[BradQuick]

I've been working for a couple of months now on converting my 1997 Honda Del Sol. I figured it's time to share some of my progress.

I found the car on Craig's List. I has 64K miles on it and the engine ran fine. I'm trying to sell the engine on Craig's List. It took me a while to get up the nerve to pull a perfectly good motor out of the car. But since I bought it specifically for this project, it didn't take me too long.

[BradQuick]

The car came with an automatic transmission. I picked up a manual transmission off of ebay for $150.

A web search turned up the dimensions of the holes in a Honda transmission. As it turns out, the data posted was not very accurate. I made one plate, measured the error and corrected it when I made the second plate. I then made a plate to attach a Warp 9 motor.

I decided to go clutchless. I made a hub that holds the original clutch spline and springs.

The Warp 9 motor has a hole bored in the end of the shaft, so I made a bronze bushing that fits in this hole and captures the end of the transmission shaft.

[BradQuick]

When you replace an automatic Honda transmission with a manual one, you have to use a custom mount. They sell them on Ebay, but I chose to build an adapter.

[BradQuick]

To get the power from the trunk to the front of the car, I chose to run the wires through PVC pipe. The two main wires fit easily into 1 1/4" pipe. I ran an extra 10 gage wire for charging since the charger will be in the trunk and I wouldn't otherwise have access to both ends of the battery pack in the trunk.

I cut a hole in the front of the trunk and ran the pipe underneath the car and held it in place with large tie-wraps.

[BradQuick]

I have the batteries all mounted. I thought I had taken photos of the mounts before I put them in, but I guess I didn't.

I worked on my electrical panel today. I have most of the 144V wires hooked up now, but I don't have photos yet.

[Zemmo]

Wow! Such great progress! Nice clean installation. What controller are you going to go with?

[major]

Originally Posted by BradQuick

I worked on my electrical panel today. I have most of the 144V wires hooked up now, but I don't have photos yet.

Hey Brad,

Looks like you have the motor wired for CWDE rotation. Did you get it special for this?

Advanced timing (for counter-clockwise rotation when viewed from the transmission, CCWDE)
Contact us if your motor rotates clockwise when viewed from the transmission (e.g. for some Honda vehicles)

From a seller's web site.

Regards,

major

[Astronomer]

Very nice, Brad.

[DavidDymaxion]

Nice stuff!

The posts between the motor plate and tranny plate will see alot of side-to-side rocking forces -- how did you decide how big they needed to be? I'm no materials strength engineer, just curious and hoping to learn.

[PatricioIN]

I love the Del Sol.. a great little car from Honda. What are your expectations from this car? Speed - range?? 144volts in that little car should get you as fast as you'll ever want to go; I'd more interested in the overall range once it's completed and the batts are fully broken in.