Paul's WPL411 rolls out of the garage

[Paul G.]

I'm slowly getting my Wagon back on the road.

I need to buff out the rest of the factory paint.

 

The interior needs a little help after 44 years.

 

'Zilla lives under the hood and eats Lithium.

[mklotz70]

Very sweet! :)

[crabbyone]

Electrifying!

[INDY510]

Awesome...

 

 

DC? or AC? ........ what kind of range/top-speed do you get............... any transmission? or is it direct drive?

[elmerfudpucker]

I know I got a charge out of it. :lol:

[67wrx]

looks like its got a trans cause i dont think he'd leave the shifter in place for looks and the clutch master under the hood

[gcmustang]

Thats a sweet deal. Tell us more about the conversion. Where did you find parts, cost etc.

[Paul G.]

I am running a series wound 8 inch Advanced DC (brand, nothing particularly advanced about it) motor with the stock flywheel, clutch and 4-speed gearbox. The adapter to install the motor was made in part with the stock plate removed from the back of the J13 engine. The front motor mounts where replaced with street rod replacement Ford Flathead V-8 mounts, connected to either end of a bar installed on the front of the motor, and resting on an angle steel bracket attached to the stock J13 front cross member mounts. The transmission mount was replaced with a solid version so the transmission is mounted in rubber only at the end of the cross member supporting the transmission (limiting the torque the front of the motor has to take.)

 

The battery pack is made of 40 ThunderSky Lithium Iron Phosphate 60 amp hour cells, all located under the hood where you see them in the last picture. The battery management system is by EVworks in Australia and purchased directly from them online. The pack costs about $3000 and the management system about $600. That is the most expensive part of a conversion, but it gives me about a 35 mile range in a 225 pound package. If everything works out I can place another identical pack up under the back of the car where the fuel tank used to reside and double my range.

 

The motor controller is a 1000 amp 'Zilla that features programable amp and voltage limits. It is dialed in gentle for initial testing, with the motor torque limited to about 95 lb-ft and the battery current limited to only 300 amps. These mild settings result in 95 lb-ft of torque from 0 to 2000 rpm and about 36 HP from about 2000 to 4000 rpm. It actually drives a lot nicer that I expected with that limited power, and I will turn things up as I get some decent instrumentation working. So far I have done no range testing since there is no functioning state of charge indication, plus the right rear brake leaks (just got the 15/16 inch wheel cylinder kit to fix that.) The charger is off board and plugged in under the hood. That will be relocated to behind the front plate and an interlock created so you can't drive off with the car plugged in. I also need to get the rev limiter hooked up.

 

The 12 volt system is charged with a 55 amp Iota AC to DC converter because this particular brand doesn't care if the input is AC or DC. These are often used in motor homes and travel trailers to charge the 12 volt battery when it is plugged into power at a park. A small 20 amp hour 12 volt battery is all that is needed because there is no starter motor to spin. The stock heater core is replaced with a 1500 watt ceramic element and the heat lever with a lighted push button switch. I need to hook that up before winter.

 

Most of the new parts for the conversion came from EVparts in WA and EVsource in UT. Here is an old web site with some of my previous electric vehicle work. I still have the purple buggy sitting in the garage next to the Wagon.

[]2eDeYe]

AC/DC Rules! :lol: