Day Two Seattle...More Great News

We woke up and headed for Olympia, which is about an hour south. By around 12 we arrived at Paul's house.

Paul built is own controller, which i like a mini computer, for $600 and sells the kit and instructions for the same price.

We chatted about EV's and he showed me his 1972 Electric Bug which was pretty cool. He also gave me tips on how to build this controller and what to expect. He said to email him whenever i have a question. He needed some time to assemble my 100 plus piece kit, so my dad and i went to Red Lobster to get some food, then to a local EV part warehouse.

This was another awesome experience. I spoke with Dave on of the biggest EV parts retailer in the country about the best method for building my car. This was extremely helpful, and he told me to email him whenever i needed help.

So the only purchase i made, was one of the most important parts of my car, and i plan to get a head start on that before i get the other parts.

Here is the link to the instructions i'll follow to build this.
Controller Instructions

Pics are coming soon!!

Day One Seattle...Great News

Well today went great!!

My dad and i went all around Seattle hunting for various parts and found everything i wanted. Nothing EV related yet, just little things i need to repair.

1. We went 45 min North to Snohomish and bought some parts very cheap from a nice deaf guy
2. Next we drove back to the hotel, then 30 minutes south to meet the guy selling the grill and headlights, which i got in great condition!
3. Finally we drove back North like 40 minutes to a German Car Wrecking Yard which had tons of trashed GTIs that i was able to salvage the last pieces of the puzzle out of.

I doesn't seem like a long day, but seattle driving is nothing like spokane, and we got lost alot.

Ill post pictures when i get home thusrday.

Tomorrow, we are going to check out some EV stores and i may make my first EV purchase

The to-do list is getting smaller!!

Took out the dash

First i removed the steering wheel

 Then i took out all of the screws holding the dash, then disconnected the several wire clusters

Finally i wiggled out the dash

The heater core is what is left behind the dash and i'm keeping that for my conversion.

Im officially gas free!

Sold Coolant Temp Sensor

I got $40 for this little sensor

Its purpose is to make sure the coolant stays at a safe temp

Greg and Deb

Welcome to my blog. I see you have overcome the extreme challenges of becoming a follower and even posting a comment!

I hope you enjoy reading this, it would be cooler if you saw it all in person!!

If you haven't figured out yet, all of the posts are chronologically organized and you can select a month from the sidebar, or just scroll all the way down to older posts.

Plan

I'm probably going to leave the interior gutted during the conversion process because i have to run wires across the car.

Next weekend, i am going to seattle and plan to get new headlights and a grill. I also am going to make my first EV purchase. I'm buying a $600 kit that will allow me to build a controller. Buying one already built is $2000, so im glad i found thia kit.

a controller limits the amount of energy the batteries send to the motor. It basically connects to the acceleration pedal and clutch and sends more energy to the motor when i push on the acceleration.

The motor and controller are usually the most expensive components of an EV

Building the controller will take a lot of work. I have to solder tons of components to a circuit board, program a mini computer and NOT mess up. Im hoping to get some help from an electrical engineer.

Map of Viewers

Here are all the locations of the viewers this week

Gutted and Cleaned the Interior

Today was a beautiful day, so i decided to tackle the interior. My goal was to get the carpet completely out.

To do so i had to remove just about everything else until the car was only metal. I then took a warm sponge and cleaned the red metal til it shined. This process  took me about 5 hours

Gutted Trunk

Front of Car (before)

Gutted (after)

Here is the carpet. It was a like a maze figuring out how to get it out

Next Week

Next Week i plan to remove the interior carpet, door cards, headliner and dash and scrub down the metal in the carand clean the carpet too.

The headliner also needs reupholstering, which wont be as hard as the seats.

I also need to repair part of the sunroof, i have the new part, i just have to put it in

Everything gas related is out of the car, except some of the gauges and wireing.

Once the car is completely clean ill start purchasing the EV parts.

What i did today

1. Replaced the passenger door handle

2.  Separated the Cylinder Head from the Engine 

3.  Removed the lower dash so i could access the relay panel

4.  Sold all of these parts to someone

5.  Removed and cleaned the gas tank (gross)

6.  Borrowed the neighbors power washer and washed the car and all the parts

Clean Hood (before)

After!

Cleaned transmission (before)

After!

I was amazed at how cleans things got, ecspecially after 20 years of grime

Break Down of the Fuel Pump Assembly

I cleaned this gasoline drenched fuel pump  and then took it apart to learn how it worked

It looks like this:

Took Out the Back Seats

I took these out to create more room and for access to part of the gas tank. I also took out the carpet under the seats and trunk.

Back seats perfect condition

I also jacked up the back tires so i can remove the gas tank

First Injury

My dad went to the eye doctor after using the hacksaw underneath the car to remove the exhaust. It turns out he had a piece of rusty metal in his eye...

Sold Some Stuff

This weekend i managed to sell

• A small rubber tubing boot for $8 

• The Fan Motor for $25

• The Fuel Distributor and Air Box for $55

Its nice because the funds are transfered online and the people pay for the shipping. I just have to box it up and print the shipping label.

Only One Big Thing Left To Remove

I took out the huge exhaust pipe with the help of my dad's hacksaw and my dad. I also removed the fuel pump which is basically a little box with TONS of hoses and tubes sticking out. I had to figure out where each tube went, how to remove it and what was in it (gas, air, brake fluid). 

All that is left is the gas tank and the gauges and fuses i wont need.

The destruction stage is nearing a halt, but i still have the cleaning and fixing stage, then the conversion stage.

Next week i am borrowing a pressure hose so i can re clean all the parts and clean the under car and hood and body of the car

Here are some pics of the items (i haven't cleaned them yet)

Here is a pic i stitched together of the 15ft exhaust pipe

Here is the Fuel Pump 

ECU

The ECU is like a computer for the engine. it is the brains that tells it how much coolant to release, or how much fuel to inject.

Heat Shield between car and exhaust pipe

Removed Front Seats

I took out the front seats so i can reupholster them. I have black vinyl that matches the vinyl on the seats and plan to just cover up the torn red/gray fabric with it.

...I know nothing about sewing

Car without seats

Torn Seats

Bottoms that Ill Reupholster

Lots of Engine Parts Removed and Ready to Sell

I had a busy week, but i'm finally updating the blog

Here is a slideshow of all the parts.