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Wed Aug 14, 2013 5:51 pm

We are converting a 66 kombi to a short round trip all electric vehicle.

Batteries and electric motor will weigh substantially less than the original engine, clutch, flywheel plus a full tank of gas with acceleration exceeding that of the original engine. So the overall bus will weigh less than stock when we are done.

Prior to doing the electric conversion, we want to get the bus in tip top shape. This is a project backed by a successful company, so money isn't a big constraint. While we have a full machine shop that could do all the work, we don't have the experience or the time to do this part of the project, our value add will be the electric conversion. I am looking for a shop in the New England area that we can trust to do high quality work. If a local shop isn't an option, we will probably need to ship the bus somewhere to get the work done. That is of course undesirable from the point of view of not being able to provide in person input on the work.

Here is the short list of what needs to be done:
-convert the bulkhead to walkthrough.
-removal of gas tank, reconfiguration of engine compartment
-convert to IRS, and install lowering and conversion kit from Airkewld
-install air ride kit from Airkewld
-install new transmission from Rancho
-body work, replacement of front floor and battery panels, stripping, treating, repainting in original colors inside, outside, and underside.

There aren't many early vw buses in Cambridge, so people are always taking pictures and asking questions about the bus, so this will be a fairly high profile project.

Any suggestions of a competent shop to help with the project would be greatly appreciated.

Wed Aug 14, 2013 7:58 pm

seems like you want to talk to jehugarcia

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=539140&highlight=electric

Thu Aug 15, 2013 2:52 pm

His work is awesome.

Hoping someone has a lead on anyone in the New England area that knows how to work on VW busses. I have tried calling around, searching the web, etc, but so far no luck.

Any help appreciated!

Thu Aug 15, 2013 4:10 pm

http://www.stanagon.com/

Sun Aug 18, 2013 6:20 pm

I have tried calling/email Stan more than once with no success so far. A friend of mine randomly came across this shop today not far from my house. Anyone know anything about it? Going to go by tomorrow.

Sun Aug 18, 2013 6:26 pm

evwbus wrote: I have tried calling/email Stan more than once with no success so far. A friend of mine randomly came across this shop today not far from my house. Anyone know anything about it? Going to go by tomorrow.

If you go by there, please tend to the flag. (It's a pet peeve of mine.)

Sun Aug 18, 2013 6:29 pm

Zozo as a veteran it drives me crazy to see this as well!

Sun Aug 18, 2013 6:37 pm

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.

Sun Aug 18, 2013 6:58 pm

Id be glad to help but my shops in florida :wink: but i do have this suspension thing down, and doing custom fabricating is what i do!

Wed Sep 04, 2013 9:33 pm

Flag fixed. Waiting to hear back from the shop about whether they feel they could handle the work.

Any one know where I can get the following for a 66 kombi? Haven't had any luck looking so far:

-New (or at least straight) exterior sheet metal for the entire drivers side of the bus.
-Bench seats and mounting hardware
-Walk through seats and bulkhead

Wed Sep 04, 2013 10:09 pm

evwbus wrote:

-New (or at least straight) exterior sheet metal for the entire drivers side of the bus.

Autocraft and Klassicfab make the driver's side long panel. I would check one of those two companies. They both have distributors along the East Coast or they will ship it direct to you.

I would check the classifieds here for the other parts and be patient because it may take some time to hunt down what you are looking for....You can also post a want ad for the parts.

Spitty

Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:47 am

I'm your neighbor.

I have buses. I know bus people in our area. Get in touch.

Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:51 am

evwbus wrote: Flag fixed.

Thank you.

Thu Oct 24, 2013 7:51 pm

Installed drop spindles on the front.

I installed solar panels on the roof that generate up to 600W. I use a 60amp tristar solar controller and 8 deep cycle lead acid batteries.

Although I have already ordered a high specific power water cooled brushless motor from Moog, and a motor controller from Elmo (neither which will arrive anytime soon due to long lead times), I wanted to set a baseline first of what an off the shelf EV kit could do, so I bought a kit from Rebirth Auto with a warp 9 and a soliton1. I tested the kit on the bench today and it seems to work.

I already have my new transmission from Rancho, but I am going to wait to put in the new transmission and IRS conversion kit until I do the transition to the Moog motor.

So tomorrow I am going to retire my ICE (very strong, runs well almost new) and install the warp 9. If anyone is interested in the engine, please let me know and you are welcomed to come and get it for free. (I don't know much about it except that it is stronger than the stock engine. I won't have time to answer questions about it, sorry.) I also have some bumpers that are in good shape, but too heavy for my project. While I am at it, I also have the superbeetle that was running before I stole the rear suspension for the bus IRS conversion with title. So here is the deal, the price for taking any of it is taking all of it.

Fri Oct 25, 2013 8:23 pm

It only took about 3 hours this evening to pull the engine and put in the electric motor and controller. I love this bus, so easy to work on! Drove all over town. Works well, very quiet, great acceleration. My batteries were wired 2P4S so it is running at 48V and I am still using the old transmission so my top speed was only around 30mph, but that was fine for driving around town. I will change the batteries to 1P8S tomorrow, which should double the top speed. When I do put in the new transmission, it should be able to get up to 80mph.

From a dead stop I get good acceleration in 4th gear. I only had to shift down going over an overpass. I have it parked in a sunny spot, so we will see how long it takes to get the batteries back up to full charge.

Sun Oct 27, 2013 6:59 am

Got pics? Video? :D

Sun Oct 27, 2013 7:43 am

I wired the batteries to be 96V instead of 48V and it did indeed double the speed. Hit 60mph.

I just realized this motor is too long to put the back on the bus and close it all up. Grrrrrr. The whole reason I bought an off the shelf kit was so that I would benefit from someone else making sure everything works for this model. Hmmm... If you want something done right...

See how it sticks out 3 inches or so beyond the back.

I guess I will have to call Rebirth Auto tomorrow and ask them whats up.

Sun Oct 27, 2013 11:02 am

Another Split EV build you might enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntFa7jsf5L4

Thu Nov 21, 2013 8:52 pm

Does anyone know if there exists an adjustable electronic speedometer that will fit nicely as a replacement in a 66 bus? My wheel size is not stock and I would like to be able to fine tune the speedo to get accurate speeds and distances. I have been unsuccessful at finding such a thing, but maybe I am not looking in the right places.

Thu Nov 21, 2013 9:22 pm

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=574880&highlight=app