[emosun]

I'm taking over this project and am continuing it. For some back story read here.

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums...highlight=gevo

I traded the vehicle for a 1977 ford maverick. The maverick may have been worth more , but it's worth more to me that all the hard part is done on this EV which is the heavy engine bits. The only real thing keeping me from building an ev was lack of engine knowledge and welding skills.

But since I now have had it a few days , my goal is to get it road worthy and driving as my back and forth car to work , which is only 5 miles away.

I have already begun by replacing the dented hood and rusty passenger door. I've also bought a new rim and tires for the rear. I then got 3 brand new golf cart batteries and will soon get three more. Need lotsa body work and paint but here's just some snaps of it so far.

[TomA]

Just a word of regular car (Metro/Firefly/Swift) advice:

Have a really good careful look (like with an ice pick to probe for rust) at the body around where the lower front suspension arms join the chassis, all around the area where the drive shafts come through the frame to the front wheels. Your best bet is to remove the front wheels so you can thoroughly inspect.

These cars are very prone to rusting there, and since your rocker sills are rusted out, its important to look. If there is ANY surface rust, wire brush it and get some rust converter or POR-15 on there right away. If the metal is soft and yields at all under the pick, the chassis is probably shot, as no repair panels are available, its a structural area, and unless you're in the welding trade its prohibitively costly to repair in most cases.

Do this now before you put any time into the car.

Just a suggestion...

[emosun]

Originally Posted by TomA

Just a word of regular car (Metro/Firefly/Swift) advice:

Have a really good careful look (like with an ice pick to probe for rust) at the body around where the lower front suspension arms join the chassis, all around the area where the drive shafts come through the frame to the front wheels. Your best bet is to remove the front wheels so you can thoroughly inspect.

These cars are very prone to rusting there, and since your rocker sills are rusted out, its important to look. If there is ANY surface rust, wire brush it and get some rust converter or POR-15 on there right away. If the metal is soft and yields at all under the pick, the chassis is probably shot, as no repair panels are available, its a structural area, and unless you're in the welding trade its prohibitively costly to repair in most cases.

Do this now before you put any time into the car.

Just a suggestion...

Let me make my own suggestion.... Actually read the back story on the car before posting? It showed on the very first page the Y frame being welded back together.......

[onegreenev]

I will pipe in here. The car is a pile. After looking at the original build I would have stayed far far away from this one. I learned my lesson. I hope you will too. The motor is tiny but functional. I'm still hung out to dry on 36 volts. Can't help much. The controller is about the best thing on the vehicle. Rockers are dead. That rusted area in the danger zone is BAD BAD news. It was welded and it won't hold. I till crack and rust out as they rust out mostly from the inside out. Not much you can do about that. The original post of the car looks bad and our photos look just as bad. I will not hide the fact that IT IS REAL BAD AND YOU SHOUD JUST GET ANOTHER METRO IN EXCELLENT CONDITION AND PUT IN THE ELECTRONICS FROM THIS ONE AND LET THIS ONE BECOME SOME ONES NEW RAZOR BLADE. IT IS DANGEROUS. I WILL NOT HELP ANY FURTHER.

IT SADENS ME TO SEE THIS SORT OF THING.

I know its your baby but REALLY, Have you had a real hard look at what you truly have? Pull the EV shades off for a bit and step back and have a good look. You should have seen my first. I had EV blinders on as well. I think mine were worse than yours.

This was my second build: http://onegreenev.com/ElectricMG/Welcome.html
This was my first after the blinders came off: http://greenev.zapto.org/electricvw/...ow_N_Slow.html
This was still at 72 volts before I upgraded to 96 volts and a Synkromotive controller.

http://greenev.zapto.org/electricvw/...W/Welcome.html
http://greenev.zapto.org/GreenEV/Gre...to_Albums.html
http://onegreenev.blogspot.com

Check out the links.

I wish I had a photo of the second EV I purchased. My first was an old Datsun. Sold it for what I paid for it and then got another which was worse but learned some lessons. Since then it has been better.

I am a sucker for old VW's. That is my downfall.

[emosun]

Originally Posted by onegreenev

I will pipe in here. The car is a pile.

This made me lol.

But really , in wisconsin this is normal. Everyone in other states always freak when they see a very rusty wisconsin car but here it's so comon place.

There's a guy at work that drives a corolla with GIANT rust holes in it , like big enough to put my foot in. This car actually has alot LESS rust then some of the geos at the junkyard , granted some were better , which i why i got the door and hood. The trouble spots have been welded and they'll be fine

Worse comes to worse and it falls apart again , I'll just get it welded up again.

[onegreenev]

Figured it might make you LOL but it does not make it any safer because it is so common. I am very much aware of what Wisconsin weather can do to a car. My Dad and Step Mom lived there for many years. She said her VW looked like the flintstone mobile within 5 years and she purchased it new. It was a wonder it did not fall apart under them. Well actually it did. In an accident these rust bombs are dangerous to their occupants. Just because it is still moving ...................... It's still a rust bomb and sad to see because it really does give a crappy impression to those who might consider an electric car. Seeing something like that would turn many folks off to electric. It is perfect for the oil industry. Scare away all those folks who might have gone electric for good. Bad news.

Wisconsin or not. It still looks like a pile.

I see too many coming from out of state and just cringe when I see one. Heck my sister in law had a lawn mower that looked like that. Just all rusted out and falling apart but it still ran. Looked like they pulled it from the dump because it was all they thought they could get. Dang motor outlasted the the body. OUCH.

[emosun]

Originally Posted by onegreenev

It's still a rust bomb and sad to see because it really does give a crappy impression to those who might consider an electric car. Seeing something like that would turn many folks off to electric. It is perfect for the oil industry. Scare away all those folks who might have gone electric for good.

lol , I almost liked the idea of leaving it bad looking , sorta like "this ugly little car is better then yours cuz it's electric" deal.

But really you'd be surprised how many cars I've transformed with a little body work and paint before. I intend to give this thing a makeover before it hits the road , or at least before anyone knows it's electric.

[PStechPaul]

I'm still interested in seeing how this pans out but I agree that in general it is not really worth it to do major frame welding and other body work on a car that was made to be cheap and not known for its safety anyway. It made me curious about what I might pay for a decent small vehicle that would be suitable for an EV conversion.

So I checked the Baltimore Craig's list and I was surprised what you can get for under $1000. I found a 1999 Saturn SL1, which is the same as I have, for $500. It needs engine work but I figure that I can use lots of the ICE parts as spares for my main vehicle and maybe sell some of them and almost get it free. If it has a 5 speed I might jump on it. I would have to look at the various options for conversion but it would be a perfect candidate if the body is in good shape. I've had several other Saturns and never had problems with rust, and the other mechanical systems have given no trouble.

They seem to have good Aerodynamics because I have gotten 46 MPG on a highway trip and I average about 35 just on local roads. So I think I could get 250-300 W-hr/mi, and probably a 25 or 30 HP three phase motor would be sufficient. Let's see - if I drive 40 MPH in one hour I'll go 40 miles which is 10 kW-hr. Which means 10 kW or 13 HP might be enough. The main expense, of course, would be batteries. If I can get them for $0.35/W-hr I'd have to spend $3500, but everything else should be about $1500 so for about $5000 I'd have a pretty cool EV.

Sorry to hijack your thread, but I'm just mulling over the possibilities, and I think you have made your decisions and you don't want to play around with the electrical stuff, so there's not much more help I can offer. Good luck, and I'll post separately if and when I start a road EV project.

[emosun]

Today I put the new rim and tires on the wheels and found some geo hubcaps at the junkyard to put on it. Also brushed off the rust on the rear wheels and did bondo.

[emosun]

So today I finished up the bondo work over the rear wheels




I then Cut off all the rusty metal from the rockers and gave everything else a thick layer of auto body undercoating.





I' debating on keeping the drivers door. The bottom is rusted out , but the outside parts are not so it doesn't actually look bad from the outside , just underneath.