[como]

I recently picked up a 1990 honda civic hatchback- EF? SI? Something or other.

Anyways, it was really abused by its previous owner, someone I would call a "ricer", who destroyed the engine, put a big tacky tach on the dash (inches from the stock one), and neglected basic maintenance. I'm in the process of trying to get her running again, but due to the cold (I live in Maine) I can't really work much on her.
I've done a head rebuild over the last few days in the basement, but I need to swap out the rings just to get some compression to run.

After all that, however, I'm sure it wont last more than another 15k, since I'm not really willing to do bearings without pulling the engine.


Anyways, after spending some time talking to my brother, it occurred to me that this is a great chance to build an EV- something I've always thought about doing, but never put much thought into doing.
That combined with my new job (which includes more funding and a short commute) means I can start getting serious about this idea.

Let's start with some background:
I love cars, I love tinkering. New job is 3.8 miles driveway to parking garage- which means about 8 miles a day. I'd love my range to be closer to 50, but 10 for starters means lots of chances to tinker around with things.
As for the car, some information from the internet I've dug up:
si- 2,286 lb (1,037 kg)
Power : 108 hp (80.5 kW, 110 ps) @ 5600 rpm
Torque : 100 ft·lbf (13.9 kg/m, 136 Nm) @ 4,800 rpm
Redline : 6500 rpm (USA)
motor weighs 190-230 lbs depending on what is left attached.

This particular car is a 5-speed manual, which the previous owner claims is geared lower than most hondas, but I can tell the engine has never been out- so I'm assuming this is the stock transmission, as well.


Anyways, I figure I'd like to start with sourcing a motor. I do fancy the idea of having the ability to add a nice CV generator to the system to extend range if need be, but I think in the end we're more or less stuck using DC motors.
I've seen a few different pages stumbling around- a geo metro run off a hydraulic motor, a little saturn, etc.

Anyways this is more just introducing myself than asking questions, but I'll be spending the day tomorrow (Supposed to hit 3 below!) reading up on this sort of stuff! Suggestions of places to start definitely welcome, and if this place has classifieds I'll probably be digging around looking for what parts cost.

Heres to finding another forum, hopefully this place is as full of information as I think it is!