White Lightning (Nissan Leaf) Build Thread

[Flakbadger]

Can't eliminate the antenna mount just yet, so the next best thing is eliminating the antenna and capping it off. I didn't want to leave the mount exposed to the elements, so I attached this plastic cap and used some clear silicone to attach it.


EDIT: NEW IMAGE. I took great care to surround the mount with silicone but not get any inside the antenna screw threads, so it's a very quick mod to undo, should I wish to sell the car at a later date.

I know this is the sort of mod that does little to nothing, but it makes me feel better in the mean time, until I can fully kill the mount.

[Flakbadger]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

A leaf plus. The Nissan 62kwh battery kept the attachment points the same, the battery is just a little taller and weighs about 300lb more.

Man, 62 kWh would solve all my range woes forever. If we really wanted to go for a road trip, my wife's Fit would be perfect, but for short road trips like to Eastern Oregon (with a quick charge somewhere like Prineville or Madras), it'd be a dream come true.

Driving there used to cost me ~$40 in gas in my pickup. Electricity cost? About $7.50. Wow.

[Flakbadger]

Quick update---finally got my license plates in, and installed them.

I plan on mounting a small additional grille block piece behind the license plate, leaving two smaller "nostrils" open to make sure it's ventilated, but as aerodynamic as possible.


I made it kind of high-contrast so you can even see the grille blocks on camera. Difficult to see otherwise.

So I suppose next up is the center piece. I'll permanently mount the license plate soon (need to buy correct screws with nuts), and will also mount the central grille block to the backside of the plate at that time too.

[Flakbadger]

"Finished" pic first,here it is mocked up with clear shipping tape, and the overall shape looks fantastic. I get big time retrofuture vibes. After pictures I'll go through my difficulties, and finally possible solutions.


With the shape of the car's natural "hips" and that flattened pod behind the rear wheels, this looks amazing. reminds me of a lot of solar car concepts.


A view down the side of the car, showing how much wheel well is shielded. The leading edge of the cover still needs some adjusting and attention.


A look at the trailing edge. You can see it's warped from where I applied the heat gun a little too aggressively. This was a good learning experience.


This gap and the difficulty in making these panels meet satisfactorily makes me want to reconsider the "depth" of the skirt.

Alright so on to things I learned from this experience.

ABS is a b**** to shape precisely with nothing more than a heat gun. I found my best results by heating the front side and leaning on/bending the area I wanted to be bent against the nonflammable concrete floor of our garage. Got good results in some places, but nowhere near close enough in others. Vacuum forming is definitely the way to go here, but I don't have the motivation nor the money nor the time to make a vac form machine, even though DIY ones are possible.

Using metal rasps and files works A M A Z I N G for shaping edges. It's time consuming, but necessary---cutting an exact template from cardboard, then exactly tracing that on the ABS was really challenging and nigh on impossible. Therefore going back over the edges and shaping and shaping and shaping was inevitable.

I may have gone too "deep" with my initial template. I think I will look into cutting this one a little shorter top-to-bottom and making up the remainder with something flexible like a stiffened rubber. Cutting it a bit shorter will greatly reduce the compound bends I otherwise have to put in.


Here's some high-tech deepfakery to demonstrate what I'm talking about, the gray representing a flexible material like the rubber you'd find under the edges of semi-truck trailer wings. Assuming I can source some. Might cut it even higher up than that.

Anyway that's about all I've got for this post. It was a solid learning experience. I plan on making an updated template by using some posterboard and tracing this ABS mockup---then going ahead and cutting a bunch off of this current piece to see how it looks. I've got enough plastic to make 3-4 more so I still have some wiggle room.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks for stopping by!

[freebeard]

I like/approve so far.

The traditional material would be conveyor belting. I'd underlap it and use an aluminum trim piece to stiffen the bottom edge of the ABS.


https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/5pQAA...BhE/s-l300.jpg

[Piotrsko]

Have you tried heating your plastic in an household OVEN? a BBQ style temp probe, oven mittens, and patience should ought to do it. Not too sure, but ABS softens at minimum oven temp. I often use a propane torch to make sweeps out of ABS pipe

Fwiw my oven is 24 x 19 x 19

[Flakbadger]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I like/approve so far.

The traditional material would be conveyor belting. I'd underlap it and use an aluminum trim piece to stiffen the bottom edge of the ABS.


https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/5pQAA...BhE/s-l300.jpg

Thanks freebeard, I've been trying to source some conveyor belting that isn't so expensive I want to cry---might have found a place online that'd sell what I'm looking for at a price I'm willing to pay. The aluminum trim piece is a genius idea for rigidity. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Have you tried heating your plastic in an household OVEN? a BBQ style temp probe, oven mittens, and patience should ought to do it. Not too sure, but ABS softens at minimum oven temp. I often use a propane torch to make sweeps out of ABS pipe

Fwiw my oven is 24 x 19 x 19

My oven is not big enough to fit the side skirts in, I just tried. I've considered making molds out of carved foam and doing the heat'n vac table option, but then I'd have to make a vac table and a heating rig, plus a blank for each side, and this is all getting into the several hundred dollar range, which is the reason I went with plastic instead of fiberglass as I'd originally planned.

I'm still trying stuff out--we'll see how far we get today. Thanks for your suggestions!

[oil pan 4]

I have used conveyor belt.
I find it at the scrap yard and they practically give it away.

[Xist]

I bought a 2'x4' sheet of ABS plastic almost seven years ago. I have absolutely no idea why and I have not come up with a use for it. I paid $32, but how they ship for $19 off of Amazon.

[COcyclist]

I like the mods so far. As to the deepfake photoshop on the skirts, my 2 cents would be to trim it and call it good. Keep in mind the bottom of the tire is traveling at the same speed as the road surface, not 2x speed like the top of the tire. You are adding frontal area at a point of diminishing returns in my opinion.

I need to try this on the Golf.