[Bigbossguitar]

I would like to convert my 1937 2 door Pontiac Silver Streak , where do i get the plans from A to Z to do the conversion, thank you..

 

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

I would like to convert my 1937 2 door Pontiac Silver Streak , where do i get the plans from A to Z to do the conversion, thank you..

Well you're in luck, that's an extremely popular build and unlike most modern vehicles, there are precise, detailed plans available for....

Nope.

There is all but no such thing as "A to Z" plans for electric conversions. Every make and model has unique challenges, every part will have to work with others and there's hardly a store to just go buy it all.

If you want something you can confidently and blindly follow, then just pay a conversion shop to do it for you so that they can troubleshoot and customize and solve all the unique challenges that come their way. You will become frustrated at the amount of troubleshooting and customization you will have to do. This kind of project isn't for you based on your request.

Generally electric conversions mean finding a suitable electric motor and battery. If cost is no object then you can just go spend money, but most people start searching for deals on those two things and then design the rest of their build to accommodate that.

The reason there aren't plans is because it becomes like a Choose Your Own Adventure Book where each decision forks into another decision.

Before you even ask someone to build it for you, you'll need a couple basic questions answered:

1 - What is your budget?
2 - How fast do you want to go (top speed)?
3 - How quick do you want to be (acceleration)?
4 - How far do you want to go (range)?

 

[Bigbossguitar]

I'm handy with mechanics and electronics, looking forward to do this project,
The car will not be a hot rod, just need it to be hiway worthy and 120 miles per charge,,The car weighs 3,250 lbs
What about that dvd from Gavin Shoebridge " Electric car conversion made easy",He has an ad in this forum, i emailed him a few weeks ago but never got a response..Thank you , any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

Well I listed 4 questions to get started and you answered 2 of them. Keep going.

The car will not be a hot rod, just need it to be hiway worthy and 120 miles per charge,,The car weighs 3,250 lbs

Highway worthy = 70mph?
Range = 120 miles.

So roughly speaking, you're looking for a motor that'll weigh about 150 lbs and be about 9" across or more. It will cost around $2000 new for a DC motor.

You will probably consume 300-400 watt-hour per mile at highway speeds, so you're looking at roughly 36,000 - 48,000 watt-hours. For reference, a Nissan Leaf pack is around 24,000 watt-hours. Without shopping around for deals, that's around $7500 for the battery pack. Much less if you know how to and put effort in to shop, but you want an A-Z so, I'm guessing you probably don't.

What about that dvd from Gavin Shoebridge " Electric car conversion made easy"

It was relevant years ago. The way people are building cars these days is completely different, it changes about every year or two.

You can still build a car the way he describes, use lead-acid batteries, etc. This will result in a car with an astronomical weight, awful performance, who's batteries wear out before they equate the amount of gas you would've burned, let alone electrical costs.

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

any help would be greatly appreciated

I'd recommend that you consider the EV4U Custom Conversions three day course (here). It costs 495 USD (iirc) and is designed to take a novice through the complete build process... it will save a lot of time and effort working through the forums

 

[Bigbossguitar]

Well I listed 4 questions to get started and you answered 2 of them. Keep going.



Highway worthy = 70mph?
Range = 120 miles.

So roughly speaking, you're looking for a motor that'll weigh about 150 lbs and be about 9" across or more. It will cost around $2000 new for a DC motor.

You will probably consume 300-400 watt-hour per mile at highway speeds, so you're looking at roughly 36,000 - 48,000 watt-hours. For reference, a Nissan Leaf pack is around 24,000 watt-hours. Without shopping around for deals, that's around $7500 for the battery pack. Much less if you know how to and put effort in to shop, but you want an A-Z so, I'm guessing you probably don't.

It was relevant years ago. The way people are building cars these days is completely different, it changes about every year or two.

You can still build a car the way he describes, use lead-acid batteries, etc. This will result in a car with an astronomical weight, awful performance, who's batteries wear out before they equate the amount of gas you would've burned, let alone electrical costs.

Thank you, i appreciate your advice..

 

[Bigbossguitar]

I would love to attend but i'm in Ontario Canada, but i did last night send them an email about their ev conversion video, if it's full detail.
Thank for your time..

 

[brian_]

I'd recommend that you consider the EV4U Custom Conversions three day course (here). It costs 495 USD (iirc) and is designed to take a novice through the complete build process... it will save a lot of time and effort working through the forums

The course is an interesting idea, but it will show one specific conversion approach, with hands-on exposure the components used in that conversion. It seems unlikely to provide a more general understanding of the issues and potential solutions in a conversion, and certainly won't provide a plan for a 1937 Pontiac.

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

It seems unlikely to provide a more general understanding of the issues and potential solutions in a conversion, and certainly won't provide a plan for a 1937 Pontiac.

I know two people who have attended the course and both said it provided a broad introduction into component selection as well as the confidence to undertake a DIY conversion.

Damien said recently that his 1000 Euro project has seen a lot of interest and I bet the majority of his audience for that project are 'car guys' not 'electronics guys'. We need to adapt to the new audience who are looking for instructions on how to convert cars not for a technical discussion on the available options