1959 VW Beetle Conversion/Build Thread
 

Hello folks. I've been a long time lurker and a recent poster here. This is my first EV build so please bear with me if I sound stupid from time to time since all my knowledge about EV are all purely theoretical and research from the net. Im a little familiar with bugs that's why I chose it to be my donor car.

I have been slowly building my project since last year when I bought my donor car. It is a 1959 VW Beetle Ragtop, totally stripped down but 80% of the parts are there but not installed when I bought it. It did not came with the engine so its perfect since Im not going to need one. Some people will say I paid too much for a piece of junker, but I guess I have a weakness with aircooled vw's since I was in high school a long long time ago.

This is how it looks like when I bought it last year.

http://66.213.194.54/__CADDNIMA/_MYF...AG/2217104.jpg

Funny! It does look like a piece of crap.... Imagine when my wife saw it the first time being towed in to our garage.

So to all air-cooled heads out there or to people who have EV's like mine, I will be picking your brain from time to time. All help will be appreciated.

I will be adding more info soon...

Even though I started this last year and have made a lot of progress since then, I will just try to post here as much as I can to catch up where I am right now. I mean, if you want follow with my adventure in building this EV. Also I want to ask permission if I can bore you from the details of rebuilding my car, though not EV related but a major part the rebuild of the whole project. This will include, from cleaning the car up to painting and finishing the car.

Lets continue,

Here are the pictures of the car before i started cleaning it..... lots of cleaning....
What a mess...

http://66.213.194.54/__CADDNIMA/IMAG...s/P9016686.JPG

and another one...

http://66.213.194.54/__CADDNIMA/IMAG...s/P9016687.JPG

and another...

http://66.213.194.54/__CADDNIMA/IMAG...s/P9016691.JPG



I think, this is way over my head.... When I first saw it, i felt very excited, and cant wait to bring it home... Now that it is home and you have plenty of time to examine the car... Oh crap! What is the return policy on these things? Oh well...

This will be going to be a lot of work... I should have gotten a running condition one like Paul (from this build) did.

Well, what can you do but to continue... (hey is that a buyers remorse?)... Nah!



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Subscribed.

Know what: I would love to see someone convert a Thing - I saw one in the background of your first pic. That's a neat vehicle.

I love that your '59 has the sliding roof though. I have to admit I occasionally wish the ForkenSwift's host had more character. It's practical, and light, and cheap, but that's about it. I'd love to do "fun" and light and cheap. :)

And I'm happy to see you're considering trying poor man's regen with an alternator on the tail shaft. It's one of those things everyone talks about ... but not too many do.

I had to join and comment. Because I purchased a Bug to convert also. Although mine is a bit rougher as it is a partial Baja build that someone never finished. I'm hoping that with a fiberglass front and fiberglass rear fenders and no rear - the weight will be significantly reduced.

A couple things that I found amusing...
I imagine it was the same look when I brought home my 69 Beetle to convert. :eek:

Mine is dismantled also. And every time I work on it, I think the same thing.

As things worked out the only day I could pick up my "Project" was on Earth Day. I have vowed to get it finished for our county fair which is in Sept.

Your Bug looks great. Keep going. It also looks mostly rust free. I have some very rusty areas to attend to on mine.
:thumbup:

Between last year when I bought it and today (still working on it), I had this feeling where I want to throw the towel and quit. You want to fix a small part, then by the time you open it up, you will learn that the area to be fix is bigger than what you say in the first place...

to all, thanks for subscribing, i really thought people here doesnt want to hear anything except EV stuff. We will get there, but for now, much of the work is getting this bug a bit presentable even if its the same level as a "RATLOOK" i will be happy. It really depends on the skills i have for DIY....


Lets continue,

a picture where we start cleaning and sand blasting all the hard to get areas. This is my friend (expert with aircooleds) helping me. We are using cheap harbor freight sand blasting gun and using ordinary play sand. Make sure that you filter it with screen or something so you dont clog up your gun. I learned the hard way....

http://66.213.194.54/__CADDNIMA/IMAG...s/P9016681.JPG

If im going to do it again.... I wont do it again.... this thing is so messy, it will cover everything in dust! period. I mean everything as in the whole garage. The plastic you see does not help... and you need a respirator to do this... plus a whole body cover including your face. The media will bounce back to your hands, neck, face, everything... and this one hurts.... so yes i wont do it again....

http://66.213.194.54/__CADDNIMA/IMAG...s/P9016683.JPG

what a mess....

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After several days/nights (after office) of sand blasting the car, here are some pictures after spraying primer.

http://66.213.194.54/__CADDNIMA/IMAG...s/DSC_0981.JPG

http://66.213.194.54/__CADDNIMA/IMAG...s/DSC_0986.JPG



and this one (the grills) turned out alright. Im a happy person....

http://66.213.194.54/__CADDNIMA/IMAG...s/DSC_0989.JPG

Since this one will not be a "SHOW CAR" quality project, I opted out from the expensive car paint, instead i will be doing the "50 dollar car paint approach". If thats too long to read then this one will do....

But instead of roller, Im using spray. And yes Im using Rust-oleum enamel (oil based) primer and final paint for the car.


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Me too, but the THING is, he is asking 4500 for it. Running condition, totally restored.... But I guess its too much for a donor car.... I like it a lot though...

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Hey, I love cars, so as long as the site owners don't mind the storage and bandwidth, I like build logs.

Oh, and I'm now subscribed as well.

I hope they dont mind me posting my build here even though im on the car stage still and not on the EV side of it.... But with regards to storage, i dont think it will add that much, since im hosting my own images, and with regards to traffic, you are my third subscribber so far.... hahaha... Im so popular....

Well, lets continue... while i was working on my car, I already ordered the parts to create my own coupler. So I bought a used clutch disc from a swap meet for 5 bucks. And went here to buy the sprocket from. Since I know my shaft size which is 1-1/8" the next deciding factor is for the outside diameter. I chose this one since I got the idea from here in the first place but did not anticipated that the outside diameter he used is big for what i need. Well if your building a similar project like mine then you can use a smaller outside diameter sprocket.

http://66.213.194.54/__caddnima/IMAG.../_P1010026.jpg

And since I dont have drill press and probably wont be able to drill the sprocket like LEMON did, I decided to just weld it like this...

http://66.213.194.54/__caddnima/IMAG.../_P1010030.JPG

and now it looks like this....

http://66.213.194.54/__caddnima/IMAG...s/DSC_2405.JPG

Im a bit worried since there is a play between the sprocket and the clutch, this might pose a porblem in the future... we will see... For now, we will stick with this one.



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Don't mind? This is what EM is all about. Thanks for sharing EV59rag. :)

Wow - that's an interesting coupler approach! It's cheap and creative. Did you spin the motor with only it in place? Is it vibration free (well centered)?

I'm confused. The sprocket was a part of the original ICE setup, or did you buy it just to have the keyed hole in the center?

Hi Clev, when I bought the car, it did not come with the engine and no clutch assembly. Thats why I bought the used clutch disc from swap meet.

MetroMPG, I cannot take the credit for it. I just saw it from Electric-Lemon. It was a very clever approach. He did a very nice job. Unfortunately, I dont have a lathe machine (so cannot remove the teeth) and no drill press either So I cannot put the bolts through and through). So I decided to weld it instead with DIY stick weld (from 2 batteries in series). And with regards to being it centered. I dont think its center right now, but its ok since you can always re-center it by loosening the bolt/nut and re-tighten it... That's all in theory... Havent attached it all together, motor-coupler-transmission.

More progress report...

Chemical paint stripper, instead of sand blasting. Specially when working at night, I cant use the SB because of noise issues. The neighbors might complain. Working on the dashboard here.
http://66.213.194.54/__caddnima/IMAG...s/DSC_1002.JPG

Removing the rusted through metal on the driver side door.
http://66.213.194.54/__caddnima/IMAG...s/P1010001.JPG

And after removing...
http://66.213.194.54/__caddnima/IMAG...s/P1010008.JPG

On the rear part of the car, the part where you attach the rear bumper is rusted through also. I fabricated something similar to it. I think I got it close enough. Its not perfect though.
http://66.213.194.54/__caddnima/IMAG...136707-640.jpg

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On the EV side of the work, I had time to play around and worked on my battery mock-ups. I have decided that Im going to use those Costco/Kirkland deep cycle batteries for my first batch. I have good experienced with them before from my solar/wind energy setup so Im going to use them here again for my EV. I know, i know that they have totally different AH use and this will be not the perfect battery for EV. But right now, everything is still on the testing side, or what if side... Besides, Im planning to do a 72 volts x 2 set to bump up my AH to 230 to double the range in theory. I dont need the speed but I need the range. So 50mph for me is more than enough but I need at least 50 miles of range.

Here I am figuring out how to assemble/cut the boxes I got from our office storage.
http://66.213.194.54/__caddnima/IMAG...s/DSC_2382.JPG

I can fit 5 at the back so thats only 60 volts... So how fast is 60 volts? anybody? Why only 5 at the back? I was hoping I can retain the back seat for a stock look. We will see and besides I can also fit 5 on the front where the gas tank used to be.
http://66.213.194.54/__caddnima/IMAG...s/DSC_2388.JPG



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Can you shoe horn a couple in the rear with the motor? I have seen that done before on Bug conversions.

Have you looked at sealed batts to go under the rear seat, where the stock location is/was? Or maybe fitting a couple under the front seats? There's all kinds of places where you can stuff in a battery or two, and after that it's just a matter of running GREAT BIG CABLES.

Man this looks like a fun build.

Reading Hot VWs magazine, they talked about finding a solid 2mpg improvement by adding a small wing just below the rear window. It evidently helps keep airflow attached farther down the back of the car, and then give a clean separation. If you're not worried about keeping it looking stock and factory, you might want to do that too - mileage gains in gas are watt-hour/mile reductions in EV.

Geebee, you are correct, thats another option. Im just worried about the weight of the battery and I might not be able to support/fabricate it well.... I dont want it falling from the back and creating accident. But I think I will rethink this approach. Maybe my only option?

Elhigh, the battery Im using (already have) is a bit large and wont fit on the original location of the vw battery. It might also start fire because of the springs at the bottom of the seat accidentaly touching the battery (common mistake). Even if we prefab the location in such a way that we can even lower the battery to fit under there, battery is still its too high. I was thinking of maybe using a different battery brand size and AH for one set, and another one different for the second set. But Im worried about the different AH will screw up the overall total AH. This way if this is possible, then I can buy a smaller AH sealed battery for the inside cabin and ordinary deep cycle battery for the outside... We will see how that idea goes. I need to research more about different AH battery on a pack.


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