[CanadaLT28]

I know nothing about airbags but I do know the drivetrain will fit and you will need to cut the half shafts and put extensions on them just as I have done with my Leaf VW. I like this project.

 

[CanadaLT28]

Is there some mechanical engineers who can help me / confirm me that a shrink fit coupling assembly will work for my situation.
The situation is I have to fix a 26mm Chevy Bolt cardan shaft to the 28mm Westy cardan shaft. Both shaft are steel (unknow type)
I plan to rework an A513 1-1/2'' x 1/4'' wall DOM tube to link both cardan shaft together by press fit and add a Tig weld at each end after (hope picture help to understand).

Based on tribology online calculator, in my situation, the interference fit itself can pass over 3000 Nm of torque. The Bolt have a torque of 266 lbs-ft at motor shaft and a gear ratio of 7:1 for 1862 lbs-ft at cardan shaft or 2527 Nm.
http://www.tribology-abc.com/calculators/e6_2.htm

So, advices?

That is essentially what I am doing. I bought some DOM tubing to extend the shaft from the Leaf and mate it to the T4 (Eurovan). I needed to extend by about 300mm and I bored the DOM .001 over the shaft size. I will tig weld the accessable end and bore through the DOM so I can weld it to the shaft closer to the end as well. My exact distance will be determined by the loading of the suspension. You will need to use a cutoff disc to cut the shaft as any blade will go dull quickly.

 

[CanadaLT28]

On your collar: if you drill at least two holes through coupling and weld down to the inner tube the joint becomes as strong as the inner tube. Required procedure on aircraft tube structures

I believe that is what I am doing as well. Same job, different wording, lol

 

[CanadaLT28]

If I recall correctly, cold drawn seamless mechanical tubing would be more likely to be true than drawn over mandrel... and it is actually seamless. This presumably won't be inexpensive, but you don't need much.

If you are talking about cold rolled tubing used for heating and gas piping, I use it every day and would trust DOM more, even if the tubing was sched 80. I don't think the wall thicknesses work for the shaft diameter anyway (assuming the Bolt is similar to the T4 or Leaf shafts)

 

[CanadaLT28]

What are you planning to do for insurance? My understanding is that Quebec is just about as bad as Ontario for insuring converted cars- and here, if I were to re-build my E-Fire, my only option is the Facility Association- $4,100 per year, which is too much for me to consider right now even though I'd only pay it 6 months of the year.

Best of luck with the project- personally I would find it too frustrating to deal with all that software. You're Doctor Frankenstein, trying to make a brain happy in a new body!

What was your insurance cost before the accident?

 

[CanadaLT28]

$1100/yr which I paid 6 months of the year. About the same as I pay for my principal driving vehicle, except that principal driver coverage includes both comprehensive (fire/theft etc.) plus collision whereas my previous insurance was just for liability.

That policy was offered to me by accident and then enforced by their ombudsman as a result of their error. Of course that's only a 1 time thing.

Hmmmm, makes me wonder whether I should even tell the insurance company. None of the safety stuff is compromised so I don't know why they should be so strict. Facility is usually for those with a lot of accidents or the very young.

 

[CanadaLT28]

Yes, remote tank. I'm open to suggestions for tank and hoses.

Big question here:
Is someone know the load rating of the chevy Bolt front hub?
There seem to be double row angular contact ball bearing.
I would like to replace the rear bearing housing (part 7) and put a disc brake on the Vanagon. The Vanagon rear bearings are one 35x75 ball bearing and one 35x62 roller bearing. My bet is the roller bearing can take a lot of weight and replace it by the double row angular contact ball bearing from the Bolt hub couldn't be enough for a Vanagon Westfalia...

Any tought?

I have changed front bearings on my T3s (Vanagons) many times but never had to change the rears. I am told to use VW A4 calipers and passat rotors. Plenty strong enough

 

[CanadaLT28]

Yes, I planned something similar, Audi/Vw disc with the chevy Bolt caliper on the rear. Everything mount on the original T3 rear hub.
But it would be easier for me to simply integrate the Bolt front hub, the rear Bolt disc and the rear Bolt caliper on the rear of the Vanagon.

But is the bearings are strong enough? That the question.

Thanks for the info about the front bearing

Ohh, I think the bearings are quite good.

 

[CanadaLT28]

I have seen the T3 loaded up to way over the recommended rates and used for off road and with over sized wheels too. Seldom has the rear bearings come up as a source of frustration. More likely it would be the front bearing. CV joints are a different thing, but they always are.

 

[CanadaLT28]

An important step in the Westy life, I removed the 40 years old air cooled engine and the transmission.
Now, everything is fully accessible to take measures and integrate all the Bolt bits.
First thing confirmed: there is a lot of space in the rear to integrate motor/inverter, charger, dc-dc and 12V battery/fuses.

What shape is the VW engine in? You can easily sell it if it is good.

 

[CanadaLT28]

Here is the ring with the 96 magnets for the wheel speed sensors.
I welded it to stainless steel plates and fix it to a shaft collar.
I think I've done an error because the galvanic corrosion between the zinc plated steel and the stainless steel is important.

Yabert, you need to hurry up. BusFusion is happening in a couple months and I'm sure you want to show the EV to the other 250 VW busses there, LOL

 

[CanadaLT28]

First time I hear of Busfusion, but it seem interesting. Not too far from here.
Sadly, I will not show this 60 kWh / 200 hp van at the event.
June will be buzzy as I will have my first kid. Hopefully the van will work by may end

Put it in your calendar for next year. I hope my EV-LT Doka will be ready by then too

 

[CanadaLT28]

Here is the cv shafts. The slide fit of the splines on the female splines of the 1980 cv joint is simply perfect.
Also, you can see the 4x2'' reinforcement beams I added to the Vanagon floor. Really there are too strong/thick for this frame. I used 1/8'' steel (11Ga), but 14 Ga shoulded be enought and reduce the weight as the original VW frame is build from 2mm steel (0.08'').
Next step is to weld in place the battery supports on the frame and the reinforcment tubes (lifted by a jack on the picture).

Looks like we are going through the same process. I am making new rails of 11g CRS (200mm web) C channels to make room for the 4 Volt packs side by side. It's interesting to see your work. What is the outer dimensions of the Bolt pack?

 

[CanadaLT28]

Haha! Considering that on that 8 months, 4 was on cold Canadian winter and during 1 month I was in France... yes, I'm really proud of the accomplishment
Yes, my Smart have grey panels now.

Well done, now you can book for next years BusFusion

 

[CanadaLT28]

A friend of mine prepare to put a Kia Soul EV powertrain inside a VW Eurovan. I expect to have more experiment in few months, but I think this could be easy to do.

What year is the Kia Soul?