Firefly Electric Conversion

[Stubby79]

Axles showed up...


The outer CV of the long one is really stiff, though.


Finally starting my mounts.





This is to be the front transmission mount. The stock rubber mount will bolt in the flat place beside the tube.

Not sure if the tube is necessary, with the brace below following the same line. Was looking for something I had on hand that would allow me access to the through-bolt in the middle of the rubber mount.

Rear mount will be pretty easy...

Motor end mount, I'm still figuring out. I want clear access to the shaft on that end. Don't want it filling up much space along side the frame rail, either.

Considering location a new mount spot on the frame rail, directly beside the center-line of the motor....but I don't want said mount extending above the motor by much, as I want to utilize the space immediately over the motor.

Kinda like this:
(the mount on the far right)


Experienced thoughts?

[JoeG]

One thing you might want to consider if you are using the stock motor mount rubber bushings is to fill the voids in them with 3M Urethane Windshield Adhesive to stiffen them up. The motors have so much torque that mounts will make knocking noises if you step on the accelerator hard.
Joe

[EVmetro]

Originally Posted by JoeG

One thing you might want to consider if you are using the stock motor mount rubber bushings is to fill the voids in them with 3M Urethane Windshield Adhesive to stiffen them up. The motors have so much torque that mounts will make knocking noises if you step on the accelerator hard.
Joe

Lol, very good point. I like to fill them solid as well. It is pretty amazing how light duty those factory mounts are.

[Stubby79]

Cut & drilled the plate for the rear mount this morn. Will start welding tonight. Will decide on the 3rd mount once i see how it sits in the engine bay.



Kid had fun playing with LED bulbs and a 9v battery.

And, apparently, RockAuto.com has a painless system in place for getting replacement parts. Should have another shaft here by the end of next week...this pleases me.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by EVmetro

I would say that the deciding factor that makes boost a must would come down to lead vs lithium. Trying to stop a lead sled with no boost would not be fun.

For reference, mine was ~2070 lbs with lead (no driver).

I don't have vacuum boost on my metro either. It stops fine, but I'm a 195lb male, with strong legs. It takes all I got to lock the front wheels

I'm lighter than you, but also physically fit. Same here: I could also lock it up if I pushed like heck. That's why I thought it was marginal.

[Stubby79]

Worked on welding up the mounts last night.

Used the old mount as a jig to ensure hole alignment:


Welding a flat surface is pretty easy...


Welding in a tight corner? Not so much...


Magnet made keeping things square ever so easy.


Proof is in the pudding:


More pudding:


Rear trans mount "relocation plate" is about 3/4 done:




I'll get that done tonight and then it's time to drop the motor & trans back in, so I can start on the third mount.

[WyrTwister]

What kind of welder are you using ?

Do you plan to clean up , prime and paint those pieces ?

Keep up the good work . :-)

God bless
Wyr

[Stubby79]

A chinese made TIG welder. Similar to the ones sold at Harbor Freight.

[EVmetro]

The steering rack bolt location works out pretty sweet for extending the mount in that direction.

[Stubby79]

Last weekend, test fitting the motor (ie my mounts) didn't go so well. Far enough off on the front trans mount as to frustrate me, so I walked away from it for a few days, and worked on another "EV" project that I picked up that same weekend:



Not bad for $20. Had a bad battery, and no charger, but that was it. I had both laying around, so it's up and running.

No, it's not for me. I'm too dang heavy for it. But my kid loves it.

But, once that was done, I was ready to try again. After modifying the front trans mount to line things up properly yesterday, I was able to try seeing if it fit last night/this morning:



It fits! Or, since it's past participle, I guess it "fat".

Axles fit too!!!!





...good timing for the replacement passenger side to show up yesterday!

There's even proper clearance around the CV joint on the passenger side, which I didn't even think about when I was putting the axles in.



Still have one more mount to make, but there's now lots of room to get at that tail shaft:



Pudding:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M48EXcjikeQ

Not much more and I'll be past this annoying mechanical phase...