Ben Nelson's Electro-Metro Build thread

[MazdaMatt]

Ben, I've seen other people's race cars in the paddock with a 12V electric heater/fan mounted inside the 'defog' vents. This is because their cars have had the heater core removed. They do this so they can see on rainy days at the track, not for winter. The ice racers all leave their heater cores in

[MetroMPG]

I'd use the fresh air setting. Just you sitting in the car is turning it into a little hot house. You've got to get that humidity out of the car, not stockpile it on recirc!

No heater in the FS. If I'm in danger of freezing up, I just open the windows. Yes it's cold, but I'm never going far, so it doesn't bother me much.

[bennelson]

I made some more modifications on the car during lunch today.

Already this morning, I had an electric oil heater in the back of the car.



It works pretty well at pre-heating the car.

I have a cheap 12V heater that plugs into the cigarette lighter.

Unfortunately, the cigarette lighter in this car doesn't work! Originally, that's what I was going to use for power for my main contactor, but I was never able to find why it had no power!

So, I rigged a cigarette-lighter female plug to my spare YellowTop.


The 12V heater velcro's to the dashboard. It doesn't move a lot of air. It does help though.

Driving this afternoon, I was able to go two miles before the windshield started trying to fog up.

I also got a junked solar panel from Rich on Sunday. I wasn't able to get any voltage from it, but was told it does work. I will have to play with it more when it's warmer out. I was thinking it could go on the hood and trickle the 12V accessory battery.



I also took five minutes to throw in the Curtis PB-6 potentiometer in the car. The gas pedal is SOOO much smoother with it! The old forklift control was too stiff and springy! The new pot box makes the gas pedal very light and controllable. I'll get a photo of the pot box up sometime soon.

[RarestAce]

i just rejoined following your build i must say you did an excellent job on your car and it looks great

[bennelson]

Thanks Ace!

Compliments keep me going! The car is still a bit cobbled together, but getting better all the time!

[Intrigued]

Originally Posted by bennelson

Cool! Even your CAR has that EV Grin! ^

...and an "alternative energy hood scoop" to boot - if you put it there!!

EDIT: You ought to tell folks that you run the car off of the solar panel... LOL!

[MPaulHolmes]

That's the exact same 12v heater I'm using to keep me warm in my car! It works great! Really toasty! If you hold your hands like 3 inches from it. hehe. I got it at Harbor Freight for $11.

[Tango Charlie]

I like the 'solar hood scoop'.

Kudos to you for driving it in the dead of winter! That's hard core!

Nice new avatar, too.

[bennelson]

I did install the new potentiometer box in the car the other day.



It replaces the older (but cheap!, er, free) forklift potentiometer box.



The new potentiometer is MUCH smoother, and prettier too! It will eventually be mounted nicer, probably on a piece of aluminum or inside a project box. For now, the block of wood is easy to work with. Also, it's too cold to work on the car for more than 5 minutes at a time.

[bennelson]

The drive in to work this morning was better than yesterday.

The combined "pre-heat" of the oil radiator and minimal heat out of the dashboard 12V defroster kept the windshield frost free for my 2 mile trip from home to my office.

It felt a little warmer this morning that yesterday morning. However, when I checked the official temperature, it was 0! Almost identical to yesterday! It was less windy though, so maybe that was the difference.

It WAS still cold enough to freeze my locks. When I went back to my car to fetch the rest of my equipment, I couldn't unlock EITHER door with the key. And, of course, I was parked in a limited time parking space.

I had a few frantic minutes there fiddling with the key and the locks before remembering that this car is a HATCHBACK! The "third door" easily unlocked, I climbed through it to unlock the door from the inside.