1987 Chevrolet S10 to Total Electric Operation

<div id="eXTReMe"><a href="http://extremetracking.com/open?login=ws64play"> <img src="http://t1.extreme-dm.com/i.gif" style="border: 0;" height="38" width="41" id="EXim" alt="eXTReMe Tracker" /></a> <script type="text/javascript"> </script><noscript><div id="neXTReMe"><img height="1" width="1" alt="" src="http://e2.extreme-dm.com/s11.g?login=ws64play&j=n&jv=n" /> </div></noscript></div> <P> I have owned 2 Toyota Prii (plural for Prius). My first was a Prius was a used 2002 that had over 100,000 miles at the time of my purchase. Both myself and my wife were initialy only excited about the fuel savings, then as time went by we became more aware of the enviromental benefits of driving a hybrid Prius. We received our 2006 Prius in July of 2006 and we love the car. I have wanted to do an EV Conversion and break the gasoline habit for around town and the backand forth to work drive. I also feel I want to be more independent and less under the control of the Fuel Lords. I have a friend who also has purchased a Hybrid Honda Civic, both he and i have tossed around the idea of converting a small pickup to all electric/ battery operation. I have researched a little on the internet and found that others have been successful in making the EV conversion. I wanted to do my own conversion as CHEAPLY as possible. I made a trip to Logan, Utah and visited with Ryan at EV Source. Ryan was very helpful in answering my questions and sharing his excitment for EV conversions. Ryan also told me about the products that he sells through EV Source and gave me tips concerning what parts work well and what has less that satisfactory performance. S10 Ev Wiring Diagrams These diagrams are my first attempt at designing an EV electrical system. I ordered a set of Gas lift Struts with an extended length of 36.38", contracted length of 21", with a lift rating of 60 LBS, from Lift Supports Depot.com. In hindsight I should have ordered a higher LBS rated lift, but I could not find one with the total length of close to an extended length of 36". I experimented with several different mountings and decided that the best support I could get from these lifts was when they were as close to being vertical with the bed tilted up as possible. I put our bathroom scale between the battery box frame and a support board and the scale read a weight of 60 LBS. That means each lift would need to hold an additional 30 LBS, or lifts rated at 90 LBS each. I found at Surplus Center.com has lift supports that would have worked with my needed 90 LB lift, For a very good price! I purchased from Electric Vehicles of America, the paperback book "From Gasoline to Elecric Power-A Conversion Experience", by Gary powers. and read it this weekend. In Gary's book he told of his S10 conversion and that the Overload springs that he had purchased for his S10 were not able to hold the additional weight of the 20 batteries! I am going to install 26 batteries so I know I am going to be weak on the rear springs even with the Add a Leaf Spring that I have installed. I decided the best way to overcome this added weight would be to use Air Helper Springs. I Found that Summit Racing Equiptment has the best price. The Part # for my S10 is FIP-2209. The Air Helper Springs are Now on order from Summit Racing. I will take the Add-A_Leaf springs back off and use them on Dad's 1955 Studebaker pickup as the 50+ year old OEM springs are sagging from age and use. Nov. 15, 2007 I made a couple of stainless steel clamps to hold the air tank reservoir that will fit at the rear of the cab. This is the parts made to attach the motor to Transmission. The 32 LB. Flywheel, clutch and cover turns into a 6 LB unit! Shedding 26 LBS, every 7 LBS of weight the motor turns is equal to hauling 100 LBS of weight! (-371 LBS) The WarP9 motor that i ordered from Ryan at EV Source.com arrived today, My buddy, Jerry, hauled it home and help me unload it. It's like an expensive Christmas present! I slide the adapter on the taperlock and lined up the holes for the socket head capscrews. I put a little Locktite on these too. Tighten these evenly, going around the hub, they will get a little tighter each time you go around the hub tightening them. These hubs are very strong and tighten up really tight on the shaft for a permanent connection. Don't over tighten! I built 2 brackets to go from the front square tube bracket to the side square tube bracket. I put an angle on the end to give the square tube even more strength. I also ground the welds off of the front support, broke it loose & raised it up & forward to within 1/4" of the back of the cab, to get a little more room for the battery trays. I used a piece of heavy cardboard to protect the steel brake tube and the wiring in the frame when i welded the tube to the S10 frame. Center Boxes on each side of the driveline & a Rear Box behind the axle. Heavy shaded lines are 1/8" X 4" flat iron to span the battery edges. Each center box is 15" wide X 42" long X 11" tall. The rear box is 36" long X 40"wide X 11" tall. Revised, Apr. 21, 2008, to only 5 batteries behind the rear axle. I will use the open area in the rear battery box for tool storage. the parts needed for Zener battery charge regulators. The parts came from Radio shack and Digi-Key. I used Loni's instructions on how to build the DIY Zener-Regulator How-To on YouTube Loni also has a PDF version available at http://home.gci.net/~saintbernard/Zener_Regs.pdf Parts List: 25 each, 10 Ohm, 1/2 watt, Resistors (5 pkgs, Radio Shack #271-1101) 25 each, PR2, 3 volt, Flashlight Lamps 50 each, 5/16", #12-10 gauge, Ring Terminals (1 box of 50 terminals) 25 each, Zener Diode, 5 watt, 6.8 volt (Digi-Key Corp) I removed the insulation from the ring terminals. I used an old glass bottle for a holding fixture while soldering. I have been looking at HOW to get this charger mounted in the cab of the truck. My first choice is behind the seat on the drivers side. I made a cardboard mockup of the battery charger for sizing and fitting. This will save scratching and also the chance damaging the new charger for trial fittings. I weighed locations like under the hood, not an acceptable location , (too dirty and the hood would have to be opened every time I charge the truck to turn on the charger). I looked at mounting the charger under the bench seat, would require building a hinged seat and cooling of the charger would be inhibited, not an acceptable location. I looked at mounting the charger under the truck pickup box, too dirty, and the bed would have to be raised to turn on the charger, not an acceptable location. I am back to the 1st choise, to mount the charger behind the bench seat, between the cab corner and the indented area at the back of the cab. The drawback of mounting it behind the drivers seat is HOW to get it in the area. The relative area is just large enough to house the charger but, HOW do I get it in the area? Here is the solution that I came to, cut a hole and bring the charger in from the rear of the cab into the interior of the truck. I measured twice and cut once, but still could have made the hole just 3/16" narrower and still have got the charger in. I cut the hole 3" taller than the charger to get the heavy cables under the metal lip of the cab. I used a 4" electric angle grinder with a metal cutoff disc to do most of the cutting. received the 1K HV Zilla Controller, OPPS!, It is a LV model, I am returning it for the correct 1K HV Zilla Controler. I am sure glad that I noticed it was not the correct one before I installed it. I worked on getting the coolant reservoir made out of 4" ABS green plastic pipe, it is thicker for threading the pipe thread fittings. Made the same type of clamps to hold the reservoir as to hold the air spring reservoir. I used cardboard and Styrofoam mockup boxes the same size as the Zilla and the hairball. Made a cardboard pattern, with 2" squares, of the area where the Zilla, Hairball, motor shunt and main contactor will mount. I want to have the high voltage DC wires towards the rear of the Zilla, so that the 2/0 cables will exit at the rear of the mounting board. The goal is to have the 2/0 cables safely at the firewall end of the mounting board, and the smaller control wires to the Hairball farther away from the 2/0 cables. I also need to keep the coolant connections lower or near the same level as the bottom of the coolant reservoir. Transfered the cardboard pattern to a piece of 3/4" plywood. (May 8, 2008) These diagrams are my first attempt at designing an EV electrical system. Please let me know of corrections or improvments. May 19, 2008 I downloaded a freeware program called "DesignWorks Lite 4" to draw out the S10 electrical system. I am still learning to use the program... DC to DC Convertor wiring. 1987 Chevrolet S10 Conversion Pages. Created October 8, 2007 </BODY> </HTML>