Suzuki Cappuccino Conversion

Thanks for your interest.

Progress has been slow over the winter, hence the lack of updates. The rust was worse than I first thought but I'm now about ready to weld in the repair patches. The floor had practically detached itself from the sill along the driver's side of the car.

I've removed quite a lot of the engine ancillaries so once the rust is sorted I'm hoping that I can progress a bit quicker and get the engine and fuel tank out.

Unfortunately, I don't have many photos at the moment. Mainly because they would just be photos of rust! I have attached a couple. Hopefully I'll have some more interesting photos soon.

Tom

Here's a picture from the web. Helps see where bits could go.

And a view of what's to come. Not the biggest space but with that motor in the tunnel it should be ok. I wonder how much space is available in the fuel tank area to locate chargers or other electronisa. You might struggle with the size of the controller housing but no point speculating yet.

That sounds reasonable.

I was thinking the fuel tank space must be hidden and good for locating larger items, similar to an mx5. It would be good to put the controller up there to give Mac space for battery and keep good weight distribution. And the fuel tank location is a good place to be able to trim/modify the structure to make space for the controller say. It is not too highly stressed as the subframe and chassis structure wrap round there. Well notionally looking at it. I didn't design the car so take my comments with a pinch of salt until you've stripped the car down properly.

I've seen alot of conversions where builders put some battery in the fuel tank area which is ok but it's a compromise with the longer power cables. If you can split the capacity but keep the same voltage in 2 separate packs that would be ideal and it sounds like that might be possible with your setup.

I look forward to any updates you have, don't let me rush you though. Anyway I need to get off my rear and building my conversion.

Cheers

Thanks for all the input guys. It's getting me motivated to get this rust sorted and get cracking on the conversion!

My current plan is to split the battery pack between the fuel tank area and the engine bay. With the charger and some other electrical gizmos in the boot and the inverter above the motor at the rear of the engine bay.

What are the disadvantages to splitting the battery pack? Power losses in the long cables? It seems that whichever way it is done (split the battery or put the inverter at the back) the same problem is going to be present.

I could split the battery into two equal voltage packs but I seem to remember reading that it is best to put the cells together in parallel to get the amp hours that are needed and then connect these all in one series string.

I would also rather keep the inverter near the motor as it has a nice 1m cable with connectors that I would rather not mess around with. I have thought about trying to put the motor directly onto the rear diff but there is just not enough room.

The discussion on the transmission tunnel is interesting. I hadn't really considered this, mainly because I'm not sure if there are extra legal hoops that have to be jumped through in the UK if you start cutting into structural parts. Also, the footwell is already extremely small. I'm 6'3" and, although I find it very comfortable to drive (once I'm in!), there isn't much room for manouvre. I will have a look next time I'm working on the car.

I'm hoping to get the rust work finished over Easter and from there it shouldn't take too long to get the engine out. I think I'll need to get the cardboard out after that to make some models for test fitting! It's definitely going to be a puzzle.

Attached are some photos of the batteries. Each of these contains 48 cells.

Wow those are nice blocks. Shame to break them up.

Regarding batteries, I'd recommend splitting in parallel with same amperage and voltage. So you wire both halves in parallel directly to the inverter or preferably through a junction box with separate pack fuses and even contactors. So you could run off 1 pack at a time in an emergency etc, or if one pack fuse blows you can run off the second etc.

I agree also if it is similar challenge that you split the pack and keep the inverter with the motor rather than move the inverter further away.

Regarding UK law, there are new rules I've not checked but the rule has always been any major changes to structure of the vehicle requires an IVA test same as building a vehicle from scratch. What constitutes major changes is subject to the investigator's opinion but you'll need a basic VOSA inspection to verify the conversion to electric so speak to the centre about any mod to the chassis ref mounting the motor in the tunnel and you should know what's achievable and how far to go. An MOT is always required first but that is easier with an EV.

Regarding mounting the motor in the tunnel and space, if you build a frame into the floor pan with strong box/tube section and load the motor from above your structure should be fine if my stronger. I'd tie it to the side rails of the chassis for added torsional stiffness. And mount the motor slightly offset to passenger side to have good driver leg room as a passenger only needs somewhere to rest their feet.

Any pics of the underside of the chassis would help also, perhaps with a tape measure in view for scale and reference and we can brainstorm a robust design for locating the motor. That is the biggest blocker to begin with because of six and shape in the small car.