Paul & Sabrina's Cheap EV Conversion

[MPaulHolmes]

dremd, where were you when I needed you!!!! hahaha. You are right. Knowing what I know now, well, maybe after one more practice time, it would be pretty easy.

[dremd]

Note to all EcoModders

If you need Air cooled VW Advice/ Instructions/ Information Chances are I have it.

I was a certifiable Air Cooled VW nut in High School. Still have 3 to prove it.

My Favorite thing now is to find a part on the Golf that has been in the VW parts bin for 50 years :-)

[MPaulHolmes]

hehe, that was a funny title. Well anyway, the transmission has been removed. Like giving birth to Oprah. Wow! So, there were 11 bolts that came off the constant velocity joints. But wait! Aren't there 12? Yes! Dang that 12th bolt to heck! It had been stripped at some time in it's unholy past. It's one of those weird 12 sided star shaped bolts, sort of like an allen bolt. It would take a very long time to say all the ways I tried to get that little nugget of the devil out of there, but I'll just say how I got it finally.

I drilled a hole in the side of the bolt (breaking a drill bit while at it), stuck the broken bit into the hole, put a screw driver next to it, and started to hit it with a hammer. I got it to turn about pi/4 radians. hehe. (see math is useful in the real world. I use radians all the time. I swear, students. psych). Then I switched over to a clamp wrench thing that I bought the other day. What's this? It turned! One final push, and Oprah came plopping out, metaphorically speaking!

Now I'm doin some figgerin' about how wide the spacers need to be. Good by, I'll go do that now.

[MPaulHolmes]

Well, I drilled all the holes in the 2 plates, but I'm saving the holes that will attach the transmission for last. My plan, a la Lee Hart, is to set the motor up on end (I drilled a big hole in a big piece of wood, so the back post won't spin on the ground. It's hard to explain). The motor plate, spacers (12 of them), and 2nd plate will be assembled and attached to the motor very solidly. Then, I'll set the transmission on top, mating the 2 together. I'll start running the motor/transmission combo, tapping the trans a little here and there with my fancy rubber hammer until it makes the least amount of noise and vibration. That will be the center??? Sure why not! Good enough for government work...

Then I'll clamp it down and spray paint the holes onto the steel plate. Or should I just drill the holes through the transmission hole, hopefully not bumping the transmission hole walls too much. Hopefully the slop from re-attaching the transmission later will still basically be centered.

So, the only precision things that need to happen are:

1. spacers same length.
2. transmission holes good.

All the other stuff can be done pretty dang sloppily if you do it all in the right order. Here I am instructing everyone, and I don't even know if it will work. What a bozo!

[ajax_6531]

Originally Posted by MPaulHolmes

and I'm an idiot that doesn't know how to change oil even!

Good thing you're going for electric

[MPaulHolmes]

Originally Posted by ajax_6531

Good thing you're going for electric

Hey, you are right!

In fact, oil is a plant and animal graveyard. They should be left out there to rest in peace. Bill the ancient buffalo was just trying to be the best buffalo he could be, for his family. Every day, he would go out and gather grass nuggets for his little buffalo babies, and also bring home buffalo wings, and what do we do to repay that beautiful family man?

We take his left overs and set them on fire! Dude, that's messed up...

[ttoyoda]

It's one of those weird 12 sided star shaped bolts, sort of like an allen bolt.

It is called double hex. There is a tool available for it.
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/tools...e=snapon-store
Using a standard allen wrench can strip out the head, at least on VW Rabbits when you torque the bolt to the specs.. Ask me how I know.
You can probably get the tool for less at an auto parts store. Just a small sample of the "think different" philosophy of VW engineering.

[MPaulHolmes]

Originally Posted by ttoyoda

It is called double hex. There is a tool available for it.
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/tools...e=snapon-store

Rock on! Thanks for the link. Now that I think about it, Hitler was the inspiration for the beetle, so of course it's sort of evil.

[MPaulHolmes]

I got a great deal on a 32 inch long, 1 inch diameter aluminum rod. I decided to name it Rod. I'm going to chop Rod up into 12 chunks, each of length 59.78 mm +/-0.0000000001 mm. I eyeballed it.

Next, I'll drill holes down the middle of the 12 tribes of Israel (Rod's 12 children), and then use them as spacers.

He had some other children with a steel pipe, and those kids are nothing but trouble. That's why I oppose inter-metal dating, but high carbon steel is very useful, so I'm OK with carbon dating.

It was *only* $23. Goll Dern ripoff.

[MPaulHolmes]

Cutting those stupid 12 spacers all the same length was very difficult, and even then, I only got plus or minus 0.5 mm, with quite a few in between ones. Now I need to make sure they are cut perpendicular to the height of the cylinders, which they aren't right now. Ghetto Harbor freight saw.

The observant person will note that there are only 11 spacers. That's because there is the 12th sitting in the garage with a fresh hole in it, holding at about 850 degrees F.

They are very difficult to drill. It's messed up. Like giving birth to Oprah's sybling.