[favguy]

I'll be watching progress with interest Yabert. Bolt is a great donor, such a shame we don't have any over here in the UK.

 

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

Vehicles are declared a total loss when repair costs exceed the value

Actually, by law, some places it's more aggressive than that.

For example, "2/3" is often the rule. $3000 car has $2000 of damage or more, it's done. It will be given a salvage brand and then you have to rebuild it with a pretty serious and detailed inspection afterwards.

On anything more than 5 years old, a shopping cart scraping along 3 panels of paint can write the vehicle off.

There is also "unrecoverable" brands that are common, which is usually frame damage (can never be repaired). I think there's also a moderately common brand for, no parts from this vehicle can be used to repair another one, which is when it's especially compromised.

Airbags might also result in a unrecoverable or salvage brand by default in some jurisdictions, not just be a component of damage dollars.

They often don't want to give the contact info away, but there's usually a guy who works for the government that signs off on all that, (if for example, a vehicle was branded in error, or, the insurance adjuster filed the paperwork before it was agreed to be settled [happened to me], it's the guy they'll call to undo that). If you can get a hold of him and say something like "Hey, yeah it got written off for damage, but, it's just paint, it's structurally sound", they'll, very rarely, reverse the decision to brand a car. But you usually have to have proof and they have to talk to the insurance agent or whoever inspected the car. Usually there are inadequate notes (it's not the adjustor's job to help you prove this, nor the mechanics, nor was it at the time), or that person is gone or doesn't remember or whatnot. He's not the guy looking at the car, he's the industry guy doing the clerkwork, and in my case it was a person with significant clout, almost like you'd be careful how you act around a judge, even though the job is fairly mundane.

 

[brian_]

Actually, by law, some places it's more aggressive than that.

For example, "2/3" is often the rule. $3000 car has $2000 of damage or more, it's done.

Perhaps, but a $3000 car which has $2000 of damage is a total loss anyway, because there is salvage value in the damaged car, and administering the repair (including a rental car in many cases), so the net cost to the insurance company would likely exceed the replacement value of the vehicle.

At the other extreme, pop an airbag on a Ferrari and see if they just write it off and toss the car in the scrap pile... not likely.

A 2/3rds value rule sounds like just an insurance guideline (rather than a law), and whatever rules some state might have about titles, an airbag deployment event seems very unlikely to cause a vehicle's control system to commit computer suicide and be unrecoverable. There will be a reset procedure, and that's what Yabert is looking for.

 

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

A 2/3rds value rule sounds like just an insurance guideline (rather than a law)

Hmmm. So I went hunting for a regulation. Can't find any. Was told (few years ago) by my insurance company it was a provincial regulation, industry standard just about everywhere, and that all insurance companies have to follow it.

... and for some reason I believed them, despite them lying about just about everything else and prematurely reporting my car as salvage so that it would be illegal for me to drive before I'd even agreed to their lowball settlement offer (later got 300% the max they insisted), as a way to pressure me into accepting it (their client at fault).

Government doesn't exist on weekends but I think I'll call around on Monday and see if I can find out for sure.

Good to be skeptical.

 

[Yabert]

Weather is particularly cold this year here in november and I have to move fast to put all the powertrain/battery parts inside (move by hands).
The snow is approx one month in advance so dismantle the Bolt is a pain...

Anyway, I finally been able to drive the car after I cleared some high voltage DTC (No new airbag module needed). I also tested the charge.
So, I remove radiator, charger, junction box, DC-DC, drive and motor from the Bolt.

Next step, the 950 lbs battery

 

[boekel]

Nice work!

were you able to pull CAN-logs? for example to re-use a complete battery?

 

[Yabert]

were you able to pull CAN-logs? for example to re-use a complete battery?

No. Sadly, control and programmation stuff isn't my strength.
My plan is really to integrate everything the complete Bolt powertrain need to be happy in his new Vanagon body.
At the moment, I identified:

Needed - the front wheel sensors, the abs module, motor module, battery module (2x), chassis control module, air bag module.
Not needed - the power steering, the airbags, crash sensors, windshield mirror, doors sensors and many lights and presence sensors.

Some others tests will let me know if I can remove or bypass more stuff.

 

[brian_]

Not needed - the power steering...

I can see that the Bolt's power steering might not be needed to keep the Bolt drivetrain bits working, but what's the plan for steering boost?

 

[Yabert]

I can see that the Bolt's power steering might not be needed to keep the Bolt drivetrain bits working, but what's the plan for steering boost?

manual steering rack to keep arm in good shape and strength http://www.busdepot.com/251419061
1979 Westy after all...
At the moment I'm not 100% sure to don't reuse the Bolt power steering, but it's the plan at the moment.

 

[Yabert]

More news.
I removed the battery from the Bolt. It's really easy with some good tools despite I'm working in the snow.
Yes, I forgor to remove the MSD first...
I had to dismantle the entire battery to be able to move by hand all the part inside (no garage sadly).
In less than 4 hours all the modules and the battery box was inside. Thanks to the video 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV Battery Disassembly from Weber auto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssU2mjiNi_Q
Each of the 5 modules weight around 150 lbs and the battery box around 200 lbs. Not too bad when you move it with 4 hands.
At the moment I have to say that this Chevy Bolt is well build and easy to work with.

 

[Yabert]

Finally, I rebuild the Bolt battery inside.
With all the modules and cooling plate in hand it seem I could probably rework the fifth module and move it by 90° in the middle of the pack (pic-1-2).
This rework can allow me to don't cut some part of the Westfalia Frame.
Anyway, I have to choose between cut the Westfalia frame and don't touch the battery or cut the battery cover and build new support for the fifth module. Of course this second option imply re-routing of the coolant circuit and some wires and busbars.

I still have to remove some wire harness and module inside the Bolt and I will have everything I need to run the motor inside.

 

[Yabert]

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?

 

[Duncan]

Hi Yabert
Looks good to me

Here (NZ) the certifier would require you to have the resultant shaft balanced

 

[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.

 

[Yabert]

Hi Yabert
Looks good to me

Ok, thanks.
But do you have some formulas or calculations (more than an online calculator) to be sure out of doubt that this interference fit will be perfect for my situation?
It's not on a 10 000 km road trip with the familly that it's time to constat that my calcul wasn't right

I can imagine myself stopping at the GM dealer to ask Chevy Bolt parts for my Vanagon , but not for modified parts.

 

[piotrsko]

The only things I would add: DOM doesnt have a tight callout for straightness, so inspect your piece.

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

 

[Yabert]

That is essentially what I am doing.

If I understand correctly, you are talking about a loose fit (0.001'') and all the torque will be transmit by the weld.

In my case, the press fit (0.001'') itself should transmit over 2000 lbs-ft of torque.
The weld is there for redundancy... or to induce undesirable stress concentration (not sure about this one)

 

[brian_]

The only things I would add: DOM doesnt have a tight callout for straightness, so inspect your piece.

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.

 

[Duncan]

Hi Yabert
I would design it to take the torque loading by friction - as in your calculator
And then add in the welding as an additional safety factor

Couple of other points
Pressing the two together is not as "safe" a process as doing a heat shrink - I would be looking at pressing them together with the outer tube as hot as you can get it

After welding you should get the welds crack tested

I like Piotrsko's method - this should ensure that you don't initiate some form of failure from the weld

If you feel paranoid how difficult would it be to take the shaft off after a good long testing period and have it crack tested again?

I would not be at all worried about the shrink fit failing after a period of time - the two welded ends would worry me more as there could be a crack slowly growing - which is why I like Piotrsko's method

 

[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