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Hi folks - This is to kick off my build thread, which I should have started the better part of a year ago...but I think I have an interesting project that folks might like to follow and offer their insights. Any are much appreciated.
I'm a first-timer to electric conversion, and an ecologist by training (read: NOT an engineer). I've got a 25-year-old knowledge of high-school auto-shop mechanics, and I'm working in my 2-car tandem home garage...What could go wrong?!
There is a fair amount of restoration work being done first, (salty British roads have done her no favors), so the conversion portion has moved slowly. That said, several decisions have been made over the last year...
The gist of the project is a marriage of the 45 year old drive train, a Siemens/DMOC 645 motor-controller, and as much of a 2012 Nissan Leaf salvage vehicle as I can squeeze.
Although I've upgraded the brakes, this is never going to be a high performance or particularly "safe" car. It was designed for puttering down Britain's 2-laners at mid-century speeds. Goals for the conversion are for an around town driver that needs to go freeway speeds for short stints, fairly matching the original ICE performance of the Morris. For occasional trips to the in-laws, I'd like to have a 40 mile range capability. I figure the Leaf pack and Siemens combo should have these criteria well covered.
Lots of questions remain...
I'm a first-timer to electric conversion, and an ecologist by training (read: NOT an engineer). I've got a 25-year-old knowledge of high-school auto-shop mechanics, and I'm working in my 2-car tandem home garage...What could go wrong?!
There is a fair amount of restoration work being done first, (salty British roads have done her no favors), so the conversion portion has moved slowly. That said, several decisions have been made over the last year...
The gist of the project is a marriage of the 45 year old drive train, a Siemens/DMOC 645 motor-controller, and as much of a 2012 Nissan Leaf salvage vehicle as I can squeeze.
- Donor. 1968 Morris Minor Traveller ("Bonny" - she's a Scottish lass).
- Batteries (Nissan Leaf 24 kWh lithium pack - 48 modules @ 7.5v and 8.6 lbs each. The car had 10,000 miles on it when it took a header.)
- Charger (hopefully, the one from the Leaf)
- Motor (Siemens 1PV5135-4WS14 AC Induction Motor)
- Controller (Azure Dynamics Force Drive DMOC 645)
- Shaft Coupler (Siemens coupler with Bonny's original clutch disc center spline welded to it - clutchless design)
- Adapter Plate (measured...working on it with smarter folks than me...)
- DC-DC Converter (Leaf?)
- Cables & connectors, contactor, shunt... (also hoping to reuse much from Leaf)
Although I've upgraded the brakes, this is never going to be a high performance or particularly "safe" car. It was designed for puttering down Britain's 2-laners at mid-century speeds. Goals for the conversion are for an around town driver that needs to go freeway speeds for short stints, fairly matching the original ICE performance of the Morris. For occasional trips to the in-laws, I'd like to have a 40 mile range capability. I figure the Leaf pack and Siemens combo should have these criteria well covered.
Lots of questions remain...
- Battery boxes and their placement. The pack will need to be broken into 2 or more, as the skateboard design of the Leaf isn't going to work with the RWD Morris.
- Instrumentation and BMS. I want the interior as original as possible.
- Motor mounts.
- Emergency kill switch.
- Motor/controller cooling. Siemens/DMOC are water cooled, like the Leaf, so could potentially reuse pumps and such...
- Suspension upgrades. Undecided. Maybe not a necessary expense...
- Cabin Heater. Leaf climate systems too physically unwieldy for this application.
