[ARNAV]

Hello and greetings from Southern California, I just joined this forum, thank you for having me here!
My plan is to convert a classic 70’s Chevy Eldorado. I searched the forum and found a member who mentioned a similar project back in 2016. I wrote him back, but not sure if he will respond or not.
Does anyone have details on a similar project, that I can learn from?
Considering it is a heavy car, what size of motor and batteries should I consider?
Thanks!

 

[Russco]

Hello and greetings from Southern California, I just joined this forum, thank you for having me here!
My plan is to convert a classic 70’s Chevy Eldorado. I searched the forum and found a member who mentioned a similar project back in 2016. I wrote him back, but not sure if he will respond or not.
Does anyone have details on a similar project, that I can learn from?
Considering it is a heavy car, what size of motor and batteries should I consider?
Thanks!

A Chevy Eldorado, huh? Better stick with your Yugo Airliner. Duh!

 

[joekitch]

so, aside from it being a cadillac eldorado, you're going to have a ton of usable space for batteries and motors and stuff, should be a pretty simple conversion from a mechanics standpoint
and then you have a totally silent, pillowy soft cloud to waft down the road, comfy

 

[ARNAV]

Thank you,
What size of motor and batteries should I consider?

 

[joekitch]

I mean, what's your budget, and skill level with electrical engineering and fabrication

 

[ARNAV]

Budget is wide open. . I have no problem to invest in it as required.
But of curse I don’t want to buy unnecessary things, or do an over-design of spend money with no purpose.
To be able to move in a reasonable speed and a 200 miles range, can you estimate the motor size and the batteries that I will need?
Also, a dumb question - how do I deal with the automatic transmission? Do I need to lock it in a specific gear? Or just leave it as-is?

 

[remy_martian]

70's is nebulous. What year is the car?

 

[brian_]

70's is nebulous. What year is the car?

Does it matter? The eighth generation (1967–1970), ninth generation (1971–1978), and tenth generation (1979–1985) are all similarly sized and use the same powertrain so the conversion would be the same other details of battery placement. Those generations span the 1970's, and are exactly the generations which use this longitudinal front-wheel-drive powertrain, shared with the Toronado and Riviera (and GMC Motorhome). They're all enormous.

The 1979 had the lighter-duty THM 325 transaxle to go with smaller engines, and shorter wheelbase, so maybe the differences for that one year could almost be significant.

 

[brian_]

... how do I deal with the automatic transmission? Do I need to lock it in a specific gear? Or just leave it as-is?

... or pull it out entirely, as it is unnecessary bulk, weight, and complication. It probably has decent resale value, too, since the THM 425/325 is decades out of production and unique, so it is possibly in demand.

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

Thank you,
What size of motor and batteries should I consider?

Since it is a huge landyacht it won't be fast no matter what and if it is then it will be scary. Also being FWD I just recommend dropping in a LEAF motor/transaxle all as one and a Resolve-EV controller and then drive it!

 

[koolkev]

Since it is a huge landyacht it won't be fast no matter what and if it is then it will be scary. Also being FWD I just recommend dropping in a LEAF motor/transaxle all as one and a Resolve-EV controller and then drive it!

I'm near LAX. I have a 71 Eldorado and a 13 Leaf. My goal is to elecrify the Eldorado. Mostly to cruze to the beach.

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

I'm near LAX. I have a 71 Eldorado and a 13 Leaf. My goal is to elecrify the Eldorado. Mostly to cruze to the beach.

Probably one of the "easiest" conversions and a great candidate.

-Buy a Nissan LEAF 2013 or newer
-Resolve-EV controller

1. Put LEAF transaxle and inverter/charger assembly into Eldorado engine bay with custom mounts and custom axles.
2. Put battery under the massive hood in front and behind the motor stack in two blocks.
3. Cruise to the beach.

 

[joekitch]

I'd throw a few batteries in the huge trunk, under the floor, to balance the load a little but yeah this should be a relatively easy job in terms of conversions

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

They had 500 cube iron on iron engines and a transverse automatic transmission I bet the whole LEAF package will weigh less and fit easily leaving the trunk for as many dead hookers as you can fit.

 

[joekitch]

The 500 CID is apparently only 666lbs with all accessories on it, which is genuinely shocking, I thought it weighed more like 800

666 is comparable to a Chevy big block

Cadillac 500 Engine Weight. - Southern Airboat

.

 

[remy_martian]

Beast of an engine 😂

The chain drive transaxle has to be at least 200#

Don't forget the airbags and that the hydraulics will take up a bit of trunk space. Still enough room for three or four of the dead hookers that didn't make their weekly quota.

 

[joekitch]

Did the 71 have a transaxle though? Google keeps saying it had a THM400, which is ~150 lbs with fluid. Still heavy

 

[remy_martian]

I thought the Eldo (and Toronado and Riviera) were fwd? Too lazy to look up 🤪

 

[joekitch]

You're probably right, stuffs all over the map on which transmission was in there but if I assume fwd it was probably the th425, which According to a guy in this read is like 330lbs (!) On its own, which seems insane to me

Eldorado TH425 Transmission

Is there any demand for a TH425 transmission ? I aquired one, and I'm not sure what I'll do with it. Tom

cadillacmagazine.com

 

[brian_]

They had 500 cube iron on iron engines and a transverse automatic transmission I bet the whole LEAF package will weigh less and fit easily leaving the trunk for...

The engine and transmission (THM 425) were longitudinal (with the transmission behind and on the left side of the engine), not transverse... but yes, the whole powertrain was massive, although probably not as heavy as the complete Leaf system with battery.

The engine is over the axle line, extending a bit further behind than ahead of it. A Leaf drive unit (or other typical drive unit from a modern FWD EV) is ahead of the axle line other than the back half of the final drive housing, so there would be some space behind it in one of these cars (although not nearly enough for a full set of Leaf modules).