Ben Nelson's Electro-Metro Build thread

[Daox]

We can definitly get that patched up. Email me and we'll set it up.

[bennelson]

Thanks Mullet and Daox!

[bennelson]

I went over to Jim's tonight to test fit the motor and transmission.

First thing I saw when I walked in was the commutator was trimmed up all shiny on the lathe.



We put the two together with the doubled up adapter plate and shortened coupler.



It's still too long. We need to make one-inch spacers going into the motor housing.



The test fitting was done using just the motor center shaft and end cap, to save the weight and hassle of handling of the body of the motor.




Also, after talking with lots of people, I have decided to keep the tailshaft. That leaves possibilities for attaching a tachometer or anything else I want to power (power brake pump?)

But there is hardly any room for the tailshaft. So, what do I do? Cut the tailshaft short? Cut a hole in the side of the car? Darin voted for cutting a hole in the car.

After talking to Jim, it didn't sound like such a terrible thing. A support ring can be welded in around the hole to keep it sturdy. That keeps the entire tailshaft available to so something else with later.

The real trick with this is going to be sliding the tailshaft into the hole and then sliding the motor and tranny over into position.

Right now I have the motor shaft and end cap rough bolted to the tranny, sitting in the back of my truck. I need to put it in the car to see where the tailshaft will go - mark it, and then drill a nice big hole there.

That should be interesting.....

Also, I don't have an engine hoist. I did borrow a chain lift. Maybe I can hook that to the roof of the garage, lift the motor/tranny, push the car under it, lower it back down.

Well, its better than the clothesline I used to lift the engine out when I removed that...

[bennelson]

I test-fit the tranny/motor into the car to see where the tailshaft comes to.

The good news is that I won't have to drill a hole in the frame. (Might have to trim a tad off the bottom though.)

The bad news is that I won't be able to turn left!!!




The photo shows where the tailshaft ends up and the steering pretty much all the way to the left.

The other thing is that there is still going to be a one-inch spacer between the mounting plate and motor, which will put the tailshaft an additional one inch the wrong way!

[metroschultz]

These are the issues I am letting you work out before I decide whether to rebuild my Metro as an ICE motor or go to electric.
I have pondered electric since I first saw Darin's car on MetroMPG and was trying to figure a way to get 40 to 50 mile range @ 25 mph continuous. (my needs for commuting)
I think I will text Leno or Ed Begley and Borrow $25k for an A/C Propulsion makeover.
They have a kit for Metro's now,(or so I've been told)
As it stands I think I am stuck with my ICE till they send me money.
Thanks for letting me vent in your thread.
Schultz

[Daox]

If you keep the tailshaft, is there room to attach a pump? You'd need to put a pulley on the tailshaft (clearance issues most likely) and then mount a pump somewhere too. It doesn't look like it can be above the motor since the support member is right there, so it has to be to the side, or under it to some degree. Just something to think about. I agree it would be nice to have. But, if you can't use it, theres no reason for it to be there.

[MetroMPG]

Well, you could just cut part of it off. You'd lose the retaining nut on the end, but depending on what you run from it, you could lock it in place with a set screw.

[bennelson]

I got some new brushes today!

$50 for four of them from a place that rebuilds motors. They had like a warehouse of forklift motors there!!!

The guy was pretty nice. He told me how to clean the grooves on the commutator and gave me a "commutator stone" as well.

I put in the new brushes.


And then put the whole motor back together again.

I rigged up a 50 amp ammeter to it and then braced the motor on the floor (it could fall off a workbench, and it is REALLY heavy to lift anyways!)

I used one of those portable jumpstarter devices as my 12 volt power source.

I hooked up the jumper cables and.....



IT SPINS!



THE WRONG DIRECTION I THINK!!!!


It also sounded pretty noisy and I could see some arcing from the brushes. I rubbed the commutator stone in there and right away the arcing stopped, it sounded quieter and the motor sped up a little bit.

The ammeter read 25 amps while spinning with no load. That sounds high to me. Has anyone else ever hooked up a big motor like this and checked how many amps it was pulling at 12 volts with no load?


I am pretty sure it is spinning the wrong way. When I bought the motor, I hooked up a 12V source and it barley spun. I actually had to give it a little push to go - but I thought it spun the correct direction!

Do I have to replace the Metro with a Honda? Or just always drive in reverse!?!? (scroll down for "Reverse" lyrics...)

[MPaulHolmes]

Yes. You will always have to drive in reverse. Don't feel bad. At least it won't use gas.

Actually, I don't know if your motor is like mine, but mine had the same problem. You know how your motor has 4 posts, and 2 of them are attached to each other? Maybe if you disconnect the wire from one of those posts, and attach it to one of the other posts, and then the 2 unconnected posts left over is where you hook your + and - leads from the battery. There are a few possibilities of how to hook stuff, since I don't have the motor in front of me and I can't remember. Even if the brushes are slanted to make a guy think the motor ought to spin in a particular direction, it actually has no effect on the brush life if it spins the other way. This is straight from the mouth (fingers typing) of Jim Husted, the motor master!

[bennelson]

Fortunately, this motor has 4 power posts.

On a series wound motor, the current goes through the stator field windings, then continues through the rotor (commutator) and then back to the battery to complete the circuit.


One of the power connections needs to be jumpered to another one to complete the circuit and the other two power connections go to the battery + and -. If you just reverse the battery polarity, it's reversing the fields on both part of the motor and it DOESN"T change the rotation.

You need to reverse the polarity of only just the rotor or just the stator. This was accomplished by running a jumper catty-corner compared to before to reverse the polarity of just the rotor.

Now it spins the correct direction!


Here is a photo of it jumpered correctly!