1961 Volvo PV544 - Now EV544

[jclars]

With batteries charging/balancing on the bench four at a time, I placed the remaining ones in each box frame to start determining wire terminating points.

As seen in front, there is a contactor box where the HV positive side switches. The controller/inverter is located where the original 12V battery used to sit. Very convenient! Also shown in the front box is a shunt that was bought in my ignorance of where I would eventually go with gauges/display. Not in the box are the eventual 30A fuse blocks and conductors for the charging system located in the trunk. The HV cable on the right is the main negative series link from the rear pack contactor.

At the rear, the box slipped nicely into where the gas tank had been - without cutting or chopping. The rear contactor box is on the left. I had located the main rear fuse there, but it was recommended to be located within the box, so it eventually moves from there. Second from left is the DC-DC 12v charger and next to it the AC-DC charger connected to the charging receptacle on the rear fender where the gas cap used to be.

The box on the RH side of the rear pack is the 12v command center, with 12v battery directly under. Inside are terminal strips for +/- on the sides and the BMS master control unit "MCU" (white labeled box) the brains of the outfit! Also 12v fuses and a lo-hi DC-DC enabling relay.

The charging port required my hot rod bias. Having used these pre-shaped doors before on ICE resto-mods, I figured I could disguise the EV within.

[Logic]

Originally Posted by jclars

I like that logic, Logic!

I think my Volvo regen is limited to 124 volts, but always has excess with nowhere to put it. The trouble with my car is I'd rather just add more cells to raise that ceiling! My BMS tells me that even at full charge, if I stomp on it, I will have several cells in the red LVC zone.

I have been travelling for the holiday and not able to do the next build thread installment. Included a 700 mile road trip from Vegas, NV to Mesa, AZ and a loop to the Grand Canyon. All in a weezer of a rental economy car. Never again will I do an economy car in that sense. But now settled in one place with not much to do, so I should be back at it shortly.

John

DIY, 'roll your own', Supercaps:
This is a rabbit hole I have not (yet) gone down, so I have no idea how much truth/power density there is in this.

But it is intriguing in that they dont have to be rolled if you dont want and can be flat.
ie:
They could be made to be say a 6mm thick tailored to fit, flat surface that covered the whole floor and trunk of a vehicle.
Perhaps even thinner and stuck to the inside of the doors, hood etc.
Or they could be wrapped around various tubular chassis members etc.

DIY = Cheap!..?

So the rabbit hole becomes: Just how much truth is there in all the online DIY Supercap videos and pages etc?

Here are some unread links, just as an indication of how much "DIY Supercap" info is out there:
https://www.instructables.com/Make-a...upercapacitor/
https://hackaday.com/tag/supercapacitor/
https://makezine.com/projects/badder...upercapacitor/
https://www.reddit.com/r/chemistry/c...inch_homemade/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUw6cZTR9yM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DZtpBa_GnA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QF-IIIAUrQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNkXp1dVcmo

A flat Supercap?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gmxv7AgOMw

This post could be kilometers long with Youtube videos, so do have a search yourselves.

[jclars]

During the down times waiting for electrical components (pay as you go?), I spent time on conventional restoration tasks that would produce a clean smooth body for the drivetrain to push! Most times on my projects I spend as much time doing this work as I do on the mechanical, On this project it was more or less a diversion hat had to be done.

Because of the hurry up and wait approach, I ended up doing the overall paint job in about 5 segments. Okay, I admit, at my age even a small car like this took small bites to conserve my energy. There's a reason bodywork and paint jobs cost so much - very labor intensive.

1. paint dash+new pad and paint car interior
2. paint roof, lids and front cowl to trim line
3. paint rear half of car
4. paint doors
5. paint front of car

[jclars]

Concurrently with the layout and fab of the battery boxes, both front and rear terminals were located. It was a challenge to fit everything in. Especially since I didn't know the sizes of items having never done this before. So it was a great deal of hurry up and wait, while I looked for orders to arrive to allow configuring the boxes. (Wow, are the fuses really that BIG??)

The rear enclosure was located just above the 12V battery, and housed gang terminals for attaching to the low volt requirements. It also housed higher voltage, lower amperage conductors associated with the DC-DC 12V charging system (ie, enable relay for that system). Not least of the installation was the Master Control Unit for the battery management system (BMS). More on that later.

The rear pack contactor was located separately in its own enclosure. Had the battery packs been over 60 volts, the contactor would have had to be located within the battery box. (obscure US Govt regulation). An inertia switch was located on the RH rear fender bulkhead to cut off control power in the event of a collision.

Left to Right in pic:

Rear contactor to isolate pack voltage, DC-DC charger, AC-DC charger, Low volt enclosure with MCU.

[Logic]

Originally Posted by jclars

During the down times waiting for electrical components (pay as you go?), I spent time on conventional restoration tasks that would produce a clean smooth body for the drivetrain to push! Most times on my projects I spend as much time doing this work as I do on the mechanical, On this project it was more or less a diversion hat had to be done.

Because of the hurry up and wait approach, I ended up doing the overall paint job in about 5 segments. Okay, I admit, at my age even a small car like this took small bites to conserve my energy. There's a reason bodywork and paint jobs cost so much - very labor intensive.

1. paint dash+new pad and paint car interior
2. paint roof, lids and front cowl to trim line
3. paint rear half of car
4. paint doors
5. paint front of car

If one has panel beated cars you develop a feel for just how good and true the surface preparation under the top coat is from looking at the reflections in the shiny paint.

Paint is nothing; it's all about said undercoat preparation !

This here is an excellent job from what I can tell from the pics. (One has to be there to really tell)
Very well done jclars!
Few here will appreciate the effort and.. 'knack' for sanding in a 'cross hatch' pattern with long sanding blocks (not those rubber things) that went into this spray job.

Is that 2K paint? Or the original 'period' Duco that was used at the time of manufacture?
The shine says 2K to me, unless there was a whole lot of hand polishing? (after flatting?)

[jclars]

Thanks for the compliments Logic!

You wisely retained final judgement for an up close inspection! Alas, I classify it as one of my worst paint jobs in my last 10 years. I am by no means a professional but am capable of better. That said, I am quite happy with it since it is not the main focus for this car. And it probably saved me $10K. ;

One factor contributing to the less than stellar job is my age and arthritis catching up with me. I did the car in segments because it is now daunting for me to do a whole car at once. Luckily this build had down time to allow this approach. However, doing it in pieces is subject to the operators stamina, eyesight, and focus on any given day! Another issue that only revealed itself after painting was the fact that the feel in my fingertips apparently no longer detects small imperfections like they used to. Not even guide coats could overcome this. So, while it looks smooth and shiny, there are numerous small surface waves here and there. If I had gone with white, they might be unnoticed. But dark "Midnight Blue" won't cooperate that way!

The paint is single stage polyurethane. I have had great success with it before, but again it was the goal of avoiding having to apply so many layers. Likewise, I have not yet blocked and polished the car. It would definitely improve the appearance, but until the shine fades, I will continue my avoidance strategies!

But ultimately, this car still radiates so much shine, most observers "gloss" right over the imperfections. Ultimately, paint is over rated! When I pop the hood, the gloss on the electronics take over!

[freebeard]

There is the concept of the 10 foot car and 20 foot car. The distance where imperfections disappear.

I had some bodywork done on the Superbeetle so it was professionally painted. The car is Shantung Gold. On the paint chip page for 1971 in addition to Shantung Gold, there is another color that is almost imperceptibly different, Kansas Beige, which comes before Shantung Gold alphabetically. So guess which color they used. When I asked then to correct it they just said it wasn't one color to start with. I can't not see the difference.

If you do it yourself that doesn't happen. (I've only painted two cars mayself)

I priced the paint. White is least and red most expensive. Beige is inbetween. 3X difference in those materials.

[Logic]

Originally Posted by jclars

Thanks for the compliments Logic!

You wisely retained final judgement for an up close inspection! Alas, I classify it as one of my worst paint jobs in my last 10 years. I am by no means a professional but am capable of better. That said, I am quite happy with it since it is not the main focus for this car. And it probably saved me $10K. ;

One factor contributing to the less than stellar job is my age and arthritis catching up with me. I did the car in segments because it is now daunting for me to do a whole car at once. Luckily this build had down time to allow this approach. However, doing it in pieces is subject to the operators stamina, eyesight, and focus on any given day! Another issue that only revealed itself after painting was the fact that the feel in my fingertips apparently no longer detects small imperfections like they used to. Not even guide coats could overcome this. So, while it looks smooth and shiny, there are numerous small surface waves here and there. If I had gone with white, they might be unnoticed. But dark "Midnight Blue" won't cooperate that way!

The paint is single stage polyurethane. I have had great success with it before, but again it was the goal of avoiding having to apply so many layers. Likewise, I have not yet blocked and polished the car. It would definitely improve the appearance, but until the shine fades, I will continue my avoidance strategies!

But ultimately, this car still radiates so much shine, most observers "gloss" right over the imperfections. Ultimately, paint is over rated! When I pop the hood, the gloss on the electronics take over!

Yes one has to be there and move ones head around, so to speak, to see the reflections changing before one can really judge.

Then, as you say, one has to make allowances for aging eyesight and aging in general.
And yes; the shine is in the EV conversion! Great job!

Anti Aging advice:
For around 6 years I was very active on longecity.org where you don't state anything without at least 2 peer reviewed, published papers to back up your statement.
By the end I was considered something of an autodidact, with many of the things I 'discovered' by 'joining the dots', so to speak, making it into commercially available products.
So, at the expense of sounding crazier than I am already considered here I am going to take the liberty of giving you some advice, to take or leave:

Arthritis:
Gelatin contains everything one needs to to regrow the cartilage
except
for the 1 'magic ingredient' which is Vitamin C.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/article...20conformation.

Some nice pics:
https://www.ergo-log.com/collagensupplements.html

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27852613/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/article...20conformation.

I suggest you read this thread and really get into it to get why you can still regrow cartilage later in life:
https://www.longecity.org/forum/topi...n-supplements/
NB
Post counts and that funny T (thank you points) when 'weighting' posts.

You have nothing to lose by trying/eating jelly made with OJ and/or C dissolved in the water while making it.
I do recommend a concomitant time release vit C cap with Rose Hips and Bioflavonoids.
Also; better to take it before bed and/or after exercise:
https://www.ergo-log.com/gelatinegh.html

You will see C60 (dissolved in Olive Oil) mentioned in the recommended thread.
If you want energy there is nothing better.
That whole story (on the forum) started when lab rats lived (youthed) twice as long as controls.

This is the brand I recommend:
https://carbon60oliveoil.com/

[jclars]

Logic - I didn't know I was signing up for infomercials when simply posting a build thread. Maybe you could PM this sort of thing to me personally in the future rather than clutter the thread with helpful but unrelated topics.

I do appreciate your recognition of what it takes to lay down a good paint job however!

John

[Logic]

Originally Posted by jclars

Logic - I didn't know I was signing up for infomercials when simply posting a build thread. Maybe you could PM this sort of thing to me personally in the future rather than clutter the thread with helpful but unrelated topics.

I do appreciate your recognition of what it takes to lay down a good paint job however!

John

LOL! at the "infomercial" I shoulda seen that coming
But good point.
I just felt that I/we really don't want to see you 'retire' form great projects like this.