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HybridZ

jokeitch

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Everything posted by jokeitch

  1. will it be that bad? I'm fine with some degree of fab to get the model 3 rear end to fit in there. It definitely won't be reversible back there, the motor's just too big, but i want to minimize body cutting... On the upside the gas tank's right behind the diff it seems, and that's mutable so i might end up using the gas tank area for part of the motor and also bracing. poking around, looks like some folks make fancy custom diff frames when they're pushing down lots of power. but yeah, the pure weight of the motor could be the biggest problem, it's a 300lb nugget replacing a 80 pound-ish thing
  2. The S130 doesn't grab me quite as much. Thing about a huge, expensive project like this is i want to start with a car i actually truly like instead of "eh, gotta use this one because x y z reasons", so i'm not dropping 15-20 grand and 6 months to a year of time on a car i settled on. Also, curb weight started in the 2900 range on those. Part of the reason the Z is appealing over the Vette is the low starting weight, since weight is the enemy for an EV in general Future of hot rodding, lots of fun, cool challenge, etc.
  3. Nope. That sounds like it'd have awful range and power, to be honest, but I guess the parts are exceptionally cheap by comparison
  4. ah, i should clarify that by "modern handling" i mean not really wallowy and sketchy feeling. Of course, i'm using classic american cars as a comparison point, where "oh god what is the suspension doing i'm going to die" is the baseline, whereas on the Z it didn't have that problem from the get go. So perhaps just some basic stuff will get it where it feels right for me. Trying to keep the engine bay added weight to be comparable to an SBC swap, so like, 650lbs worth of batteries. Beefier springs will need to be up front to compensate of course. one big module can go in the gas tank area and maybe another few behind the driver's seat as a luggage compartment partition of sorts. I looked around for EV ZXs but they're almost all old style setups with forklift motors and lead acid batteries that have awful power and no range. Being able to utilize all of the engine bay because the motor isn't there makes for a fundamentally different animal of a layout. Tube frame, maybe, seems like possibly overkill. In that case it'd either be gutting a clean s30 or getting a really janky shell i need to build back up into a car, which i cannot drive for a year in the mean time i guess this is one major point in favor of the C3, it has a boxy frame underneath to start with. It's a little floppy stock but some gusset bracing makes it pretty stiff.
  5. oh, for some reason i thought some of the 240's had a power steering option but maybe that was on later 260s and 280s. Or maybe it was never ever a thing. Shows how much (little) i know. edit: nope, literally never a thing since it's so dang light. A lot of ev conversions switch to electric power steering because it sucks way less power than a hydraulic system, and that seems to be the more popular option for the Z so uh, yay i think that dimensions graph i believe you're referring to is really rough, i was fishing for anecdotes along the lines of "oh god no it's squished up in there" or "yeah it's practically in it's own little roomy cave back there". No rear subframe complicates things, means i'll need to weld up a cradle with mount points to match the 3's drive unit. the Volt packs are about 400lbs each, which includes all the extra insulation chevy uses. So 800 for 2x roughly. Also remember all the fuel lines, transmission, drive shaft, diff, exhaust, and everything engine related except the accessories are going away. Even the stock radiator can go since a small intercooler is more than enough cooling capacity for the motor and batteries. that's gotta be like 700 pounds worth of weight gone considering the engine alone is ~500 looking at the gas tank's uneven geometry and location, i could fit one larger module (each Volt pack has and some charge controller bits back there, probably also sorry if this comes off as shooting down information, I do really appreciate the response, i'm just adding more context
  6. So uh, this is early planning stages, i'm just going to lay the plan out and fish for feedback from you guys on feasibility, suggestions, thoughts, etc. I've wanted to do a classic car EV conversion for a very long time, and soon i'll be in a financial position to do so. The plan is to get a classic, drive it and enjoy it for about a year, get used to the platform's quirks/specs/aftermarket/maintenance, THEN jump into the conversion. As for which classic? it's still a bit of a tossup between an S30 and a C3 corvette since the styling of both really speak to me. They both have strengths and weaknesses in my eyes, both the cars themselves and as EV swap candidates The EV drivetrain will be a tesla model 3 performance rear motor placed where the differential lives. No driveshaft (but probably an armored tube for coolant+power lines), no taking up space in the engine bay, just half shafts and probably extra welded in mount points for the model 3 motor casing's subframe mounts. 400 wheel horse power is very reasonable, if not a little less. This thing will haul ass, to the point where really wide tires with fenders are probably a necessity to keep from just skidding everywhere. The batteries will be chevy volt modules, 2.5 battery packs worth to get right to 40kw of capacity. This should get me like 150 miles of range on a good day, although i may drop that to 32kw for 120 miles of range but less weight and cost and packaging complexity. Volt packs are low energy density but high power density. Not much range, but you can THRASH them for power and they won't voltage sag, which you can sort of equate to heat soak. Also they have built in coolant pipes and they're super friendly to DIY hacking. Battery placement will be in the engine bay, in the area where the gas tank was, possibly one or two in the empty transmission tunnel, and maybe one or two in the rear luggage compartment. I have a somewhat ambitious wish of making the battery (not the motor) install largely reversible by making use of the original motor and transmission mount points to make a battery "cage". This is because i imagine WAY better batteries will be available from junkyards in as little as 5 years and i want to not be "Stuck" with one kind of battery geometry forever, so it pays to plan for obsolescence. CCS quick charging is a must. being able to 30 minute fast charge is basically a requirement for usability when you're under 150 miles of range. More ambitious plans include putting a chevy Volt engine on a trailer with a shorty exhaust and tiny gas tank with an armored cable to provide a continuous 30-ish-kw while cruising on the highway, giving me a muuuuch longer cruising range. for perspective, the electric conversion parts alone will probably total 15 grand if not more. yikes! Thing is, i don't know much about the Z (hence this post), so here's some questions: How strong is the rear subframe? can it handle 400hp going through a differential or do high horsepower v8 swaps have to beef it up a lot, and if so how?\ How spacious is the area around the diff? is it right up against the body or sitting kinda low? the model 3 drive unit isn't THAT big but it's definitely bigger than a standard diff, and weighs a good 200-300 lbs Would you say the engine bay is pretty spacious? Or kind of cramped compared to most other cars? Same question for where the gas tank is mounted up. Really limited space or pretty roomy? Do they handle really well and not-sloppy stock? Or do they need a ton of suspension work to feel more "modern" (like how the corvette c3 needs newly made most everything and a rebuilt steering box or it's a boat) would an extra 500lbs to the curb weight completely kill the car? or can some stiffer suspension keep it feeling tight with that much extra heft? how simple are the electricals/vacuum systems? If the engine is literally missing, how much of the car will be screwed up? Beyond the obvious things of the A/C compressor, power steering pump, and brake booster. Like if the door locks will need to be converted to electric, etc. what's a better starting point, a bone stock s30 that was well kept, or an SBC swap that was done well and not hacky? I'd prefer the SBC unless there's some fundamental discrepancies that'll make an ev conversion harder
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