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Wrapping up the mechanical fabrication

A project log for DIY Electric Vehicle from Recycled Parts

Converting a car to electric drive using recycled and salvaged EV and hybrid components.

mauswerkzmauswerkz 06/30/2016 at 04:160 Comments

The mechanical fabrication is very close to being complete! So close in fact that the car came home with me this weekend (though on a trailer, not under it's own power). All that's left for the mechanical work is to finish the frame that straddles the front battery and to which the inverter, charger, DC-DC converter, and coolant heater mount to. And a return manifold for the coolant loops.

Look how dirty it is! The only clean spots are the door windows (since they were rolled down since October) and the trunk lid (since it was open that whole time). The car was in a garage the whole time. This is all dust that collected on it in there.

The brake vaccuum pump (from a Ford F150) is mounted in the empty cubby behind the front passenger side strut tower. The tank is an aluminum pipe with its ends capped. There's a GM manifold pressure sensor to monitor the vacuum level and help control the pump (same method I used on my previous EV conversion).

The front battery box cover is in place. I have to finish the wiring inside it and terminate it all in to the connectors on top. There are 4 glands for HV cables as well. Two coming from the rear battery, and two heading to the inverter. The charger will mount to the left in this photo, DC-DC and coolant heater will mount on the right (above the steering pump). The inverter is mounted to the frame already, so that's where it will live. The small box in the far left of the frame is the transmission oil pump controller. I need to shorten the wiring going to that and mount it somewhere with good airflow.

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