I’ve been lurking on here for a while. I’ve been wanting to do an EV conversion and its taken a while to find a car that I felt I would want to drive once the conversion is complete. I’ll admit from the go that, while its nice to be environmentally friendly, I feel that the finished product will have to be something that I want to drive. Some style, a bit of power and a certain “cool” factor (at least in my own head).
This car does it for me.
Skill level with auto mechanics/fabrication: I’ve restored/rebuilt a couple of cars as a teenager/early 20s. Some Minis and a Land Rover. I have minimal fabrication experience, but that’s going to improve significantly with the rust I’ll need to remediate in this.
Skill with electronics/tech. I’m a software developer working with embedded systems. I’ve got good basic electronic skills as well as being comfortable with auto electrics.
Range: I live in Santa Ana, Southern California. I’d like to be able to drive to Los Angeles and back without being too concerned about range. That would mean around 120-150 miles.
Performance: The original car had 55hp and a factory stated top speed of 71mph. 0-60 of around 30 seconds. I’d like to be able to drive on the freeway (so 80mph max). Cruise at ~70, which puts me in the slow lane around here. Some power will be nice but I’m not planning on racing it.
Budget. I figure I’ll have 15-20K in the EV components once its done. Plus restoration costs.
This will effectively be a resto mod – but one of my goals is that at a 5-10 ft range it shouldn’t be apparent that anything significant has been changed. I want to keep the essence of the car and its style.
While the exterior is in pretty decent shape, the interior is roached. The floor is completely rusted out, as well as the sills. I’m viewing this as an opportunity to build a battery tray in the floor so I can use Tesla batteries. I don’t plan on putting batteries under the hood or in the boot.
Drive train is complicated – and something I could use recommendations on. I had originally hoped to use a complete Nissan Leaf stack, but its too wide across the CV joints. I’ll add some pictures of the space I have to work with under the hood.
This car does it for me.
Skill level with auto mechanics/fabrication: I’ve restored/rebuilt a couple of cars as a teenager/early 20s. Some Minis and a Land Rover. I have minimal fabrication experience, but that’s going to improve significantly with the rust I’ll need to remediate in this.
Skill with electronics/tech. I’m a software developer working with embedded systems. I’ve got good basic electronic skills as well as being comfortable with auto electrics.
Range: I live in Santa Ana, Southern California. I’d like to be able to drive to Los Angeles and back without being too concerned about range. That would mean around 120-150 miles.
Performance: The original car had 55hp and a factory stated top speed of 71mph. 0-60 of around 30 seconds. I’d like to be able to drive on the freeway (so 80mph max). Cruise at ~70, which puts me in the slow lane around here. Some power will be nice but I’m not planning on racing it.
Budget. I figure I’ll have 15-20K in the EV components once its done. Plus restoration costs.
This will effectively be a resto mod – but one of my goals is that at a 5-10 ft range it shouldn’t be apparent that anything significant has been changed. I want to keep the essence of the car and its style.
While the exterior is in pretty decent shape, the interior is roached. The floor is completely rusted out, as well as the sills. I’m viewing this as an opportunity to build a battery tray in the floor so I can use Tesla batteries. I don’t plan on putting batteries under the hood or in the boot.
Drive train is complicated – and something I could use recommendations on. I had originally hoped to use a complete Nissan Leaf stack, but its too wide across the CV joints. I’ll add some pictures of the space I have to work with under the hood.
