Planning Austin Mini 1000 conversion

2553 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by DawidvC, Feb 22, 2011

KPassmore

Discussion Starter · Feb 20, 2011

Hi guys and girls,
I am a 20 year old electrical/mechanical student from scotland and i am planning to convert an Austin Mini 1000 to an EV. I have a little knowledge of various mechanical and electrical components but i am struggling to piece it all together for example what type of controller to look for, Pro's and con's, Batteries to get and how big my motor needs to be.
I am doing this as part of my University project and i need to document and understand everything so whatever folk on here can teach me is excellent! In my day to day travelling i think i cover about 10 miles, 40 if i am going about and seeing my friends so i dont need a massive range, i would prefer to a quick car. But thats why i am here, to find out what i can and cant do.
Kyle

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DawidvC

· #2 · Feb 21, 2011

Check out this thread:
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/dual-motor-austin-mini-52461.html
for someone doing it currently. He has some good ideas for performance in such a small car. Then I would suggest searching the build threads for mini's. There has been a couple on there as far as I can remember.

Good luck with your build, and welcome to the forum.

Dawid

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MalcolmB

· #3 · Feb 21, 2011

Did someone say Mini?
Hi Kyle, I'm just down the road from you in Newcastle.

There are a few ways to convert a Mini, each with its own advantages and challenges. If you could tell us what sort of budget you have it would make it easier to narrow down the alternatives.

The solutions I've seen so far have all used DC series-wound motors, mainly because that's the cheapest option.

The simplest is probably the one where the motor was simply mounted on top of the existing gearbox and drove it via toothed belt: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/electric.mini/

One nice conversion in Australia uses an 8-inch motor mated to a Suzuki Swift gearbox: http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=42150

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Duncan

· #4 · Feb 22, 2011

Hi Kyle

I used to be a mini man - ended up with a Lancia two liter in the front of my mini convertible

I'm not sure how I would go about doing an electric one, I would be tempted to get something like a Sierra, Subaru, Mazda rear wheel drive diff
Mount it in the front sub-frame upside down
Put a DC forklift motor in the boot and use a drive-shaft (propshaft) along the exhaust tunnel
Direct drive - don't think you will need a gearbox because the car is nice and light

Would probably cut the old tunnel out and make a new bigger one
I did that for the Lancia engined mini so that I could put a big silencer in the tunnel

That should give enough room for batteries in the boot around the motor and in the rest of the engine bay

Should be a fun car!

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DawidvC

· #5 · Feb 22, 2011

Why not use the front diff of a Hilux 4x4, then you don't have to turn anything around?
The newer hilux use independent front suspension, so should work.

Dawid

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