Excellent work. I’m looking forward to seeing you complete this.
Which Lincoln welder model are you using ?
Which Lincoln welder model are you using ?
Electric Supercar
Hello all,
I thought I would start a build thread. I have ordered a K1-attack kit car. I have started the assembly. My plan is to have a Tesla drive train. I am sourcing from EV-West. Hopefully that was a good company to partner with. I am waiting on batteries until the build is further along. I will definitely reach out to the forum for advice along the way. I am also documenting in YouTube. Feel free to follow along.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Uk13BnLTGAO5APsfuT9uw
I thought I would start a build thread. I have ordered a K1-attack kit car. I have started the assembly. My plan is to have a Tesla drive train. I am sourcing from EV-West. Hopefully that was a good company to partner with. I am waiting on batteries until the build is further along. I will definitely reach out to the forum for advice along the way. I am also documenting in YouTube. Feel free to follow along.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Uk13BnLTGAO5APsfuT9uw
1 - 17 of 526 Posts
Did you do similar to this conversion?I took an old Subaru power steering rack apart
I found that the actual rack and pinion were grease lubricated - the power steering bits used hydraulic fluid
So for the rack in my car I simply capped off the inlets and outlets on the pinion part,
Drained the oil and connected the two ends of the actual ram on the rack together
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KP3SkSfO9uQ
To Snowdog: if you have an actual powered steering rack and trying to use it as manual, I would highly recommend you convert it to manual as shown in that video.
Why do you feel that way ?Watched the video
WHAT A LOT OF CRAP
I would not let that idiot anywhere near my steering
I’m not an engineer but from what little I know what he did makes sense. We are taking a steering rack engineered and designed to run with power steering fluid pressure assistance and trying to run it as a manual steering rack.
Internally it has a “disk“ on the rack that the fluid will push to power assist with steering. Disconnecting the pump and leaving fluid in it or simply draining it and leaving air will create resistance. The disk will act like a piston trying to push fluid or air. Not to mention the disk will drag against the cylinder wall. So at the very least I think it would be best to remove the that disk.
As for the pinion side, there is the valves that direct fluid per the steering wheel input. For this to work, a slight “free play“ exists in the steering wheel. If you steer left the valves will move to direct fluid appropriate to push the disk in cylinder left. And Vise Versa. At this point why not just remove this valves and weld the two halves solid ?
I have done this to my car . I can’t comment on driving feel yet, but with just the wheels off the ground there is a noticeable difference!
^^ I’ve seen both video clips and a few others online . I posted that video because it was quick reference .
I can’t find any reasons why some don’t weld . Perhaps they want to reduce possible “bump steer” ? But after speaking with an owner that has done the full de-powering with welding they did not notice any additional bump steer. The Miata folks do have shops and vendors that offer de-powering conversions and here is one that does weld . https://www.miatacage.com/steering-rack-de-powering
Also another good “how to” that has the “slop” video you posted . They also weld it. Not saying it should be done or not. Just another source that does. https://motoiq.com/project-miatabusa-part-5-de-powering-the-steering-rack/2/
I don’t want to further hijack this build thread . Your correct it’s not actual “free play” on the pinion shaft , I was just trying to explain the movement that exists .
I can’t find any reasons why some don’t weld . Perhaps they want to reduce possible “bump steer” ? But after speaking with an owner that has done the full de-powering with welding they did not notice any additional bump steer. The Miata folks do have shops and vendors that offer de-powering conversions and here is one that does weld . https://www.miatacage.com/steering-rack-de-powering
Also another good “how to” that has the “slop” video you posted . They also weld it. Not saying it should be done or not. Just another source that does. https://motoiq.com/project-miatabusa-part-5-de-powering-the-steering-rack/2/
I don’t want to further hijack this build thread . Your correct it’s not actual “free play” on the pinion shaft , I was just trying to explain the movement that exists .
Bummer, but seems like it’s headed towards right direction. Im not expert but it’s pretty surprising the tin vs gold pins could also be an issue. Hope you get it driving soon.
I also bought the Tesla Model S Drive unit kit from EV west a month back . There is a 18 week lead time to prepare/ship. I hope I get gold pins when my kit is ready.
I also bought the Tesla Model S Drive unit kit from EV west a month back . There is a 18 week lead time to prepare/ship. I hope I get gold pins when my kit is ready.
Maybe this can be helpful Idea... Perhaps suggest to EV west if you can separate the inverter and ship that to them for testing ?
The drive unit entirety is heavy, expensive to ship and probably don’t need the motor/gear to be tested. But the inverter if carefully removed, should be fairly easy and inexpensive to ship .
There are a few video clips showing the inverter being removed online. The only difficult part would be packing it. I would suggest building a wood “jig/base” so it bolts on to similar to drive unit , then slide over the cover/case to protect it . Wrap it in foam or bubble wrap to help insulate inside the box further and ship it UPS , FedEX ground etc..
The drive unit entirety is heavy, expensive to ship and probably don’t need the motor/gear to be tested. But the inverter if carefully removed, should be fairly easy and inexpensive to ship .
There are a few video clips showing the inverter being removed online. The only difficult part would be packing it. I would suggest building a wood “jig/base” so it bolts on to similar to drive unit , then slide over the cover/case to protect it . Wrap it in foam or bubble wrap to help insulate inside the box further and ship it UPS , FedEX ground etc..
I know it’s seller's responsibility (EV West) to resolve etc... I don’t want to start a conversation/debate on that but rather help give some ideas on what it could be and help find a alternate solution SnowDog may be open to.
I had exchanged a few emails in the past with EV Controls about their T-1C . I believe the drive unit needs to be a certain firmware compatible with their controller. EV Controls said if I got their controller they would help me update the firmware that was compatible if needed for my setup plans.
Could it be a possible issue with the firmware on the drive unit ? Maybe it got corrupted somehow or was never flashed with the correct firmware ...
Would you consider contacting EV Controls again to see if they can assist with reinstalling/flashing the correct firmware ?
I had exchanged a few emails in the past with EV Controls about their T-1C . I believe the drive unit needs to be a certain firmware compatible with their controller. EV Controls said if I got their controller they would help me update the firmware that was compatible if needed for my setup plans.
Could it be a possible issue with the firmware on the drive unit ? Maybe it got corrupted somehow or was never flashed with the correct firmware ...
Would you consider contacting EV Controls again to see if they can assist with reinstalling/flashing the correct firmware ?
I recall seeing in your past vid that you sent the controller in for testing and all was well with the controller. But I didn’t know about CAN resistance being off. Sorry if it was already mentioned, I must have missed it or forgot about it.
Hopefully Ev West gets back to you soon and you get it resolved.
Hopefully Ev West gets back to you soon and you get it resolved.
Have you reached out to owner Michael Bream directly ? I wonder if maybe it’s just the tech associate/department that Is lacking and they are not aware of it....
I can only comment on my experience with the sales department. My interactions with Merritt was very well. He was super helpful with answering my questions , responded on time via email and was available to speak when I called most times. Also he was very honest about drive unit lead times being long from the start.
There was a 18 week lead time and in between I decided to change my plans and do a small rear and front awd setup as opposed to large rear with small front. As EV Controls Controller doesn’t support Small rear drive unit with dual motor configuration , I spoke with EV west to cancel my order and they refunded me my money that day. Just took the normal 1-3 business days for the money to return back to my credit card but I was happy with the service they provided to me.
So that is why I wonder maybe it’s the tech department or associate that is dropping the ball and management/owner is not aware of it . Any ways, I wish you good luck and thank you for the videos you post. I’m still learning and the videos have been very helpful to me.
I can only comment on my experience with the sales department. My interactions with Merritt was very well. He was super helpful with answering my questions , responded on time via email and was available to speak when I called most times. Also he was very honest about drive unit lead times being long from the start.
There was a 18 week lead time and in between I decided to change my plans and do a small rear and front awd setup as opposed to large rear with small front. As EV Controls Controller doesn’t support Small rear drive unit with dual motor configuration , I spoke with EV west to cancel my order and they refunded me my money that day. Just took the normal 1-3 business days for the money to return back to my credit card but I was happy with the service they provided to me.
So that is why I wonder maybe it’s the tech department or associate that is dropping the ball and management/owner is not aware of it . Any ways, I wish you good luck and thank you for the videos you post. I’m still learning and the videos have been very helpful to me.
So what happened with the response from EV West ? Did they provide any advise or support ?
I’m also curious for any updates from EV Controls ?
I’m also curious for any updates from EV Controls ?
I’m not well educated with electrical circuitry knowledge or terminology , but something came to mind watching the video.
Without connecting the high voltage circuitry , it seemed to “work”. So it makes me wonder if a faulty pre charge or contactor cause this issue ? Maybe the precharge is not working properly so the drive unit is protecting itself from the voltage/current rush ?
Without connecting the high voltage circuitry , it seemed to “work”. So it makes me wonder if a faulty pre charge or contactor cause this issue ? Maybe the precharge is not working properly so the drive unit is protecting itself from the voltage/current rush ?
How would one test the precharger ? Would it be something simple as using a multimeter and measure the voltage ?Thanks for the thought. I think I have isolated the problem to that area. I am thinking somewhere either with the precharge circuit or somehow there is a short or something to the motor/inverter or a HV leak. I don't know, I will keep troubleshooting.
Also did you check if the contractors turning on in the correct order ?
I may be mistaken but I don’t see how that would prove the precharge is working properly ? Maybe the opposite. Have you tried the opposite, disconnecting pack 1 and running pack 2 ?I did some additional checking today. The problem seems to go away if I disconnect battery pack 2. So I would assume that the precharge circuit is working if it boots up correctly with pack 1.
Maybe the precharger can’t handle both packs ?
If I remember correctly you are also experiencing brief “voltage leak” phenomena in which your voltmeter test was reading voltage briefly on the chassis ground?
I can’t recall but did you at least isolate the source to be from pack 2 ? Maybe both are related ? Essentially what I’m getting to is there might be an arch of some kind from pack 2 that is causing this leak and or boot issue?
I can’t recall but did you at least isolate the source to be from pack 2 ? Maybe both are related ? Essentially what I’m getting to is there might be an arch of some kind from pack 2 that is causing this leak and or boot issue?
Would you be able to remove pack 2 from the car and try to see if it works that way ?I thought I might be having a HV voltage leak but later found that it was more of a capacitance effect. I could read a voltage between the frame and the battery pack but would quickly fall to 0 within a few seconds. This still may be somewhat contributing.
If the issue persists. Remove battery lid to make sure any conductive surfaces have sufficient clearance and try again.
Next remove cooling plate and try again .
Finally remove batteries from box completely and connect batteries in series again to try again.
I’m not sure if i missed it in the video, but did you try checking for isolation/continuity/voltage leakage etc.. between the terminals and the aluminum heat transfer portion on each battery module ?
This car has not been cooperating for some time now . It only makes sense to name it Dottie , from movie Armageddon .
Quote from movie Armageddon :
“I wanna name her Dottie after my wife. She's a vicious life-sucking bitch from which there is no escape.”
Quote from movie Armageddon :
“I wanna name her Dottie after my wife. She's a vicious life-sucking bitch from which there is no escape.”
1 - 17 of 526 Posts
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