I got a cool gauge pod in the mail today from New South Performance (www.newsouthperformance.com). The LinkPRO just barely fits in it. The pod is a piece of molded plastic that fits over the existing steering column console.
I finished wiring up my magic box today. It has 19 external connections. I tested the box with a battery and a meter and fixed a couple minor mistakes. All the leads are way too long. Once the box is mounted in the car, I will cut the leads to the correct length and put connectors on them. I also need to get some better labels for the wiring.
Here’s the connections and approximate voltage and current:
This is my current working draft of the battery pack layout. The 9 most positive batteries are in the trunk and the 6 least positive batteries are up front under the hood.
An EV doesn’t need a heavy flywheel to smooth out the motion of the cylinders. Just about everyone in the Kick Gas Club has had their flywheel machined to reduce the weight. The starter ring is usually removed and any counterbalances are drilled out. For my car, I bought an ACT Flywheel. I had already decided to get a new clutch and pressure plate, and I sold the original flywheel along with the engine. This flywheel weighs about 9 pounds. The original for the Jetta weighs about 18.
One of the first things I ordered was the adapter plate and hub hardware. I bought this from Carl Clark at evequipmentsupply.com. They custom made this set for my VW 02A CCM transmission.
Engine removal day was intense. The night before, I removed the grille and bumper assembly. I took out the condenser and radiator. This gave us a nice clear shot at the engine.
I spent the previous two weeks putting ads on Craigslist trying to find a buyer for the motor. A couple people wanted me to drive up to LA and then somehow get my engine-less car back home. I finally found a local buyer. He and a friend came and drove the car and we agreed on a price.
The following Saturday, he and his friend came to get the engine. They brought a hoist and pneumatic tools. It took from about 9 am until about 3 pm to get that sucker out. A lot of the time was spent cutting out the exhaust system. They wanted it, and it was welded to the body (it should have been attached with rubber hangers).
Once the exhaust was separated, the engine came out. We left the transmission in the car since a few of the bolts that attached the differential to the CV joints were not cooperating.
I cut the head off one of the bolts and damaged the CV joint. After that, I took a break and did some web searching. The VW transaxle is attached to the CV joint using 6 cheese head bolts with 12 point triple square heads. The key to removing them is to clean them out really well. Otherwise, the little points don’t make a good contact and they strip very easily.
Even after cleaning, one bolt was still difficult to remove. I ended up taking a hammer and driving the triple square bit into the bolt. After that, I used a breaker bar and got the thing out. The triple square bit is still attached to the bolt.
Finally, I had a Jetta with an empty engine bay.
This site is for documenting the conversion of my 1995 VW Jetta to an electric vehicle. The project is being done with Mr. Q and the Kick Gas Club (http://kick-gas-club-electric-conversions.com/).
I spent about a month looking for a Jetta to convert. I chose a Jetta for a few reasons:
I looked at several used cars. I wanted to get a 2.0 4 cylinder engine. The mounting holes on the 020 transmission are the same as on the VW Cabriolet. Several Kick Gas Club members have Cabriolets and the adapter plate and hub are available from a few vendors.
Trying to keep up with Craigslist classifieds was pretty frustrating. Some sellers were flaky. Some cars were in really bad shape. Some cars had questionable titles (i.e. the seller was not the person on the title). Some cars sold very fast.
I found one 2.0L Jetta that was in pretty good shape, but the deal fell through. After that, I decided to expand my search to VR6 models. I knew it meant getting a custom adapter plate made, but it also meant getting a car with upgraded brakes and suspension. The VR6 Jettas on the market tended to be much cleaner than the 2.0L models I had seen. They were selling for a little more, but I think in the end it was worth it.
I found a green one in Chula Vista. I called the seller in the morning and looked at it at lunch time. It was clean and straight. It had been repainted, which seemed like a good sign to me. There was some irregularity with the title, but given what I had seen up to then, I decided to take the risk.
