Possible Corvette Stingray Conversion
Hey guys, a newcomer approaches.
A bit about me and how I arrived here
So after spending the last 8 months researching, and still not knowing what the heck a car even is (or how to drive for that matter, still need to take my G2 exam), I decided "Hey! I am totally ready to do an EV conversion!". But then I realized "Wait, I'm a broke engineering student". My plan defaced I went back to boring pit of studying for my exams.
But then I stumbled upon my light, my salvation. I learned that Tesla battery packs were made of recycled laptop batteries. Looking behind me I saw the pile of 20 laptop batteries I had carefully hoard.. stowed over the years. And then gears started turning. I began doing calculations, experimenting with the cells I had. And then it clicked to me. If cost is prohibitive, then why not just do it for free? . If I was going to build a car over several years anyways (the time it will take to collect all 18650 cells I need), why not restore a classic, albeit with some minor major modifications?
And that is how we arrive at today. That is how somebody, who was content with just his mothers unused corolla when he eventually got his licence, decided to embark on his adventure with EV conversions, and glorious classic restoration, with ABSOLUTELY no idea what a drive train even is, and with no plan other than "i'm an engineering student, I'll figure it out".
The Plan
Alright I lied, there is a bit of a plan. Or at least more some goals of what I want. Probably more the latter than the former.
Overview
So even as a kid I have never been a fan of the widebody, in your face design of the super cars of today. I always preferred the elegant curves of a classic from before I was born (1998). But I love even more the utility modern luxury cars provide today. Interior-wise I want to keep the vintage feel, but have all the bells and whistles that modern cars have today. (And before I get a comment attacking me for that, is it a purist way of doing things? No. Do I want to be a purest? No, I'm not restoring a Toyota 2000gt, or a Ferrari 250 GT Spyder, or some other priceless piece of automotive history, I don't have the money for that. I'm restoring a massively produced car I like, and restoring in a way that suits me. If you don't like that, your part of the problem not me.) Exterior wise, I'm going to try to restore a car as exactly as I can.
The Dream
These are my ideal stats. Is it possible at my budget of inhumanely cheap? Yes. Will it be very very difficult? Yes. But it is possible. You can all tell me about how hard it is, but no one dare say its impossible. Cause then I'll personally drive to you, and very respectfully tell you to test drive it, and probably have a very pleasant conversation about electric cars and stuff, where soon after we will become friends. Do you want that? Exactly.
-Speed: 120 km/h (75 mph)
-Range: 250 km
-Acceleration: 0-60 in less than 60 minutes
Interior
A giant tesla style touchscreen (Recycled 17-19 inch laptop would be perfect considering I need laptop batteries anyway), ac and heat, bluetooth, reverse camera, are all features I want to add, while not detracting from the vintage feel of the car. This is going to take a lot of drawing, modding, and good woodworking to truly finish, but I honestly think THIS will make or break the car for me. While its great to have people loving how my car looks, if the driving experience is bad, why do I care (not that I can even drive yet)? Apart from that, I plan to redo the frame of the car, and add a deep aluminium box (scrap metal) onto it with a removable lid. The lid will be upholstered into the same material as the rest of the car, and will be the section where the cup holders and shifter are. This box will contain all of my batteries, which will make it easy to change them, and makes wiring a breeze. The only thing I'm worried about is fuses going off right beside me in a thin aluminum box is a VERY scary thought.
Exterior
This is where things get hairy. I'm no expert, but I don't think $1500 cad (dedicated donor budget) is buying me very much classic car and I'm not looking for a beetle (as great as those cars are). I'm assuming from the beginning that I'm getting a car that's going to be eaten out in rust. And going from having to ask my dad how I pop the hood, to making lightweight aluminum or fiberglass body-panels is no small jump (let me know if you guys have a classi just lying around, looking for something similar to a stingray (Ideally), Thunderbird (1960ish), or mg b. Porsches and ferrari's are good too
. Not a huge fan of Lambo's but i mean if your offering, I'll take one for the team). Please suggest models older than 1980.
Apart from all of that, I also want to make both the trunk and hood storage areas, again like tesla did. The hood trunk would sit in the middle, with foldable flaps on the sides to access hood components that commonly need servicing.
EV Parts
Right so you put stuff on the stuff so stuff happens. I need some serious help with this part.
Parts I want:
-Some AC Motor I find in the trash bin. I need numbers for this as im really confused
-A controller shenanigan (I may actually diy this with one of my profs).
-Diy 18650 batteries. Don't know how I'm going to wire these yet. I'm assuming wire the individual 18650 batteries in parallel to maximize capacity per large cell, then wire 30 of the large cells in series. My other thought pattern is, why not wire these like the model S (74P, 6S), to give me 22 volts. Input would be appreciated (no pun intended).
-Some charger depending on the above. If I go with the tesla configuration would I be able to use there superchargers? That would be awesome.
-Other Stuff I probably forgot about.
And that's basically what I'm aiming for. My schedule to finish this is by the end of my 5 year engineering program (computer systems, in case anyone was wondering).
Will have drawings soon.
TLR
-First that was a lot of effort please read
-Want to make first car, want it to be classic EV, with modernized interior.
-Suggest a classic car under $1500 cad.
-Can I use tesla superchargers if i arrange my 18650 cells in the exact arrangement of there batteries? if so how do I get a tesla charger? If not suggest a good charger.
-What motor specs do I need?
-Anything else I forgot? Should know?
A bit about me and how I arrived here
So after spending the last 8 months researching, and still not knowing what the heck a car even is (or how to drive for that matter, still need to take my G2 exam), I decided "Hey! I am totally ready to do an EV conversion!". But then I realized "Wait, I'm a broke engineering student". My plan defaced I went back to boring pit of studying for my exams.
But then I stumbled upon my light, my salvation. I learned that Tesla battery packs were made of recycled laptop batteries. Looking behind me I saw the pile of 20 laptop batteries I had carefully hoard.. stowed over the years. And then gears started turning. I began doing calculations, experimenting with the cells I had. And then it clicked to me. If cost is prohibitive, then why not just do it for free? . If I was going to build a car over several years anyways (the time it will take to collect all 18650 cells I need), why not restore a classic, albeit with some minor major modifications?
And that is how we arrive at today. That is how somebody, who was content with just his mothers unused corolla when he eventually got his licence, decided to embark on his adventure with EV conversions, and glorious classic restoration, with ABSOLUTELY no idea what a drive train even is, and with no plan other than "i'm an engineering student, I'll figure it out".
The Plan
Alright I lied, there is a bit of a plan. Or at least more some goals of what I want. Probably more the latter than the former.
Overview
So even as a kid I have never been a fan of the widebody, in your face design of the super cars of today. I always preferred the elegant curves of a classic from before I was born (1998). But I love even more the utility modern luxury cars provide today. Interior-wise I want to keep the vintage feel, but have all the bells and whistles that modern cars have today. (And before I get a comment attacking me for that, is it a purist way of doing things? No. Do I want to be a purest? No, I'm not restoring a Toyota 2000gt, or a Ferrari 250 GT Spyder, or some other priceless piece of automotive history, I don't have the money for that. I'm restoring a massively produced car I like, and restoring in a way that suits me. If you don't like that, your part of the problem not me.) Exterior wise, I'm going to try to restore a car as exactly as I can.
The Dream
These are my ideal stats. Is it possible at my budget of inhumanely cheap? Yes. Will it be very very difficult? Yes. But it is possible. You can all tell me about how hard it is, but no one dare say its impossible. Cause then I'll personally drive to you, and very respectfully tell you to test drive it, and probably have a very pleasant conversation about electric cars and stuff, where soon after we will become friends. Do you want that? Exactly.
-Speed: 120 km/h (75 mph)
-Range: 250 km
-Acceleration: 0-60 in less than 60 minutes
Interior
A giant tesla style touchscreen (Recycled 17-19 inch laptop would be perfect considering I need laptop batteries anyway), ac and heat, bluetooth, reverse camera, are all features I want to add, while not detracting from the vintage feel of the car. This is going to take a lot of drawing, modding, and good woodworking to truly finish, but I honestly think THIS will make or break the car for me. While its great to have people loving how my car looks, if the driving experience is bad, why do I care (not that I can even drive yet)? Apart from that, I plan to redo the frame of the car, and add a deep aluminium box (scrap metal) onto it with a removable lid. The lid will be upholstered into the same material as the rest of the car, and will be the section where the cup holders and shifter are. This box will contain all of my batteries, which will make it easy to change them, and makes wiring a breeze. The only thing I'm worried about is fuses going off right beside me in a thin aluminum box is a VERY scary thought.
Exterior
This is where things get hairy. I'm no expert, but I don't think $1500 cad (dedicated donor budget) is buying me very much classic car and I'm not looking for a beetle (as great as those cars are). I'm assuming from the beginning that I'm getting a car that's going to be eaten out in rust. And going from having to ask my dad how I pop the hood, to making lightweight aluminum or fiberglass body-panels is no small jump (let me know if you guys have a classi just lying around, looking for something similar to a stingray (Ideally), Thunderbird (1960ish), or mg b. Porsches and ferrari's are good too
. Not a huge fan of Lambo's but i mean if your offering, I'll take one for the team). Please suggest models older than 1980.Apart from all of that, I also want to make both the trunk and hood storage areas, again like tesla did. The hood trunk would sit in the middle, with foldable flaps on the sides to access hood components that commonly need servicing.
EV Parts
Right so you put stuff on the stuff so stuff happens. I need some serious help with this part.
Parts I want:
-Some AC Motor I find in the trash bin. I need numbers for this as im really confused
-A controller shenanigan (I may actually diy this with one of my profs).
-Diy 18650 batteries. Don't know how I'm going to wire these yet. I'm assuming wire the individual 18650 batteries in parallel to maximize capacity per large cell, then wire 30 of the large cells in series. My other thought pattern is, why not wire these like the model S (74P, 6S), to give me 22 volts. Input would be appreciated (no pun intended).
-Some charger depending on the above. If I go with the tesla configuration would I be able to use there superchargers? That would be awesome.
-Other Stuff I probably forgot about.
And that's basically what I'm aiming for. My schedule to finish this is by the end of my 5 year engineering program (computer systems, in case anyone was wondering).
Will have drawings soon.
TL
R-First that was a lot of effort please read
-Want to make first car, want it to be classic EV, with modernized interior.
-Suggest a classic car under $1500 cad.
-Can I use tesla superchargers if i arrange my 18650 cells in the exact arrangement of there batteries? if so how do I get a tesla charger? If not suggest a good charger.
-What motor specs do I need?
-Anything else I forgot? Should know?
