Assembly Day Two

I woke up this morning to torrential rains, which was not on the forecast on Friday. So, after breakfast, I setup my tarp and went to work on installing the control tray. After about 3 hours of bolting, cable installation, checking again and again, it was done!

It wasn't without some little quirks, though. I first tested the control tray and started to smoke up my Precharger Resistor because my DC/DC was connected on the wrong side of it. I just unplugged the DC/DC until I can lengthen the wire for the positive side tomorrow.

After, I fired everything up, got in the EV and went to drive, and the Transmission wouldn't come out of park! It turns out that I had parked it funny, so I had to use the key to override the lock out, rolled down the driveway a few feet, and it was fine.

Then I went for a 1 mile jaunt around the neighborhood, and the EV had much more power now than before, with driving up to 25 MPH. I did feel like it should have had more power, but I decided to skip the step of checking the Kelly Controller settings before my little trip. After I got back, I hooked my laptop and found out that I had the wrong settings on the controller! I changed the settings and tomorrow I will go out to test them.

Now I do have a few things to work on. The vacuum has a leak in it, and my TPS sensor fell out when I installed my control tray, so I will have to reinstall that. I also have to go on a few small trips to break the brushes and batteries in again, so maybe 2 or 3 small trips this week will do that.

Once I get the little quirks out, I will make a video of the EV in action. I need about 30 minutes to fix up the little things, then I should be good for a real joy ride.

My next goal is to install the charger into the trunk. Right now it is an external setup, but I will change that and install the K&W BC-20 into the trunk so I can charge it in any weather. Then I will work on the Power Steering and the Air Conditioning, but that's later on.

The Plan, Civic EV 2.0

I am developing a plan for installing the newly acquired EV parts. For the time being, I am going to continue to use the motor I have and get that blower installed, which I now have all the parts for. I have done some range tests, and will do some more to gather data.

My plan is to install the new motor, but in order to do that I need new adapter plates and motor mounts. I am going to put the motor on the bench and clean it up, adjust the brush timing and get the commutator cleaned up. It has been sitting for 7 years, but spins up just fine. This is the list of things I want to do:

• Remove Transmission and have new plates made for the FB1-4001A
• Upgrade to a stiffer Coilover system
• Rewire EV with the better 2/0 gauge cable and proper lugs
• Mount PakTrakr and AMP meter to dash
• Build metal frame for the battery racks
• Rebuild front control tray
  
• Setup K&W BC-20 Charger
  

This is pretty much Civic EV 2.0 because of all the upgrades/changes.

I am saving up the money required for the new plates, and hope to have the new Coilovers ordered soon. My plan is to get the motor/transmission to the machine shop, and while they work on it I will work on the rest of the EV. My time is limited due to classes, and I spent two weeks on the plates before, probably 40+ hours of cutting work, and just don't have the time. Everything else is small, probably a weekend's woth of work and a few people already have shown an interest in helping out.

Raw Materials

Now I am making the final measurements before I purchase all the the aluminum and stainless steel for my adapter system. I am figuring out the best way to piece the system together and keep the costs down. Hopefully I will have everything set and I will purchases the metal tonight. I decided to make the plates my self and to get the coupler machined and I should be getting it machined for a good price.

I also have acquired all the heavy gauge cabling! It was great actually, I was mowing the lawn and found a spool of heavy gauge wire behind the shed that my dad put there a few years ago because he had gotten it and had no use for it. There is over 40 Ft of 3/0 gauge equivalent wire and it should be all the wire I need. This is about a $200 savings so I am psyched!

Update: I have ordered all of my aluminum plates, spacers and the stainless steel piece that will be used for my coupler. All I have to do is wait for the pieces to come in and find a machinist for the coupler. I have e-mail a few and they either did not return my e-mail, or are booked until mid July which is too long for me.