[spdas]

Aloha all, I am finally replacing my 14 AGM's with 45 Lithiums (17x160ah TS, Yellow and 28x180~195Calbs Blues)

I removed all the old AGM holders and saved 38# of 3/16" angle iron and made new holders from 1.2"x1.8" 16 Gauge Galvanized that we made. The new holders weigh in at 14# so I have a net savings of 24#.

The yellow TS's in front are not fastened down yet, but I need to made some squeezers as they are a bit bloated. I will run a 5/16" thread rod along the top of the cells from left to right as the bottoms of the cells are touching, just the tops are splaying out a bit.

The not mounted yet Grey box holds the contactors, hairball, fuses and misc. electrical. I will mount the Zilla, and D/C D/C converter and vacuum tank on the drivers side of the grey box, all with the 16 Gauge angle above. I made all the new battery mounts with the intention of making the Yaris tin-can uni-body stronger and spreading out the weight of the batteries.


I cut out the spare tire area in the rear for the blue Calbs to drop down lower and the batteries to be hidden by the stock spare tire cover-flooring. They were totally a tight fit and I should have added 1/4" more. As it is I had to gently tap them down into place with a small rubber mallet. (Hopefully the cells are not toooo shock sensitive).

I left room for 10 more cells if needed.

Here are some photos of the progress today.

Francis

 

[poprock]

hi; nicely placed batteries in the front. Just a note of caution. I had batteries front mounted in my Subaru L series and trialled them over a steep drive crossing and they cleared. However, when moving the suspension dipped when the wheels hit the drain invert and the carrier scraped. If possible approach any steep drives at an angle and sloooowly.

 

[spdas]

hi; nicely placed batteries in the front. Just a note of caution. I had batteries front mounted in my Subaru L series and trialled them over a steep drive crossing and they cleared. However, when moving the suspension dipped when the wheels hit the drain invert and the carrier scraped. If possible approach any steep drives at an angle and sloooowly.

Yeah I was trying to mount cells as low as possible and as inboard as possible. But had to give in to all the room up front. 11 cells = 138# and are above the cross member. On the Yaris there is very little overhang from centre of the front wheel to the bumper so hopefully it will be ok, but will watch.
thanks

Francis

 

[PhantomPholly]

Hope you have some bumper protection for those front batteries - that's a sizeable investment to risk getting wrecked in a minor parking lot encounter!

Looks good, though. Good luck!

 

[spdas]

A cupla updates. Here the frame holders for the Hairball, contactors and Dc/Dc with Aux Battery and Zilla. Then front behind bumper installed and finally a mockup of hood down. Now to get on with the cell hold downs and all that wiring.
Francis

ALSO: there IS a whole plastic front with spoiler that goes on at the end of the build

 

[poprock]

very neat, maybe a type of air dam or spoiler below the bar as an impact absorber. Somebody's towbar could cost you a few grand.

 

[Jimdear2]

It looks to me like you are going to loose a few grand worth of batteries on your first speed bump.

It appears that you have room to raise those batteries at least 6 inches higher. If so I would recommend you do it.

Jim

 

[Bigswampthing]

Great looking car! When you are done can you list the volts and ah you have assembled with your pack and the total weight? Perhaps the expense if you don't mind. I want to do another Vw buggy but I am concerned about the weight. Did deep cycle lead acid the first time and weight was an issue for the chassis.