[brian_]

I think the difference is that with an automatic, you have the extra first step of converting to a manual transmission. Conventional automatics are terrible for electric motors. Fortunately, the conversion to a manual is feasible... and there's always the possibility of selling the automatic car and buying a similar but manual car to avoid conversion work.

 

[remy_martian]

I've been wanting to convert my 1982 corvette to electric for a while but all of the information that I have found thus far has either been on manual transmissions or doesn't go into detail when it comes to converting automatics. I was just wondering how different the process would be when converting a car with a 4 speed automatic with cruise control rather than a simpler manual.

Additionally, if you have any tips for selling the old IC parts that would be greatly appreciated as it would allow for a higher budget. Thanks!

Corvette's always had a weird source of pride in that you can get two golf bags into it. As such, your biggest problem is where to put the batteries. Being a Corvette, even a 1982 (sorry but everything, apart from the Merc-built V8, from 1972-1999 was a POS in my opinion - a lot of that was power plant, though), the last thing you want is a 6000 pound truck for handling (you don't have the option of putting the pack under the floor).

If you're serious about it, I'd look at having the drive unit in the tunnel (or, better, adapt a Tesla drive unit in place of the diff carrier) and stuff 650 pounds or so worth of batteries where the trans and engine were. That won't upset the balance of the car much and will keep it fun to drive.

You won't get more than a bit over 100 miles of range, but it'll be fun and good enough to take out on the twisties for 45 minutes to an hour, get you to work and can still fetch the 5 bags of groceries you've become accustomed to -- I've got a '14 Camaro in the queue and this is what I plan to do with it. A 1200 pound pack for range is a non-starter for me - I want the car indistinguishable from its ICE predecessor.

Building a "restomod" performance car for range is silly, IMO. The reason to ditch the automatic (which CAN be done and the efficiency hit is merely running a hydraulic pump, so the lore that's out there is complete BS, unless you're insane enough to keep the torque converter) in a 'Vette is not range, it's weight and space.

As far as the cruise control goes, it's noble to try to keep it, but there are MUCH more important things to think about for a 'Vette than something you can replace very easily in an EV, or even translate if you've gotta keep it "original."

As far as selling off parts, I'll be my usual frank and brutal self - what you have for a drivetrain is close to worthless. Maybe Craigslist or eBay - depends where you live, really. Worth a bit more if you can show it working well to the buyer before you pull it out.

 

[brian_]

Corvette's always had a weird source of pride in that you can get two golf bags into it. As such, your biggest problem is where to put the batteries.

By "always", I assume that you mean for the 1982 Special Edition with the operable hatch window, since you can't get much of anything in any other Corvette before 1984's C4.

But I agree: battery placement is a challenge, and freeing up the engine space would help a lot with that.

If you're serious about it, I'd look at having the drive unit in the tunnel (or, better, adapt a Tesla drive unit in place of the diff carrier) and stuff 650 pounds or so worth of batteries where the trans and engine were. That won't upset the balance of the car much and will keep it fun to drive.

I agree, but the question was only about the difference between conversion with manual and automatic transmissions, which implies that the motor would be in the original engine location.

While a Tesla (or other production EV) complete drive unit in the rear would be good, the Corvette suspension causes a major problem. All C2 through C4 rear suspensions use the axle shafts as locating members, so the final drive (diff) outputs take lateral suspension load. No modern EV drive unit would be suitable for that, leading to significant mechanical modification, or conversion to a different suspension.

 

[brian_]

Since the original transmission question is getting sidetracked into other conversion designs, it might be good to be aware of some work that has already been done with this generation of Corvette:

• THinking about an ev conversion of a c3 vett (includes link to another project in EValbum)
• 1975ish Corvette conversion
• Possible Corvette Stingray Conversion
• 1980 C3 Corvette Conversion
• 1980 C3 Corvette Conversion Build Log
• 1977 Corvette conversion planning

An astute observer may note that all of these discussions cover a grand total of one actual conversion, documented outside of this forum... and a couple of aborted projects here. The discussion might be informative, anyway.