Project B-ohM-W - Electric Conversion (Purists - don't look)

[FarFromStock]

I've been a lurker for some time now and have finally gotten up the courage to post my project. I realize this is going to make the purists cringe since I am completely changing everything on the car. I hope you guys won't hold it against me.

So here we go - It's a '75 that had a tired engine (250k miles) that we decided to convert to full electric. I've been doing the conversion for about 9 months now and have finally gotten it driveable. Now we are in the process of doing the paint and body work.

I have plenty of pictures of each step of the conversion but to save server space, I'll just post some of the highlights.

ICE removal:

Naked engine compartment:

Warp9 motor being mated to the stock 4-speed transmission:

Motor and transmission installed:

[FarFromStock]

Living in Florida, we had to retain the A/C. We used the existing Behr unit but replaced the compressor with one used on late model Chevy S10's. The guys at RebirthAuto in Saint Petersburg, Florida did most of the conversion and machined all of the billet aluminum mounts and adapters for the project.

A/C compressor mounted on motor:

[FarFromStock]

After lots of measuring, we determined that we could only fit a total of 11 batteries in the available space of the trunk and under the hood. My requirements were to give me enough power that I could make a 40 mile trip on a single charge. We went with 11 gel batteries that provided 105 amp-hours per battery. Three were mounted in the engine compartment, four behind the back seat (between the wheels), and four in the space where the gas tank used to reside.

Here are some pictures of the battery holders being built:

[eric.]

rad

[Pinepig]

Love to see more of this project.

[FarFromStock]

Thanks! I'll post more progress pictures tonight.

[Abel Sanchez]

I was just thinking of this yesterday, and how someone would go about doing it. And this morning I pop in and there you are! Great project!

Abel

[FarFromStock]

Here are some videos of our initial road test. We ran it up to 90mph on the interstate.

[Guest Anonymous]

Very cool, actually...

How does the weight of the batteries + motor etc compare with the weight of the original engine + a full tank of gas ?

What did you do for the gearing / transmission ?

[Guest Anonymous]

Very cool, actually...

How does the weight of the batteries + motor etc compare with the weight of the original engine + a full tank of gas ?

What did you do for the gearing / transmission ?

[harrym2]

very interesting, i like the look of this project

any more pictures plus more information

Harry

[FarFromStock]

Very cool, actually...

How does the weight of the batteries + motor etc compare with the weight of the original engine + a full tank of gas ?

What did you do for the gearing / transmission ?

I haven't had an opportunity to get it on a scale yet but we estimated that the conversion added about 600lbs to the car. In order to compensate, we changed the springs and added spring spacers. I'm still not completely happy with how it sits, but it handles better than I expected.

We kept the stock gears and 4-speed transmission.

[CutteRug]

Awesome!!!! I want to do this!!

More pics please!! (And specs too - what does the cost of conversion come out to? How would it compare to any of the other motor swaps?)

Cheers,

Adam

[FarFromStock]

Awesome!!!! I want to do this!!

More pics please!! (And specs too - what does the cost of conversion come out to? How would it compare to any of the other motor swaps?)

Cheers,

Adam

Hey Adam. Stand by for some more detailed pictures. As far as the cost, there was lots of prototyping involved as well as the typical requirements creep. Here are some rough costs you can expect to incur:

Motor - $1700

Motor/transmission adapter and mounts - $1800

Controller - $2000

Batteries ($200 each) - $2200

Charger - $500

DC/DC converter, throttle box, vacuum pump, etc. - $500

Wiring, connectors, etc. - $1300

All of the air conditioning parts and fabrication added another $1500.

So plan to spend at least $10k for just the hardware. And it will require quite a bit more effort than just a typical engine swap.

[FarFromStock]

Final engine bay configuration:

Trunk with matching vinyl battery cover panels:

Recharging port in original fuel filler: