is bound to be wrong for mine. As it turns out, it would be easier to dismantle a nuclear reactor with the broken branch of a tree and a bowl of pudding. As luck would have it, I was able to undo enough screws to get at the parts I needed without disassembling the whole thing.



As you can see from the picture, there are two gaping holes in the car, waiting eagerly for some new electronic bits.

Odds & Ends Part III

Today and yesterday I did a number of small things that are of no particular interest make for riveting reading.

1. Torqued down most of the bolts mounting the drive shaft to the transmission. That was fun. Working alone under a car with almost no room trying to torque down bolts to 74 ft/lbs. I recommend it to anyone in search of a hernia. I still have to torque down the nuts that mount the drive shaft to the differential. Unfortunately, the space is too tight. I can get a socket on the nut, but not when my torque wrench is attached to it! Makes it a bit challenging. Fear not, I have a clever plan...

2. Fitted some of the cars cross bracing back in place. After all, we all love a firm chassis.

3. Worked out some spacing details, locating where exactly to put the battery trays. Still need to work out how to affix them to the chassis and brace them properly. It's astounding how well each of them is fitting at this point. They're exactly where I need them to be with just enough clearance to make it all work.

4. Took some measurements and made cardboard templates to help cut some aluminium sheets. I'd like to create a floor under the engine compartment to help keep dirty air and water out of the space, and to improve aerodynamics under the car. Plus, given the right bracing, some of the equipment can be bolted to the plate.

5. I got the remaining battery trays back. Thanks for welding them up Tim (no relation), they turned out just great! I ground down some of the welds, took a wire brush to them remove all the rust and gave them a good coat of primer.

That's about it for now. I'll be doing more paint work on the trays tomorrow. I need to sort out how to mount them in the chassis. I could use a second brain or two for that. Especially one with experience in this sort of thing.

Good News Everyone!

After carefully measuring and re-measuring the positions of the transmission, drive shaft, motor and their relative position's to each other and the chassis, I've come to the conclusion that everything is lined up nearly perfect. I had been concerned that because the motor was resting on the sub fame, once I put the motor/transmission assembly in place, that it was tilting the whole assembly up. It turns out that while it's resting on the sub frame, the assembly is angled down ever so slightly. I will need to determine how much it needs to come up from the sub frame and then construct the front motor mount to create and maintain that space. Good news indeed!

Also, Futurama has been picked up by Comedy Central for 26 new episodes! Not really relevant to the EV, but cool anyway.

The Motor In the Engine Bay

Here's some shots of the motor in the engine bay, as promised. Although it's small compared to the original ICE (Internal Combustion Engine), that is one big electric motor!


And a second angle for you...

I still have to sort out the issue with the fit of the motor, but no time today.

Hoisting the Motor

I put the motor in this afternoon/evening. It all went pretty well. Here's a shot of the assembly hanging over the engine bay. By the time I finished, I was pretty tired, and it was too dark to get a good shot of the motor in place. I'll shoot that tomorrow.

At this point it looks like I may have a problem I was hoping to avoid. The motor extends far enough forward, and is big enough in circumference that it is resting on the sub frame. Actually it's resting on the power steering rack that's bolted to the sub frame. It looks like the transmission may be pitched up slightly. I connected the gear shift arm to the transmission, but there is another bar called the "selector link rod" that I'm having difficulty with. I can't quite tell if it's because the transmission is pushed too far back into the chassis, or because it's tilted up as I suspect.

I had forseen this potential problem when I started the project, but the best measurements I could make at the time showed that I was going to be either ok, or as much as 1/2" short of the space I needed. The worse case scenario is that I have to remove the front sub frame and put spacers between it and the chassis. Id certainly rather not do that, but I may have no option. I'll try to figure it out tomorrow.