Heater sorted!

On the advice of another converter, I've downloaded the service manual for the N13. Looking at the heater section, I was puzzled by the description of the heater, since it lacked any information about the heater core.

After I'd packed away this morning's tools I went back and took off the glovebox and had a look behind it. Sure enough, the fan unit is next to the door above the passenger footwell. Next to it is the box I'd assumed was the heater core but on closer inspection has no fluid cables protruding through the firewall.

So, I unscrewed the 3 points, detached the electric plug and the unit fell out in my hand. Turns out my version of the N13 has an electric heater after all - absolutely no modification required!!!

What a relief!

Here's the final product:

Exploring behind the dashboard

Over the past few weekends, I've been gradually pulling apart the dashboard and console to see how it fits together without breaking anything. I'm resigned to taking the whole thing apart eventually to get the heater core out - any other solution for the demister is just too much hassle.

So last week it was the centre console. I also rigged up a secondary cigarette lighter port to run the 240v AC inverter (for the mobile phone/laptop charger) at the same time as the GPS and MP3 players are running.

This week it was the dashboard and information panel.











The filth was thick and almost beyond description. Someone had dropped a sesame cracker into the steering column (sometime during the Clone Wars, from the look of it) and the constant baking/cooling cycle of Queensland weather had turned it into a squashed square of I-don't-know-what.












More filth inside the air ducts











You've no idea how difficult it is to get ANYTHING done with a 3-year old insisting that she knows how to do it better and taking all the tools away... She's totally adorable at the same time, chatting on her mobile phone and making me talk to her friends on it as well...












No sign of the parts I ordered last week...hopefully they will arrive in the next few days.

Nozzle Rage

http://www.nozzlerage.com/


I haven't posted for a week or so because my wife has been in hospital with pregnancy complications. Nothing life threatening, and she is home now and resting, but still a reminder about what's truly important in life, I guess.

The funds and donations keep rolling in though, and I have ordered the main contactor, circuit breaker and dash gauges from ZEVA. Thank you again to the people who have sent me money. I hope you can see I'm putting it to good use!

Now that I've got the ignition sorted and the other control parts ordered, the main things that remain are the adapter plate and the battery racks. I've been tinkering with plans for the battery racks and measured the back seat of the car, to see if the plans I've got will fit. I think they will. For the rear rack I plan to drill holes in the metal under the seat cushion and sandwich that metal between the battery rack underneath and another metal plate on top. These two metal strips will have 4 10mm grade 8.8 bolts in them to share the weight of the batteries and prevent metal fatigue in the existing car body.

I haven't planned anything to do with the front racks yet - I will have to wait until the engine is out.

Finally, I measured the swing set height and compared it with the height of the car and engine to see if I can use it as a super-cheap hoist. It will be close but I think I can do it with about 10cm to spare. Here's a pic of me and Jazmin practising her abseiling on it...

If all else fails however, there is a guy on my way to work advertising a hoist & crane for rent, so I might pop in on the weekend and have a chat with him.

Ignition system sorted out

I went to the wreckers today for 2 parts: the ignition barrel and the heater core. I spent 2 hours in the blazing spring sun taking apart the dash and console only to find that it's the wrong heater core - it's got air conditioning and is the wrong size, shape and has too many pipes. I was bummed!

Still, I got the ignition parts I wanted so after coming home and having a coke, I just got stuck in. I've rigged up a little bench to my little 12v lawnmower motor so I can test various bits and pieces, so see how they will work in the EV. After stripping a little of each cable and using some solder, I've got a VERY rough demonstration of how the ignition will work. Don't laugh because it's only a demo.

I've incorporated a kill switch into the circuit. That's not only because I'm paranoid about safety - it's also a good idea for when it comes time to be inspected. The inspectors really like fuses and safety switches...

The way it works is the battery connects to the red wire, the white wire powers the electrics like headlights and radio and the black/white wire provides power to the motor via the kill switch.



Nice and simple, nice and safe.

I'll have to figure out another way to modify the heater. I'm in no hurry to destroy the Pulsar's dashboard.

Throttle arrived today!

Less than 48 hours after ordering my pot box, there was a knock at the door and a courier delivered my Curtis PB 6 from Bylong Industries in Sydney (650 miles away). I was very impressed at the speedy service... Thank you to all those people who have donated via PayPal - Even after buying the Pot Box I still have $460 towards the motor & controller.

I also visited the local wrecker on a whim - dreading the possibility of public ridicule for my project, but instead the opposite happened. Not only does he have an N13, not only is he happy to knock $10 off the price of the parts I need, he'll also let me take them off myself, giving me some invaluable experience when it comes to the actual conversion! I am stoked!!

At the moment, I'm only after a heater core and ignition barrel so I can start the modifications and then just slot them into the conversion once the motor comes out. If I have time, I may even swap over the heater coil and wire it up so it's operational before I convert the motor - one less thing to worry about on C-Day (or should that be E-Day??)

I also picked up a missile switch and some wire connectors at Dick Smith Electronics. I asked about industrial battery chargers but they only have toy ones. I'll need to go to someone like Leaver Industries for anything suitable for my EV.

My daughter wants to play on the swings, so I'll post another update shortly!

Ignition switch

I'm drawing up some scenarios as to how I can use the ignition switch to start the motor. Without a starter motor, the final turn of the key is not necessary so I need to figure out a way that is simple, cheap and safe to operate the electrics and motor.

Here's a pic of what it looks like at the moment, and I'll update this post with a few ideas later.

"Give us the tools, and we will finish the job"

Well, the job at hand isn't quite as large as the one Churchill was talking about, but I feel a lot better about it now. We went grocery shopping tonight and Aldi still had a couple of their power tool specials available, so I snapped one up.

Many of the converters on the DIY Forum advise using cheap power tools for cutting and grinding since they are so cheap and I'm unlikely to need them again (not being a hands-on kinda guy).

So, for $80 I picked up another cordless drill, a jigsaw, sander and torch. I'll be using the sander to remove the rust from the car body, the jigsaw for cutting out the adapter plate and the drill for all those bolt holes I need to drill...

Made me a very happy shopper!









In other news, I'm adding a panel to the right-side of this blog to keep a running track of fuel prices. Today I made a bargain and got 26 litres for $40 - $1.519 a litre... Let's see how quickly we can get to $2/l - I'm guessing before Christmas.