1985 VW Cabriolet using Nissan Leaf - Charlottesville, VA, USA

7204 Views 35 Replies 12 Participants Last post by bostonmacosx, 4 mo ago

heybluez

Discussion Starter · Dec 19, 2021

I might as well start a build thread. It seem to be all the rage, right?!

.

I am also shooting video as I do and will try to put a few videos out there as I can.

About me: 47 years old. Engineering background but most of that was in software coding. Limited electronics experience. Limited mechanical experience. First time converting anything.

Why the VW Cab? Wife's favorite car as she was growing up after watching the movie "Can't Buy Me Love". This is her b-day present and she wants it converted.

Why am I doing it? See above but I really want to learn how EV's go together and working on projects while learning is actually a way that I unwind from my "day job".

Now onto to the stuff you all probably actually give a sh*t about.

GOALS

1. Weekend/fun driver
2. Range: 75-100 miles
3. Remove the manual & clutch
4. Heater
5. Don't need AC
6. Preserve the look & feel of the car as original as possible.
7. Retain power steering
8. Finish within 6 months... I will take a moment for you to stop laughing!

Moving on.

BUDGET

I am hoping for $35,000 US all in but understand it may go over. I know that if I did the analysis this is absolutely a dumb 'investment' but I don't care. See above, for me it's a way that I relax. Plus it makes my wife happy and that makes me happy. I will do my best to track costs for anyone interested.

CONVERSION CAR

1985 VW Cabriolet. I did 'overpay' for it but considering that the market for cars is absolutely nuts (thank you, inflation) and I did not want to do any real body/interior restorations I opted to find one in the best condition possible. AND, I did!

Wheel Tire Car Automotive side-view mirror Vehicle

I am now working on removing all ICE components. Happy to report that the motor is out and SOLD! woot.

Motor vehicle Automotive tire Workwear Vehicle Automotive design

(that's me but you all are smart and figured it out already, i am sure.)

I decided to go the Nissan Leaf route after seeing the number of leafs at the junk yard. Figure for a good price you can get a decent start on all the major components. AND it seems that ResolveEV's VCU is pretty good.

To that, I am bidding on a Leaf right now and did already purchase the VCU. Spent an hour today labeling it. Hope that this helps as I am working.

Circuit component Font Electrical wiring Electronic component Computer hardware

At this point, I am 1% in the conversion. I will continue to remove what is not needed in the car and then clean. Once I secure the doner car I plan to remove the motor and battery pack and wire it up and see if I can get this thing to work out side of the car. Once that is done, I will disassemble the pack and begin the process of figuring out where to place the batteries. Right now, I am trying to:

1. get as close as the original balance of the car
2. try to keep batteries out of the main cabin

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(original weight)

I am thinking putting a few where the gas tank was and towards the front of the trunk. Also, I will probably have to get a few in the front.

I have lots of questions but here is one that I know you all know. Where is the best place for me to pick up the bits I will need like fuses, wire, momentary switches and the ilk?

Thank you and happy holidays!

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brian_

· #3 · Dec 19, 2021

heybluez said:
At this point, I am 1% in the conversion. I will continue to remove what is not needed in the car and then clean. Once I secure the doner car I plan to remove the motor and battery pack and wire it up and see if I can get this thing to work out side of the car. Once that is done, I will disassemble the pack and begin the process of figuring out where to place the batteries.

That all makes sense.

But those are normally called battery modules - the whole set is called the "battery".

heybluez said:
Right now, I am trying to:

1. get as close as the original balance of the car
2. try to keep batteries out of the main cabin
...
I am thinking putting a few where the gas tank was and towards the front of the trunk. Also, I will probably have to get a few in the front.

More than a few. The set of modules are far larger in volume than the gas tank plus a bit of the trunk. And after you put the entire drive unit (motor with transaxle) with the inverter and PDU (power distribution unit, including charger, etc) in the front - just as it is in the Leaf - I think that you'll find that there's no space left for battery modules. There's a reason that EVs are generally designed with the battery under a raised floor.

The mass (weight) distribution will definitely shift rearward due to the battery.

The Ford Focus Electric used the fuel tank and trunk space, but it took nearly the entire trunk.

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brian_

· #8 · Dec 23, 2021

remy_martian said:
Let's wait a couple of months and see how he packages the batteries and traction solution before declaring it's a nice platform to convert.

Looks awfully challenging to me.

I agree - it might be a nice car to have (although other than the convertible top it's nothing special), but it's no more suited to conversion than other small front wheel drive cars. A Leaf drive unit into the front is easy; the battery is the challenge.

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brian_

· #11 · Dec 26, 2021

Pehr said:
Please check how VW did when they made the original CitySTROMer for inspiration.

The Volkswagen Elektro-Golf: an Electric Car from 1976

This Volkswagen Golf hatchback had an electric drive even in 1976. But why did we have to wait several decades for an electric Golf to go into production?

dyler.com

View attachment 125797

Yes, under the rear seat - or replacing it - plus using the bottom the cargo space (which would be all of the cargo space in a Cabriolet) is probably the most viable option without a custom floor design. The Ford Focus Electric and the Chevrolet Spark (and probably a few others) are similar, because they were designed to work with an existing floor.

Pehr said:
Another cool but very challenging route would be to use the entire floor from the Leaf and install the pack intact.

A Leaf floor obviously won't fit a Golf, but a similar shape could be custom-built, even using some of the Leaf floor panel. The Leaf has 300 mm (a foot) longer wheelbase than the Golf, so even with a custom floor the Leaf pack is unlikely to fit intact - either the back end runs into the rear suspension or the front end blocks the front seat footwell, or both.

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brian_

· #21 · Jan 26, 2022

Pehr said:
Would it be possible to salvage the floor from the Leaf and transplant it to the Golf?

As noted earlier:

brian_ said:
A Leaf floor obviously won't fit a Golf, but a similar shape could be custom-built, even using some of the Leaf floor panel. The Leaf has 300 mm (a foot) longer wheelbase than the Golf, so even with a custom floor the Leaf pack is unlikely to fit intact - either the back end runs into the rear suspension or the front end blocks the front seat footwell, or both.

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brian_

· #23 · Jan 27, 2022

Pehr said:
However the battery pack doesn’t strech all the way. It may still be possible and at least worth checking.
View attachment 126857

So imagine the floor much shorter, in a Golf... and that stack of modules under the Leaf's front seat ending up under the driver's feet.

But yes, certainly check out the details, preferably in drawings, photos, or 3D models (not by chopping up cars to then throw away the pieces) to be sure - perhaps you could come up with something workable.

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