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dcat917
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2014
Posts: 185
Location: Greenville, SC
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 Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 8:44 am Post subject: |
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Hey Darrel, no problem and thanks for the input. I have checked all my documentation and can find nothing on how this area of the seats operate or the parts. I would love to rebuild these this winter and need a diagram or something to go on.
Welcome SirNickity to my build. To my knowledge, this is only electric conversion on Samba. Others have done a Ghia conversion before and I did a bunch of research on their builds for this project.
The groups reaction has been mostly 'why would any sane person do this. You can buy a lot of gas for the cost of those batteries'. I am proud to say this project makes no sense financially, it is a hobby and a passion.
As far as low operating cost, you just can't beat the 110v AC at 10 cents per KWH I get for energy. The road to electric conversion is a pricey road to travel but the joy of creating your own electric and that incredible acceleration (the EV Grin) is priceless.
You may have issues in Alaska with the cold. EV's do not like cold. You will need to put warming mats in your battery box for sure, not sure what to do about the car heater, maybe the Van Lovers have a solution.
_________________
1981 Puma GTB http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7794566#7794566
1971 Karmann Ghia http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=591290&highlight=
Past Projects:
1951 Studebaker Business Coupe https://goo.gl/photos/eHPuNo89m9PXZwBM8
1953 Studebaker 2-Door Sedan https://goo.gl/photos/pe38HEShzUrVSwcV8 |
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SirNickity
Samba Member
Joined: November 16, 2010
Posts: 63
Location: Anchorage, AK
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| Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 10:58 am Post subject: |
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Nothing about owning an old VW makes financial sense. Electric conversion is perfectly suited to those of us who apparently enjoy spending time and money on a car rather than having one that "just runs" and has all its body parts intact. The latter sounds like no fun to me!
We're a little short on charging stations, and there remains the problem of how to dump tens of kilowatts into a battery as quickly and conveniently as filling a gas tank, but nonetheless, I'm convinced that electric is the future. We're just at the beginning of the curve, and so it will take time to optimize the process. It appeals to me to be at the early-adopter stage so I can tell others "you don't know how easy you have it!" in 10 years.
My Ghia is and will be a fair-weather car only. As fair as AK summers get, anyway.  I'm directed to the end of driving season by the car's frosty windshield and brisk interior on fall mornings, and that's enough to convince me to put her in storage until the weather improves.
The cell specs seem to indicate they'll be fine in the winter, provided I disconnect the load and build in a wiring harness for the BMS sense wires that can be disconnected as well.
_________________
1970 KG Coupe
1974 KG Convertible (EV conversion underway) |
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marklaken
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2004
Posts: 2416
Location: fort collins, CO
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| Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 2:48 pm Post subject: |
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Awesome build thread. I did a '69 beetle EV conversion 2 years ago and loved every minute of the project. So different than a normal car project. Driving it is also fun.
Make sure you know what you are doing when it comes time to balancing your batteries (are you running a battery management system?) - I thought I did this right but I ran out of juice last week and then tested my individual cells to find one cell was at basically 0 volts which is big trouble for the Lithium batteries (turns out my house outlet breaker popped and thus didn't charge my battery before I drove it). I don't have any on board BMS or even battery monitoring devices, just been driving on faith, which might have cost me a battery.
_________________
Wish List:
1967 Wesfalia SO-42 Parts Needed: Kitchenette, Cot Poles
'65 rear left beetle fender
15" Bus Wheels in fair condition
Mark Laken
Fort Collins, CO |
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dcat917
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2014
Posts: 185
Location: Greenville, SC
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| Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2015 9:20 pm Post subject: |
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Still waiting on the sand blaster to get to the rims and some bumper parts. In the meantime, I cleaned, etched and POR15 the inside of the bumpers. I used crumpled aluminum foil and plain water to clean the chrome. IT WORKED GREAT.
Put in bumper bracket seals and that was a pain. The area was filed with bondo and I had to really work to get those puppies to line up.
Worked on the intake vents. Removed the grill and POR15 the inside area. Made some block off's to keep the air and moisture out of my vent tubes. Cleaned up the grill and it looks like crap. I may paint it black.
Fab'ed up my motor splash guard and set it in place. Waiting on ABS panels to finish the boot area and put the deck lid on.
Added some more stuff to the back, side panels, more floor cover
_________________
1981 Puma GTB http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7794566#7794566
1971 Karmann Ghia http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=591290&highlight=
Past Projects:
1951 Studebaker Business Coupe https://goo.gl/photos/eHPuNo89m9PXZwBM8
1953 Studebaker 2-Door Sedan https://goo.gl/photos/pe38HEShzUrVSwcV8 |
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SirNickity
Samba Member
Joined: November 16, 2010
Posts: 63
Location: Anchorage, AK
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| Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:32 pm Post subject: |
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I would like to hear more about this splash guard...
_________________
1970 KG Coupe
1974 KG Convertible (EV conversion underway) |
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dcat917
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2014
Posts: 185
Location: Greenville, SC
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dcat917
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2014
Posts: 185
Location: Greenville, SC
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aero3113
Samba Member
Joined: March 03, 2013
Posts: 196
Location: Setauket, NY (Long Island)
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| Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 4:47 am Post subject: |
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| When you go to put the tires on make sure the tire shop has a mounting machine where the spoon will not touch the rim. I would hate to see the paint get all chipped up! |
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dcat917
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2014
Posts: 185
Location: Greenville, SC
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| Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 5:10 pm Post subject: |
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Tires mounted without a scratch, and first test run around the block is a success. Love the feel of the acceleration and am still learning how to drive it. You can put it in 2nd and leave it there and use the clutch like normal. Or you can put it in 1st and let out the clutch and it's OK with that as well.
When I start it up with the car in neutral, the engine idles around 150 rpm and that may be an issue on energy management. I had forgotten how sloppy the VW shifting is and am having issues finding gears. May be an adjustment, may be something I need to learn and will acclimate to.
I'm not trying to smoke the tires yet, taking it slow for now and getting to know what is normal. Didn't have anyone around when I did this so no action shots yet.
Link
_________________
1981 Puma GTB http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7794566#7794566
1971 Karmann Ghia http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=591290&highlight=
Past Projects:
1951 Studebaker Business Coupe https://goo.gl/photos/eHPuNo89m9PXZwBM8
1953 Studebaker 2-Door Sedan https://goo.gl/photos/pe38HEShzUrVSwcV8
Last edited by dcat917 on Wed Aug 05, 2015 9:08 am; edited 1 time in total |
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dcat917
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2014
Posts: 185
Location: Greenville, SC
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Brassneck
Samba Member
Joined: November 17, 2012
Posts: 420
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 3:53 pm Post subject: |
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Way cool!!
Been looking forward to seeing it in action...when's the video coming? |
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dcat917
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2014
Posts: 185
Location: Greenville, SC
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dcat917
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2014
Posts: 185
Location: Greenville, SC
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CiderGuy
Samba Member
Joined: December 23, 2013
Posts: 1351
Location: Bucks County, Pa
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| Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2015 8:58 am Post subject: |
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Looks great, I wish you the best of luck with it.
_________________
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Cars Currently Owned:
1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1973 Karmann Ghia Coupe - Project car for sale
1970 Karmann Ghia Convertible (Body off restoration)
Timing is everything |
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dcat917
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2014
Posts: 185
Location: Greenville, SC
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dcat917
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2014
Posts: 185
Location: Greenville, SC
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dcat917
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2014
Posts: 185
Location: Greenville, SC
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dcat917
Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2014
Posts: 185
Location: Greenville, SC
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 4:26 pm Post subject: |
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| marklaken wrote: |
| Awesome build thread...and then tested my individual cells to find one cell was at basically 0 volts which is big trouble for the Lithium batteries. |
Thank you Mark for your input. I have cooked my first cell. It was showing zero volts. I removed it last night and it is bloated  ... TOAST. I am not using a battery management system in my build. I have about 40 miles on it now and I have not bottom balanced it yet. I keep it charged up to 3.34v per cell and never let the voltage get below 2.9v per cell.
I'm taking a chance doing this but I just hate the idea of bottom balancing the cells, it will take 7-10 days at least and I don't want to do it until fall.
I took it out on the interstate last night and top speed is 79mph on the flats. Running at 5000 rpm it is solid. Very pleased with the ride, tracks like its on rails.
_________________
1981 Puma GTB http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7794566#7794566
1971 Karmann Ghia http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=591290&highlight=
Past Projects:
1951 Studebaker Business Coupe https://goo.gl/photos/eHPuNo89m9PXZwBM8
1953 Studebaker 2-Door Sedan https://goo.gl/photos/pe38HEShzUrVSwcV8 |
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CiderGuy
Samba Member
Joined: December 23, 2013
Posts: 1351
Location: Bucks County, Pa
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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How loud is that cooling fan at highway speeds ?
_________________
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Cars Currently Owned:
1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1973 Karmann Ghia Coupe - Project car for sale
1970 Karmann Ghia Convertible (Body off restoration)
Timing is everything |
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KGCoupe
Samba Member
Joined: July 01, 2005
Posts: 3580
Location: Putting the "ill" and "annoy" in Illinois
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2015 8:00 am Post subject: |
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| CiderGuy wrote: |
| How loud is that cooling fan at highway speeds ? |
Who have expected an electric car to be fitted with a blower? 
... granted, judging by the sound of it, it does appear to be a leaf blower.
I will admit that when you first started this thread, I never expected that I would like a Karmann Ghia converted to elctric power.
However, having now seen the completed project in action I will readily admit that I think it is very cool indeed!
I particularly like the way that you chose to go with a bare, minimalistic and utilitarian approach to the interior styling.
Most impressive of all is your attention to detail and the overall neatness of the conversion.
Congratulations on a job very well done!
... now, can anything be done to either quiet down that blower fan or perhaps have it make that "fweem" sound that is so characteristic to old VWs? |
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. They were sandblasted and painted Cocoa Cola Red today. I'll let them set a day and get the tires mounted Thursday.
Ran it up to 60mph in third with no problem, felt real solid. Will take it out on the freeway in a few days for test drive. Lets see what 89 electric horses can get me 
