75 Super elecric vehicle (ev) build

[Hondapop]

I found this photo and thought I would share how I kept track of the body to pan bolts.

I was having a problem getting the rear wiring harness out of the body area where the foan is sprayed. A search on Samba showed most were working the foam out with various rods or using acetone to dissolve the foam. I looked around the garage for a rod that was flexable and came across this tool. Let me tell you that it worked great and I had the harness out in about ten minutes.

I inserted the tool into the foam as far as it would go, expanded the fingers, then slowly pulled the tool out, twisting it as I pulled the tool out. The process removed the foam in about a 3/4 inch circle. As the foam was removed it was a little harder to find an area of foam to insert the tool (it wanted to go into a previously cleaned area). With a litttle effort and about ten insertions the harness pulled out.

[baxsie]

[thechief86]

[quote="HondapopI have been starting some research on what I want to install (not much time yet). I am familiar with the idea of going clutchless but I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking of going with a high performance motor like a Netgain Warp 9 at 120-144 volts. If I go this way, I was thinking that a clutch might be a good thing to provide a "weak spot" in the drive train. The idea being that a clutch could slip a little if I apply too much torque. I understand that the HP electric motors provide insane amounts of torque starting at zero rpm. I am also not sure of batteries yet either but may consider a lithium battery pack. This will reduce the weight by about two thirds and double the range. The only problem is the 5-6 k for just the batteries. My wife already thinks I'm insame for tackling a project like this. I'm telling her its my midlife crisis and it could be worse [/quote]
hey, at least you're not on crack! this project will only help your mental state, unlike a lot of available hobbies/addictions.
that's how i justify it to my wife, anyway.
it sounds like you're making something badass if you're going to make enough energy to possibly break stuff, so yeah, a clutch may be a good idea. i would look for a lightened flyweel to bolt it to, though, so you don't have the extra inertia of a weighted one. i'm following this one, and can't wait to see how it turns out!
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"A poor workman always blames his parts... Ya gotta have skillz to hang junk." -johnnypan

[Hondapop]

I started to tackle the rear end on the car this weekend. This area has a lot of rust and panels with many holes. I was able to find several replacement panels but at a high cost. The new rear apron was less expensive than one of the engine surround panels. I think the apron was about $78 while the others were about $80 each.

Sorry for the thumb shot. I can see now why the rear end of the car felt a little loose when I was separating the pan from the body.

[Hondapop]

I finally finished removing all the rust in the engine bay and cutting out the
remaining rusty panels. I purchased replacement panels for the engine guard at the back of the engine bay and was surprised when they were delivered. The left and right panels look fine but don't extend to the middle of the bay far enough to replace the whole guard (I know it isn't called a guard but I don't know what else to call it....maybe surround tin at the back). I ended up cutting out the rusty tin and leaving small sections of the existing center tin and mathced them up with the new surround tin.

I ended up replacing the entire left side of the engine bay since there wasn't much left. I cleaned all the rust away and sealed the area with POR 15. Man....does POR 15 smell bad when you weld to a panel close to when it was applied.

The left side of the compartment hat rotted away at the area where the rear apron attaches. I found some nut plates the right size and fabricated an extension to fix this area. I first attached the left fender to make sure the nut plate location was correct. I do plan to put both feners on to mark the correct location for the new apron.

[Hondapop]

This weekend I was able to finish the work in the engine bay and get a coat of primer on everything. I'm hopefully going to have some nice weather in the next week or so to get a topcoat of the original color in the engine bay and trunck area. I want to get this stuff painted so i can get the body back on the pan and free up some garage space. It is tuff shuffling around things to have enough space.

[Hondapop]

I forgot to mention what a pain in the arz it was to get to some surface rust under the vents below the bottom window. There was no major rust just scattered surface rust. I taped up each individual vent rib to protect the paint (why I'm not sure since I will likely repaint the whole car when funds are available) and used a skinny screw driver with sand paper on the end to get the bulk of rust off. I also used a long bitted dremmel tool to get to some areas. I then coated everything with the POR 15 system. I did learn a lesson with using the POR. Everything below the area I treated received the same bath of rinse water which caused some surface rust over night. I ended up having to sand all the bare metal below the vents again before prep. I'm not sure what I could have done to protect the area.

[Hondapop]

I make some progress on Saturday and was able to get the body back on the pan. I was originally going to ask a bunch of neighbors to come over and just lift it into place but the weather was bad and I didn't want to do it on a bad day. I ended up working in a closed garage and was ale to slowing lower the body down by using a series of jack stands. Once the body was close to the pan, I jacked up the pan at the front and was able to start bolting it together. I was surprised that everything seemed to line up and all the bolts tightened up fine. I was worried because i replaced many nut plates that came off when I pulled the body off. I was also worried that my floor pan replacement was off too. I did prep everything by running a tap through all the nuts to get out the paint. I finally have some space to work!

[baxsie]

This project is progressing well, and much faster than mine. Good job!

Do you have choices for your: battery pack, charger, motor, controller, etc already selected?

A bug is light (nice) but not particularly slick. What kind of range do you expect? Are you targeting city only or cross country?

I've toyed around with the idea of an EV several times (that is how I ended up with a 2005 Prius, which has been great, BTW). The big problem for me with EV, is that we have serious winters here and heating in an EV is a big range-killer. Plus, I am cold blooded so I like my car to be 80F in the winter.

An idea that has been rattling around in my head lately:

1) build a more-or-less conventional EV conversion

2) add gas heater (Eberspacher or similar)

That way you are using electricity for what it does well (mechanical work) and using (a small amount) gasoline for what it well (create heat).

Watching tour project with interest.
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1975 LaGrande Super Beetle Build Log / Farm boy hinge pin puller / Farm Boy Chassis Rotisserie
"I'm not getting older, I'm getting bitter."

[Hondapop]

I haven't looked much at what I might install for the electric motor, controller, etc. Before I started the conversion I researched enough to know the basics so I will probably go lead acid on the batteries. I can't see putting $7k into batteries on my first conversion. I believe if I spec the components correctly I can always add lithium batteries after the lead acid packs deterioate (hopefully 3-4 years). I think the 9 inch motors are the most popular for bugs that want good performance. The fit is tight for the Warp 9, but it does fit with a little cutting of the inside of the rear apron. I will likely go with 120 volts or ten batteries. I believe this setup gives a top speed of 65 to 70 mph and a range of 30-35 miles near 50% dod? (at a lower top speed).


The car is a weekend car and maybe a spare when my wifes car isn't available ( I have a company car). The car will run on the flat since I am in Delaware. I'm in Dover and we are at elevation 50. The local landfill is the highest point in the County. I should get a good range driving near home.

I have not worked out what heat to use but your idea of Eberspacher is interesting. I agree that the heat should come from something other than electric. I will look into a gas or propane heater. I did maintain the existing heater channels, fan, and defrost system. It should be pretty easy to tie into the existing system (if I leave enough room when placing batteries).

I suspect I will be placing 6 batteries over the rear axel and 4 in the trunk (where the fuel tank was). I really will need a total of 11 batteries since one will run the existing 12 volt systems. Thanks for you interest and I appreciate any comments

[volksnhousin]

Neat build, I have always thought it would be fun to build an electric bug.

Here’s an old thread that you may or may not have seen that might be of help.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=276769&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[baxsie]

[Machinegunnjo]

Way cooler than a hybrid prius. I cant wait to see more progress.
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My 69 Bug Body Off Restoration

[Hondapop]

I haven't posted much lately but I have made some progress. I appreciate all the work people go through to post their projects. It is a lot of work to remember to take good pictures and to take the time to post things. I really don't have many good pictures of the latest progress. I finished installing the fenders and all of the outside lighting. When I originally planned the conversion I was set on repainting the entire bug. The paint is a re-spray which is probably 6-8 years old, but it is in surprisingly good shape. There was one small surface rust spot very low on the right quarter, but that is really the only outside paint work that need attension. I did re-spray the door jambs, inside the trunk and inside the engine bay. Matching the color was an experience since the paint available is very low VOC paint which was an ok match.

I pulled all the wiring before the paint and I am in the process of rewiring the entire car. I am using a lot of the original wires but I will be putting in a new modern fuse panel. The wiring from inside the cab to the engine bay was routed inside the cab instead of the original location (which I think was a bad location for anyone that wants to service the wiring). I won't be using a lot of the existing connections to the engine bay, but I am retaining all of it in case a future owner wants to convert the bug back to a recipicracating engin.

[Hondapop]

I installed a set of the flush rear brake light assemblys since I really don't like the look of the original lights. I sold the bumbers to a fellow Samba member and will be fabricating some small bumpers shortly. I repainted the wheels in the same pattern the original owner had (black inside with a chrome look paint outside). I really like the look. New tires were installed with a low restance spec (don't recall which).

I pulled the dash and considered many of the aftermarket dashes. The original dash had one 3 inch crack above the speedometer. I decided to keep the original dash and will rework the gauge area probably by fabricating a new insert where the original switches are located. I think I can have a local CNC shop fabricate an aluminum plate to macth this piece and I can install what ever gauges/switches I decide to have. The shop can finish the aluminum in a way that won't require any polish (and won't reflect back at the driver). I can also have the radio are covered with a similar plate and maybe replace the wood grain over the glove box to match.I repaired the dash crack with one of those kits that give you liquid plastic and an iron. The repair is just ok, but much better than a full crack showing. I repainted the entire dash with a gloss black (yes gloss). I do plan to dull the top of the dash area with fine steel wool before completion which will help hide the repair (fine steel wool really does to a nice job if you are careful). I do have a few pictures below of the progress.

[Hondapop]

[baxsie]

I spoke to these folks a couple of days ago:

Dash Specialists (dashes rebuilt & recovered)
1910 Redbud Lane
Medford, OR 97504
Phone: 541-776-0040

They quoted $850 to re-skin the 1973-1979 super beetle dash. They remove the old vinyl, repair the old foam, then bond new vinyl over it.
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1975 LaGrande Super Beetle Build Log / Farm boy hinge pin puller / Farm Boy Chassis Rotisserie
"I'm not getting older, I'm getting bitter."

[erusmenac]

we can do it from fully carbon.. we are not going to re-skin it. We will create the mold of it and produce it from carbon.

If you are interested i can work on the price shipping included.

You must have seen my posts about carbon fiber. We are going to build a complete bug from pure carbon.. check my posts.

Regards

[hobbybob517]

[erusmenac]