Electric car conversion: Project ForkenSwift

[Christ]

This new series of posts makes me afraid to look into or under any part of my Golf.

Thanks...

[morphector]

Anybody owning a swift should install a body brace like these one before it start to rust. You could also build something similar.

Produits | Turbine Tech

[MetroMPG]

Brace!

The ForkenSwift is no longer in danger of doing "the splits" unintended.





That ratchet strap is as taut as piano wire in that photo. (My guess is it's pretty close to the load rating, whatever it is!) It's tight enough to have pulled the forward ends of the control arms 1/8 of an inch closer together before installing the brace.

[MetroMPG]

End of summer update on ye olde ForkenSwifte:

1) The brace shown in the above photo works GREAT. I'd advise any Suzukiclone owner to make/get one. (dcb told me this ages ago, and of course he was right.) Combined with a DIY front end alignment and no other rust repairs, the ForkenSwift feels dramatically more solid, especially over uneven pavement / bumps in the road.

2) Proving (like we needed proof!) that I am indeed a lazy procrastinator and so on: after installing the above-mentioned brace, I didn't do any more welding repair to the car this summer. TMP! Too many projects!

It's a foregone conclusion that the car will NOT be used this winter, or I might as well just book a space in the junkyard in advance for next spring (one more year of winter salt in its current condition will be the nail in its coffin).

3) Despite that, the car was used fairly regularly this summer, mostly as a utility vehicle - to move/tow stuff that's too big to do by bike.



(moving a disassembled pair of small metal sheds)

4) The neighbourhood knows the car. A mother and her maybe 5 year old son were walking by recently as I was getting in. She said, "my son just loves your electric car." And then, to him she asked, "want to hear him start it up?"

Him: "YEAH!"

And so they stood there on the sidewalk and listened/watched as I turned the key and drove away (I rang the bicycle bell for fun).

[MetroMPG]

My electric car's DIRTY LITTLE SECRET

It involves Big Oil...........

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Oil leak! (From the transmission.)

It's not leaking too quickly - one or two drops a day. That mess on the pavement represents many weeks worth of drips.)

Must have blown a seal. (That's also the punch line from a bad joke.)

[bennelson]

I have the same problem on the Electro-Metro!

The only bit of oil left in the whole car, and it's the one spot that even CAN leak!

[MetroMPG]

I'm tempted to just put a "diaper" on it until I have the time / inclination to get under there and figure out where it's leaking!

---

Baby's got new shoes ...



I recently bought a (marginal) set of used Bridgestone Potenza RE92 low rolling resistance tires. These are the ones that were designed specially for the first generation Honda Insight.

The tires are 14 inch diameter. Since all the wheels on the Suzukiclone fleet are 13 inch size, I also acquired and refurbished a set of lightweight alloy 14 inch wheels originally from a Swift GT.

Just put the set on the ForkenSwift.

Insight owners swear by these tires. I can definitely notice an improvement over the old snow tires. They're lighter too - the snows + 13 inch steelies weigh in at 28.5 lbs apiece; the 14 inch alloys + RE92's are 23.5 lbs.

I'm expecting a noticeable improvement in efficiency.

These wheels/tires will move around the fleet as need be.

[davidbr13]

Hey, Metrompg. If you can find them, try some of the old Potenza RE 910's. They were pretty good on my old escort EV, but were discontinued a while back.

The leak is either axle seals (pretty easy) or the input seal (requires removing the motor to get to). My old Fiero EV had the "upgraded" axle seals with extra carrier bearings on them and still leaked like a sieve - through the input shaft seal. Didn't find that out til I sold it!

Wipe the bottom clean with solvent then let it sit a bit, then wipe the seam with apaper towel and see if you get any oil there. If not, try around the axle openings. That will tell you where the problem is.

[MetroMPG]

Thanks for the tip, David. I hadn't heard of RE 910's.

I did take a quick look underneath, and the leak doesn't appear to be coming from any of those locations (input shaft/bell housing, or axles).

Seems to be coming from the stamped steel cover that goes over the 5th gearset on the end of the transaxle.

[davidbr13]

The 910's are pretty good all around and could be used on your other cars as well (if you can find them).

Good news on the leak, then. Probably just a gasket.