Building electric sports cars and hot rods!
Some Models Stopped by to Admire the Electricity
Electrifying
Ferrari
Lotus Elise
EV GT-40
Andrew McClary and his boys
57 Chevy
Paul and his electric Porsche
Lots of crowd around the EVGT-40
Builder Andrew McClary
Nice Hotrod
Mercedes
James Bond Aston Martin
Rolls Royce
EVGT-40
Flagler Road
Its a Doozy
Fisker Karma
Fisker Karma Hybrid Plug in Electric
Lamborgini
Lotus Elise
Bugati
Cobra
Naked Cobra
Aston Martin
Audi
Cobra
Lotus
Nissan Leaf - Palm Beach City Fleet
We had a great club turn out at the car show and made a big impact. We had 6 electric cars make it to the show this year and made a lot of heads turn. The day was filled with a lot of great questions and the belief by many of those attending that this is truly the way to the future.
The EVGT-40
The Gold Coast EAA Shows Up and takes up almost a whole row
Andrew Roddy and his E-Box
Yuri
Charlie's Nisson
Charlie Mallone
Steve and Audry Clunn
Want to see what is going on with the modifications to the EV GT-40. Check out the live webcam and see what is going on.
Click on the above image. Username: evmania Password: evmania
When asked for username and password, enter in “evmania” for both.
Battery and Solar Cell Rack Welded and Ready
The Battery Rack is Bolted to these Rails Above the Motor
The Batteries and Solar Cells Mounted
The Solar Cells Power Fans that Cool the Pack
Compression straps with rods hold pack together horizontally
The Solar Rack Hinged For Easy Battery Access
As seen through back window
The next step is putting in the battery management system which will monitor the status of all of the batteries. I have been working with Charlie Malone who has designed a really nice system. I am working on the computer display system for his electronics. The computer display system will also monitor what is coming out of the motor controler, which in my case is the Zilla. Below are are some preview shots of what the display is going to look like. It will run on either an iPad or Samsung Tab.
copyright 2011 Andrew McClary
Battery View Mode - Copyright 2011 Andrew McClary
The batteries arrived from Calb Battery nicely packed in wood crates.
My first step was to check out how they would all fit in the battery compartment area. They are very different in size from the lead acid batteries that were removed. This meant I was going to need to make new battery racks.
The lower rack fabricated
Testing the rack in the car
One of the issues with lithium batteries is the heat. They don’t like the heat and if they get too hot it will decrease their life. This is especially true in Florida. To solve this problem, I am installing a ventilation system in the back to remove some of the heat. The system is going to be powered by photovoltaic solar cells mounted over the battery pack. The small solar array will also help shade the batteries from the sun.
Finished Battery Rack with solar panel rack on top
A few other things are going to get upgraded in the process. The Ubuntu Linux computer and Liliput Touchscreen are going to be replaced with an Android powered Tablet in the dash board. Splash panels are going to be installed underneath the car to help keep the motor and battery compartment dryer and improve wind resistance on the bottom of the car. A new battery monitoring and management system is going to be installed. I am going to be working with Charlie Mallone on this system. He has developed a nice little piece of electronics for monitoring all of the cells and managing the charging and discharging process. The final step in this process will be bringing all of the electronic data being generated by the motor controller, BMS, and speedometer into one place and displaying them on the Android touchpad.
Since all of the batteries are coming out opening out of the rear compartment, I am also going to take a look at another none electronic issue…the seat comfort. With extended range, I would like the drivers seat to be a bit more comfortable. Since there isn’t going to be a big ice engine in the back, it’s possible to alter the Valkyrie’s built in seat to move it back about 3-5 inches with a little fiberglass work.
I am shooting to get the EV GT-40 back on the road by December 4th for the big Festival Car Show in Pompano Beach. The Gold Coast EAA will have a number of our cars at this public show up against a lot of super cars and custom hot rods that live in Florida. The car is going to take it’s last drive on lead this morning and then the work begins. Stay tuned to this blog for photos and videos of the work. I look forward to sharing with everyone.
Andrew McClary
The EV GT-40 will soon be lithium powered. A set of 54 – 180ah lithium cells have been ordered. Below are the calculations and specs.
CALB SE-180
This video segment was produced for Jack Rickards EVTV.
The video was shot and edited on an iPhone 4 and iPad.
The dedication ceremony for the city of Delray Beaches new charging stations was today. I attended the event by driving the EVGT-40 and got to test out the J-1772 connector at my first public charging station.
We had 7 electric cars at the event including 3 new Chevy Volts. My EVGT-40 was at the center of attention again as they set up the podium right in front of it.
Our own Charles Whalen gave an excellent speech despite not being prepared to speak. Not only did he donate the equipment, but also handed the vice mayor a check to pay the first years electricity which should be less than $500. A fraction of the cost they already spend on lighting.
Ribbon cutting ceremony
First time charging the EVGT-40 at a public charging station
A good crowd
A job well done Charles Whalen!
The car is videotaped by the local news
Evan Axelbank of NBC Channel 5 West Palm Beach News called on me this evening and asked to do an interview. They were doing a pre-story on the opening of the new charging stations in Delray Beach which officially open tomorrow. Evan and his photographer came out to my home and interviewed me about my car and how having the charging stations will impact owners of electric cars. I got a chance to take Mr. Axelbank for a ride and give him a taste of what driving an electric car feels like.
You can read the story on the Channel 5 web site by clicking here.
The story aired on the 11:00 news.
Attended the Fort Pierce Electric car rally held by Steve Clunn from Greenshed Conversion. There was a parking lot full of electric cars and conversions that showed up for the event.
The EV GT-40 took second place at the show. This award meant a lot to me because it came from a group of my peers in the area.
After the show we all paraded down to the Palm Beach Raceway for an event put on by ECEDRA. We were just a small event being held in a big night of racing by a lot of groups from classics to the top fuel dragsters. Ron was there with his electric Camero dragsters and Paul showed up with his Porsches. There were lots of delays getting the cars ready to pass tech and even a mishap with a blown controller, but fun was had by all.
I didn’t race the EV GT-40 at this event due to a battery problem but hope to be back at the next event and make a good showing.
Mayor of Delray Beach Nelson S. "Woodie" McDuffie
The Gold Coast Electric Auto Association attended the Delray Beach Earth Day event in Delray Beach on Saturday. At the event the club had four electric cars on display along with the other earth day exhibits. The highlight of the even though was that the Mayor, Nelson McDuffie publicly promised the chapter that public electric charging stations would be installed in Delray Beach before the 30th. Special thanks for this needs to go to our own Charles Whalen who has worked hard with the local government to make this happen by donating the initial equipment for the stations.
Andrew McClary with the Mayor
Showing off Charles Whalen's Chevy Volt
Charlie Malone's 240ZX with a new lithium battery pack
Showing off the cars
EAA Members Discussing Electric Car Tech
Charlie Malone with the new public charging socket.
Andrew Roddy with his new converter box to the new standard charge port
They are faster than a turtle
EVTV is a great source of information for people who are interested in electric car technology and especially electric conversions. Hosted by Jack Rickard, he and his team review and test a lot of EV technology.
Jack looks at Duane’s new Porsche 904 replica EV project, goes over some of the issues and solutions they have found for converting a Mini to electric, and ends with an interesting historical video that really shows the impact of oil on the environment.
I came across a great article on LiPo batteries on the RC Helicopter web site. These guys have been using LiPo batteries with a lot of sucess. Click here to read the full article. Below are the highlights translated into values which are more to our using.
Below are some of the values you need to look at when designing a pack.
148 volt LiPo pack = 40 cells x 3.7 volts
Ah – Capacity indicates how much power the battery pack can hold and is indicated in amp hours (Ah).
C -How fast a battery can be charged or discharged. A battery with a discharge rating of 2C would mean you could discharge it at a rate 2 times more than the capacity of the pack, a 3C pack = 3 times more, a 20C pack = 20 times more, and so on.
Let’s use our 100 Ah battery as an example; if it was rated at 2C that would mean you could pull a maximum sustained load up to 200 amps or 200 amps off that battery (2 x 100 amps = 200 amps). The higher the C value the higher the cost usually. What this means to an EV though is how much power you can effectively use. If the C rating is low, you are going to have to use more cells to increase the voltage so that you use less amperage. My car can easily pull up to 1000 amps at 168 volts if I am racing. Taking off from a stop at normal driving speeds can easily require 200 amps. Many cells will allow you to pull at a higher C rating for a short period of time without damaging the battery. If the cell is drained too fast, this usually results in heat which can damage the cell.
Internal Resistance - Most decent higher discharge rated LiPo cells will have roughly 2 to 6 milliohms (0.002 to 0.006 ohms) of internal resistance when brand new. To calculate the total internal resistance of a series wired pack, you would then add these numbers together so a 148 cell pack with each cell having 4 milliohms of resistance will show a total internal resistance of about 592milliohms (0.592 ohms).
As packs age, the internal resistance goes up and the warmer they run. Lower discharge rated packs will generally have higher internal resistance readings.
Feb . 26th Palm Beach Florida – West Palm Beach Super Car Super Show
My son Andy and I and the EV GT-40 attended the Palm Beach Super Car Super Show along with Andrew Roddy and his electric E-Box. We were joined at the show by Paul Little and his electric conversions. In all we had a total of 8 electric cars at the show and took up a pretty nice area right in the center. We made a great impression as we sat in among the ultra expensive and iconic super cars. (Yes, if you are paying attention, there were three Andys.)
Cars Lined up on Flagler Drive
Builder Andrew McClary with the EV GT-40 Electric Car
Andy McClary with the EV GT-40. He gets his license next year and already has his eye on the car
The EV GT-40 was a big hit and drew a lot of crowds. The major parts of the car was labeled up along with illustrations to show how an electric car works. Andrew Roddy had his electric E-Box with and AC Propulsion Systems motor and controller right next to the EV GT-40. The cars drew larger crowds than the Ferrari and Lamborghini which was sitting next to it. This I think caused some disappointment to the owners of those cars which were a lot more expensive than my electric Gt-40 replica. By the end of the day both myself and Andrew Roddy were horse from talking all day to people with questions. They all had questions and a real interest in the cars.
Andrew Roddy and his E-Box along side the EV GT-40
Checking out the car
Motor controller and Charger
Everyone had questions
People spent quite a bit of time inspecting the car
Car enthusiast looking it over
The E-Box all electric car by AC Propulsion - Andrew Roddy owner
An Electric Lamborgini Replica
Notice the EV Logo
12" Warp 9 in the Lamborgini Replica
2005 Ford GT-40
Ferrari
Dual 12" electric motor Porshe - Paul Little
280HP x 2 - All Electric
Cars lined up along Flagler Dr.
Exotics and Race Cars
Dancer gracing the grandstands
Drag Racing Rolls Royce
One FAST Rolls Royce
Leather Covered Nitros Bottles
A very good showing of electric cars
Even speed boats
Very Cool Looking Chair
Porsche
A Local Dance group takes the stage
Drag Racer
Lotus
Lotus Interior
Lamborgini
GT-40 Replica
Performance Power Racings GT-40
Calculations for a new battery pack using Thundersky Lithium Ion (lifepo4) Cells
3.5lbs each
$50 each
112 cells in pack
392 lbs
358.4 volts
14.32 kwh
43 miles expected range*
$5,600 total
5.51 lbs each
$75 each
72 cells in pack
396.72lbs
13.84kwh
41 miles expected range*
$5,400
7.05lbs
$112.50 each
72 cells in pack
230 volts
507.6 lbs
20.73kwh
62.81 miles expected range*
$8,100
7.72lbs each
$125 each
56 cells in pack
432 lbs
179.2 volts
17.92 kwh
54 miles expected range*
$7,000 total
16lbs each
$250 each
56 cells in pack
896lbs
35.84kwh
108 mile expected range*
$14,000
* .33kwh per mile with current configuration, with lighter pack this should be even less
The other added expense that has to be considered is a high quality BMS (Battery Management System). Its not an option. Without this it is easy to destroy a good set of very expensive batteries.
Thundersky Lithium Cells 3.2 Volts Each - 4 of the ones in my hand are a little more than a single AGM currnetly in use.
Loaded ready to transport to Fort Pierce
I was having some problems with my battery pack and needed some expert help. To get that help I traveled to Green Shed Conversions to get the help from Steve Clunn. Green Shed Conversions in Fort Pierce, Florida is the home of Steve and Audrey Clunn. Steve has been doing conversions and putting together electric cars for more than 15 years now. He has a wealth of experience and knowledge on electric cars.
Unloaded and ready for inspection
Steve Clunn looks over the EV GT-40
Steve's Volt Meter with multiple inputs
Batteries wired to Steve's meter
Once we had the car all wired up, Steve and I took a ride in the car. While I drove, Steve carefully monitored the suspected batteries. Sure enough, upon acceleration two of the batteries were dropping to less than 7 volts and creating a lot of resistance in the pack. These few batteries were pulling down the whole pack. The issue seems to be that the batteries were not being charged at a high enough amperage. Over time they have developed higher resistance which prevents them from giving up their charge. To fix this, these batteries were charged at a very high amperage very quickly. After driving the car a second time, they were showing at least a 10 percent increase. The process is going to need to be repeated a few times before they come back up to 100% efficience.
Steve had a number of battery packs at his shop. We tooks some time to look at the Thunder Sky Lithium Ion batteries and compared them in size and capacity to the AGM batteries I was currenlty using. The battery I have in my hand has about the same energy capacity as the large AGM battery. The Lithium battery weighs about 8 lbs. verses the 80lbs of the AGM. Though expensive, the price on lithium batteries is coming down. A pack with almost half the weight of my current pack could easily deliver four to five times the capacity. My current pack has about 8kwh of capacity and weighs about 1,000 lbs. . A 24kwh pack could be done in lithium ion batteries with a wieght about 400lbs.
60 ah Lithium Ion Battery. 4 of these has more usable energy than Hawker Odyssey AGM. The 4 cells would weigh about 24lbs vs. 80 lbs for the AGM battery.
100 ah Lithium Ion vs AGM with about 50ah usable
One of the dangers of lithium batteries is that they are not very forgiving to abuse. Without a proper battery management system a pack could be killed pretty quickly by allowing them to drain to 0 volts or over charging. The pack below was removed from a car that was used by an owner who let them all drain to 0 volts. Steve is going through them trying to revive some of the batteries, but 80 percent will end up unusable.
a killed battery pack
Steve and Audrey’s property is filled with all kinds of electric experiments and projects like the motorcycle below.
Electric Motorcycle
Zap Electric Car
Zap Electric battery pack and controler
Electric Bike
An electric Lamborgini
Electric RAV 4 - This is Audrey's daily driver
I want to thank Steve. He is one of electric vehicles heroes and was gracious enough to spend the day with me to find the problem in my pack.
Got a chance to visit the Nissan Leaf test drive event in Fort Lauderdale. Nissan had a really nice display which was like a small village they setup out in the Sawgrass Mills parking lot.
The main tent was for registration and also had a number of video displays that helped educate people about electric cars.
After they had a group ready, we were escorted into the next tent which housed a display with the Leaf’s battery pack. The pack is a very nicely organized system of 24 prismatic flat lithium ion modules. Each module houses 4 cells. The total pack is 24kwh of energy. I don’t know how hard it is to actually get into the pack when it’s on the car, but it looks like it would be pretty easy to change out a bad module if you can get into the pack.
The next tent we were escorted to was a display on the range and iPhone system monitoring and control. For those that don’t have an iPhone there is also a web site. From your phone you can read battery charge and a lot of other car functions. One nice feature is that you can turn on the AC or heat remotely. So if you car is plugged in charging in the garage, you can turn on the AC and the car will cool itself off the garage power and be cool when you unplug it to drive.
From here we were lead out to the cars to drive. We first went through a little course setup in the parking lot with cones and then out on the street. The car performed real well. There is an econo mode which we also tried. In this mode acceleration is really sluggish and the regen is a lot heavier. You can really see how driving in this mode would lead to better economy, but for the average driver, it’s no fun.
The back seat was easily large enough to fit 3 adults, so it really is a 5 passenger car. There was even a nice sized trunk.
Charging the car can be done in two ways. There is the new standard j-1772 connector which can be plugged into a public charging station. The car comes with a cable with one of these connectors and a 120 volt standard AC plug. They recommend having a 240 volt charging station put in your house though. This is around $2k. These methods take from 6-8 hours to charge fully. The other method of charging is through a special high speed charging port which can handle a lot higher voltage and amperage. This would be used by fleet vehicles such as Taxis. This high speed port would allow the car to be charged in as little as 30 minutes.
Overall I was very impressed. Nissan seems genuinely committed to making this technology work. As a side note, all of the dealerships will have charging stations. I wonder if they will be kind enough to share a few electrons with other EVs who come to visit?
Finally got around to wiring in the J1772 connector into my car today. The connector end I wired into my 220volt 30 amp circuit in my garage.
Attended the Pompano Beach Festival Fleamarket car show. The car got a great response and was a crowd favorite especially with the younger generations. I was parked right next to one of the Grand Torinos used in the Starsky and Hutch television series. The only other electric at the show was a Porsche 911 conversion done by Paul Vaughn of West Palm Beach.
I learned an important lesson today. I had changed out a few of the Zener battery balancers and hadn’t tightened down the bolts on one of the terminals. When I took the car out for a test run I noticed a bright flash in my rear view mirror in the top of the battery pack. I immediately got off the peddle cutting the flow of electricity and pulled over. What I found was that one of the terminals I had just worked on was blackened and the nut and washer were noticeably damaged by what had been arcing electricity. Without the bolt being tightened the copper plate was loose enough on the terminal that a bump in the road had cause it to jump a bit. The high voltage electricity just jumped this tiny gap producing an arc. Needless to say I cleaned up the terminal, replaced the nut and washer, and the rechecked the connections on the rest of the pack.
J-1772 Charging Connector
Thanks to Charles and David from the Gold Coast EAA, I now have a J-1772 charging connector to put into my car. This new connector is the North American standard developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers for use in all charging stations. Once public stations are put in, my car will be able to easily get a charge. The connectors are really nice. There is a button on the top of the plug that links locks into the charging connector so its not accidentally disconnected. Simple electronics in both the plug and receptacle do some handshaking to make sure the connection is in place before electricity begins to flow.
J-1772 Connector showing pins
The button on the top has a place where a lock could be inserted
Got a chance to show the car at the Wayland Living Green Fair today. The response was overwhelming. I barely have any voice after talking to people all day. I am amazed how so many people even today are unaware of the viability of electric cars. I had a great time educating people on the technology. The best was the reaction from the kids and young adults. There were a number of teenagers who were really into modifying cars who took a big interest. Maybe we start a whole new generation of electric hot rodders. Everyone was really amazed that the EV GT-40 wasn’t a commercial car built by a big car company, but by a hobbiest in a garage right in their own neighborhood.
Toyota and Lexis were at the show showing off their hybrids, but I was the only one at the fair with all electric drive. Hopefully at next years show we will have some full on electric cars from Nisson and Toyota and Chevy showing plug in electrics.
I really want to thank the folks at Wayland Living Green fair for letting me show off the car. If we are ever to move away from oil, its all going to be about educating the public.
All setup and ready for people to check it out
Charging off of 110 Volt line
Checking out the car
Lot of interest and questions
Wayland painting a mural with the kids at the fair
Whales Love Clean electric cars
Photo op with a whale
Andrew answering questions from kids
These were all driven on normal roads in normal traffic. Stops occurred approximately every 2-3 miles.
Battery pack is comprised of 16 Odyssey 2150 AGM batteries for a pack voltage of 168 volts at 12 volts per battery.
Battery voltages start
178.9 volt total pack
35psi tires
Odometer reading 362.28 start
| Bank A | Bank B | Bank C |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Final battery voltages
| Bank A | Bank B | Bank C |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Pack total 161 volts
Odometer reading 378.84 end
16.56 traveled by odometer*
17.8 traveled by GPS
37.4mph average
Top speed 53 mph
Stops every 2 miles
38ah spent according to Zillaview
Starting voltages
Bank A
Bank B
Bank C
180.3 pack voltage
OD 378.84 start
OD 399.10 end
35psi tires
33.1mph avg speed
49.4 max
42ah used
21.6 miles via gps
Final pack voltage
Bank A
Bank B
Bank C
162.5 volt
180.3 v pack
OD 399.1
Bank A
Bank B
Bank C
Final Voltages
Bank A
Bank B
Bank C
167.9 v pack
OD 413.44
15.2 miles on GPS
39.5 mph avg. 75mph max
OD 423.58
Pack V 183.1V
Bank A
Bank B
Bank C
Ending voltages
Bank A
Bank B
Bank C
23.4 miles taveled via GPS
35.6mph avg. 57.6 max
Odometer 445.16ery
WH=V*AH
Perkert (Adjusted capacity based on perkert principle) 60% capacity
Usable WH = 80% perkert adjusted capacity
AH Used – read from Zillaconfig
AH per Mile = AH used/miles driver
WH per mile =AH per mile x Pack Voltage
Range = Usabel WH / WH per mile
Looking at the above calculations, below is the spreadsheet modified for Lithium pack and comparison of range and cost.
With a Lithium 50 cell 160AH pack the car would have almost an 80 mile range.
Got to take the car out on it’s first public outing today. I was asked to give a presentation at the Gold Coast Electric Auto Association. The meeting was only about ten miles from my house but it was the farthest it’s been from home so far.
It was a nice drive to downtown Boca Raton and the car performed well. It got a lot of looks on the short trip. This is a complement in a town that typically has a lot of exotic cars.
It was a real honor to present my car to the guys at the club. A few of the guys there have their own converted cars so they understood what it took to build this one. Though they had been hearing about it from me for two years and a lot of them have been a big help in giving me encouragement and assisting with lots of questions, none of them had yet seen the final product.
Finishing the interior has really been fun and rewarding. I get to see it all come together and look like a real luxury sports car. The one thing I do wish I had was an air conditioned garage to do this in. Since it’s now June, Florida days get up in the 90’s and lots of humidity. I keep a stack of t-shirts in the garage to change into as each one gets soaked. Working inside the small interior of the EV GT-40 is tough.
Just so we remember were it all started from 2 years ago.
The entire interior is first covered with a foil and rubber sound/thermal product called Zillamat. This really improved the sound in the car.
The interior is then covered with carpet which is glued in place with 3M contact adhesive. The finished product looks real nice.
Lee Hart’s Shunt Type Battery Balancer
12 V Version -
From http://www.cameronsoftware.com/ev/EV_BatteryManagementSystems.html
Each battery has a regulator which consists of
2 – ring terminals, with hole for 5/16″ bolt, and crimp for #6 wire
2 – 6.8v 5watt zener diodes
2 – #PR2 flashlight bulb
Solder a zener diode into each ring terminal where the wire normally goes. Solder a 6″ piece of wire to the other end of the zener diode. Solder the flashlight bulb between the free ends of these two wires. Now you have the two zeners and flashlight bulb all wired in series.
Lee added on 8/09 – Since there are two zeners in series, and they have a 5% tolerance, I measure their actual zener voltage, and match them up in pairs with the same total. I have a bench power supply with knobs to set the voltage limit and current limit. I set the current limit to some value like 100ma, and set the voltage limit higher than the zener voltage (like 10v for a 6.8v zener). Connect the zener, and the power supply automatically supplies a fixed 100ma. Measure the voltage across each zener. Sort them into bins (6.5v 6.6v 6.7v 6.8v 6.9v 7.0v 7.1v). Use pairs that add up to the same total
6.5v + 7.1v = 13.6v
6.6v + 7.0v = 13.6v
6.7v + 6.9v = 13.6v
6.8v + 6.8v = 13.6v
Fill the space between the zener and ring terminal with epoxy glue. Likewise, dunk the bulb and its wires in epoxy glue. This makes everything waterproof and acid proof, and helps conduct heat. The zeners get their heatsinking from the large ring terminals and battery posts they are bolted to.
The diodes are all sorted based on the voltages.
The bulb is soldered to the wire and the lead of the diode.
The whole thing is wrapped in heat shrink tubing. Each end is the same except the diode is reversed. The positive ends are marked with a red marker.
One of these is made for each battery.
As the pack charges the lights slowly begin to light up on the batteries that reach capacity. This shunts about a half an amp around that battery to the next which helps to balance the batteries out. Each time you charge the pack the batteries should get closer and closer.
The dash is covered with a high quality marine artificial leather. After masking off the area it is sprayed with 3M 90 spray adhesive. The material is also sprayed and allowed to dry about 3 minutes. The material is then lowered into place and from the middle it is pressed hard to the dash working outward being carefull not to get any wrinkles or bubbles. The material is stretched over the lip of the top dash and rolled under. Afterward a sharp razor is used to cut away the extra.
A month of preparation and 2 days of painting.
The single biggest problem I have with the GT40 design is the head room. The GT40 was given this destination because the roof height was 40 inches. The Valkyrie is slightly higher but not by much. My 6′1″ body is a bit tall for the car. One solution is the Gurney bubble which many GT40s sport. This bubble over the driver was designed to fit Gurney’s tall frame. I never liked the bubble. I think it kills the cars lines. I wanted a different solution.
One of the last body modifications was the installing of a charging port. I searched all over for a suitable gas door and compartment to house the charging port which in my case is a 125/250 volt 30 amp plug. I found a VW Passat in the junk yard that had a nice setup. The Passat’s gas portvand door can easily be removed and is all one Peice and not built into the body as most gas doors.
With the back removed for some body work, I took some photos of the completed battery configuration.
Photos of the interior as it takes shape.
I am also including work on the arm rests for the doors.
With the mechanics and electrical work done it’s time to finish off the body. I never really liked how the back end came out. The bumper was too heavy looking. I decided to redo it. So the back was removed and work was started by cutting off the parts I didn’t like and gluing in new foam to form.
After a few test drives of the car I discovered that there was a major flaw in the steering setup. I had used the components that came with the car and the setup done by the previous owner. He had used a rack and pinion system. The problem is his geometry was all off. The control arms were too short and were causing a bump steer problem. The was also an issue with the angles of the control arms which caused issues in the turn. My solution was to go back to the system shown in the original plans which used a modified Corvair paralelagram steering system with a steering box and pitman arms. I had found a Corvair in the junk yard and had grabbed the whole steering system so I had the parts. I ended up using a Corvette steering box. The geometry of the Corvette box worked better and was stronger.
As I put all the new parts in place I could see the design working out a lot better. The geometry all just worked better. The only downside was I had the do some surgery on the nostrels so the were not as deep to accomidate the steering box.
Andrew McClary
Post From My iPhone
Spent the last four days, between eating turkey, working on the wiring and dash board. You don’t have any idea how much wire runs in a modern car till you wire one yourself. Finished the electric windows, trunk locks, remote door locks, lights, turn signals, and most importantly the touch screen monitor and computer.
After getting ahold of Otmar at Cafe Electric it was determined that the controller hairball (the low voltage controller that all the wired run into) did not have the correct option for running reversing contactors. I sent it back to Cafe Electric and he quickly added the options and got the controler back to me.
With the hairball out, I took the time to rewire a lot of the connections into bundles and run them all into three connectors. This would make removing the hairball easier as well as make it a lot more organized. With the hairball back, it only took me an hour to hook up all the wires from my connectors to the hairball.
Turning the key I could hear the forward contactor engaging. A further turn of the key to start and the main contactor clicked on as well. The computer was telling me no errors and ready for accelorator input. I slid into the seat and pressed the pedal. With only a slight wine the wheels began to turn. The RPM guage began to climb. It was alive.
Unfortunately it began to rain outside so the car was going to stay in the garage for now. If the weather is good tomorrow it will be time to test it on the street at low speeds.
Andrew McClary
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Well I just got off the phone with Ryan out at EV Source. He has been a great help in providing support to help me with the Zilla. Dispite our efforts and lots of double checking of wiring I am still getting an error that indicates that the motor contactors are not engaging. This excersize has given me a lot more understanding of how the system is supposed to function, but it’s still not working.
I also want to thank my friends and fellow EAA members Matt Graham and Lowell Simmons for looking over my schematics and trying to help me out over the weekend. All the guys at the Gold Coast EAA have been hearing about my progress and assisting me over the past year.
At this point the issue has been passed onto the people at Cafe Electric for support. All of my test data and schematics have been forwarded on and I am waiting to hear from them.
It’s hard to be so close to getting it running after a year of hard work and be stuck.
Hopefully I can get this all worked out this week.
Andrew McClary
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Worked all day tying up loose ends connecting up the last few switches and wires. Hooked up the car computer to the Zilla and got the whole system ready to power up. After doing one last check of all the wiring and making sure no tools were in the battery compartment, the time was here to turn the key. My son and I jacked up the back and put in the jack stand so the rear wheels were off the ground. The front wheels were blocked off.
I looked over the system but didn’t see anything out of place. Time to call a friend. I put in a call to Lowel Simmons and left him a voicemail. A few moments later I got a call from Lowel. He walked me through the setup screens in the Zilla. They were not all set up. Made a few changes and powered up again. Turned the key and click. The main contactor came on line. The computer read 1314 status code. A quick check of the manual confirmed a 1314 code as a ready to go, waiting for the accelorator pedal. All green lights.
I got in the car seat and pressed the pedal. Nothing. Disapointment…and a call to come in for diner. Looks like tomorrow night I begin checking wires.
So close.
The Zilla DC motor controller is a liquid cooled system. It uses a small radiator to cool the coolant which is pumped through the system. I wantd to create an air intake and duct system to help cool this system. Though it will also have a small fan, hopefully I won’t need it.
The GT body already had air scoops designed in the body. One of these was cut out for this use. A duct then needed to be fabricated to match up to this air intake and transfer air to the square radiator. This I fabricated out of fiberglass.
Step 1 was to create a cardboard mold. This mold was covered in duct tape and fiberglass cast over the top of it. Below you can see the mold on the right and the fiberglass peice on the left.
2. Sand the peice and add a little filler to make it look more finished.
3. The radiator is bolted onto the duct.
4.Bolts were fiberglassed into the body to attach the duct over the air scoop.
5.A mount was also fiberglassed in to hold the pump.
The Motor controller
Once everything was wired on the high voltage board, it was time to install it into the trunk compartment of the car and hook everything up.
Hooked up
Zilla controller access through the trunk
trunk access
With 12 volt power now running through the car it was time to hook up the vacuum pump and get it working so I could bleed the brakes and get them functioning. I got the system all hooked up. Turning the ignition key flips a relay which powers on the pump. The pump comes on and fills a vacuum tank. Once the correct pressure is obtained a switch turns the pump off. Turning the key for the first time provided the desired result. The vacuum pump came on and about 30 second later shut down.
I got in the car and pressed on the brake pedal. I could feel the booster doing it’s thing. A couple of presses and the pump came on for a few second to restore the vacuum pressure.
Now it was time to check out the system and bleed the brakes. Not a fun task but with the right tools it’s not to hard. A brake bleeding kit consists of a small bottle with a tube into it the mounts via a magnet to the frame. The tube is connected to the bleeder valve on the brake. The valve is opened about one turn. You then pump the brakes making sure the master cylinder resivour if full. After a while you can work the fluid through the line and into the small bottle. You do this till you don’t see any bubbles. Then you tighten up the valve and move to the next wheel. Repeat this process for all four brakes.
All looked good on the back left wheel. Then I noticed that the line was leaking where the back line connected to the proportioning valve. Not good at all. After inspection I found that the connector had gotten screwed in crooked! Damn. I had to take out the whole master cylinder to remove the proportioning valve because the aluminum threads of the valve were now messed up. Time for another trip to the junk yard to find another late model Camero proportioning valve. This also meant a trip to the autoparts store for a new connector. The brakes were not getting done today.
Andrew McClary
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