Bradley GT II EV Conversion » Sub Frame

Bumps

Administrator — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:20:05 +0000

According to CA state vehicle regulations, in order to register Evie, I have to have bumpers mounted on Evie. I have come up with a suitable design for Evie’s rear but I am having difficulty with the idea of punching a hole in the sculpted front end which I worked so hard to create. The rendering is what i feel the rear bumpers will look like. the design is simple. two vertical steel sheets, shaped, and with sheets of recycled rubber laminated in between them. Two bolts or rivets to hold them together and welded on two 1.25″ square steel tubes which slip into the sub frame and are pinned like a trailer hitch. As far as the front goes…
… your guess is as good as mine.

Evie Update

Administrator — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:56:36 +0000

Here are more pictures of Evie. These were taken on the 17th after I readjusted the top and doors. The doors fit much better now. What you can’t see from the pictures, I had to shave off just a sliver of the inside fender well to allow better clearance for the wheels and tires. I have decided to mount the 12 Volt fuse block/wire harness on the center tunnel behind the emergency brake. This will give me easy access. This car has a center console and all I will have to do to check or change a fuse is lift the door on the console. The console also has channels built into it which I can run my harnesses through.
The push is to get her street legal so that I can start driving her to work. Some of the members of Team Evie are coming this weekend to help. There are many rivers to cross before we get there.

Today We Ride!!!

Administrator — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:43:44 +0000

Today August 4th 2009 at 1435 PDT Evie moved on her own power. I threw a seat in her (didn’t even bolt it in and a steering wheel on her (again, no bolt) and started her up and drove her down the driveway and down the street and back. Then I backed her up the driveway and into her stall. I did this a total of two times. It has been a long road to get to this point but we are here. Here are some photos of Evie on her Maiden Voyage Day.

Didja’ miss me?

Administrator — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:42:52 +0000

Today I have a day off from work and I started putting that time to use by wiring Evie with the replacement harness I received in the mail on the day I had to go back to work… Ah life… As you can see there are a few wires. Fortunately I also received the schematic and have a pretty good idea how this works. So here is the first draft of the install.

Not real sexy but definitely on the right track. Tomorrow I connect the keyswitch! Getting real close.

Battery Boxes and a Surprise

Administrator — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:47:03 +0000

Since the batteries will be here the day after tomorrow, I decided to create a place for them so I don’t spend days tripping over them. The previous boxes were a good idea if the body was off of the chassis but with those boxes secured to the chassis, there was no way of placing the batteries into the boxes. This is what I came up with, sort of a Chinese puzzle. Since the batteries are Gel filled I do not have to worry about acid spills. I thought about setting the batteries on there side before but now the practicallity of that idea is real. I built these boxes in two parts. Part A. is the base and holds two batteries (on they’re sides) Part B. is the lid to part A and has a battery box on top of it. The idea is to be able to load the batteries as easily as possible and yet have them contained in a firm manner. The surprise is, I started placing all of the equipment in “Evie” to see how it all fits. Surprisingly, there are only three major items to place. They are The AC controller, the on board charger, and the DC to DC converter. The AC controller is the big box in the first and second pictures.

Launch Sequence Commenced 16 Days to Go

Administrator — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:48:00 +0000

Today started mighty early, 0600, that is early for me. I Went to the shop and finished some necessary sanding. Today was supposed to be primer day for the underside of “Evie”. At 0730 I drove to Sew Creative to talk to Eddie and find out about my Lenses. I also went to B & Z auto paint to get the primer. Alas… the primer won’t be in until 0900 tomorrow. So back home I went with some cleaner and a few other items for painting. This setback was not going to get the best of me. I cleaned “Evie” and got ready for primer. Then I looked over my schedule. Tomorrow I only had one task and that was to build battery boxes. Over the last few days though I have re-designed my battery Placement and only needed to build a mock up battery. I also cut a piece of polypropylene to line the front battery rack. When I ran out of stuff to do (there are certain things that have to be done in sequence) I bench tested my windshield wiper mechanism.

Polypropylene Welding

Administrator — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:37:42 +0000

This is my first attempt at welding plastic. What I discovered though is the technique is more like hot gluing, only on steroids. I used a table saw to cut the polypropylene sheets. I learned a very valuable lesson. If these sheets are in the saw blade long enough to get hot, they will melt and adhere to the blade causing the sheet to be pulled forcefully from your grasp and flung to wherever. I would highly suggest the use of a battery powered skill saw for cutting the plastic. The saw is easier to control.
Next came the welding. As you can see in the pictures I used picture frame clamps to hold the box. The box turned out pretty good. Since I will be using Gel Filled batteries I will not be enclosing these boxes.

Happy Anniversary!

Administrator — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 05:49:18 +0000

It has been one year since the The California Air Resources Board Voted for me to build an electric car… Lets review. The big 3 auto industry was not helped by the decision as hoped. Tesla however is still on track in spite of the decision CARB made last year. We have voted out the money grubbing, war waging greed mongers. In desperation for an identity, Rush Limbaugh has become the voice of the Republican Party (Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha). We have voted in a man with a vision, intelligence, fortitude, and a realistic plan…Finally! As for the car, The chassis is 98% finished, The body is 50% finished, and I have all of the Parts to finish the entire unit. I have had some wonderful support from friends and family and would now like to thank them.
Thank You
Don and Dolores Bush
Belia Hawkins
Joel Hawkins
Tom Ceirante
Dave Haggland
Greg Hawkins of Bugformance of Stockton
Nancy
Mike and Sheri of Electro Automotive
Jim Cullen
Sean Ryan
Ken Henn
Bruce
Frank
All of the kids across the street
My dog Molly, and her cats, Manx, Tiger, El Sluggo, TC, and Sable

I truly value your love and, the support you have shown throughout this process so far. Thank You from the deepest of my feelings. “Keep On Pluggin”

Photo Op day

Administrator — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:57:30 +0000

I have been spending most of my time in the learning curve. The fiber glass and body work learning curve. It was such a nice sunny day though, I decided to wheel the chassis out of the garage so that you can see the progress. These pics were taken by a professional videographer who happened to drop by. That’s me in the photos. Oh and yes, you noticed correctly, the front brake lines are missing in this photo. I have decided to replace them with the stainless steel woven ones.

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Stockton Fitting

Administrator — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:02:26 +0000

I drove up to Stockton today and we (Greg & I ) attached the sub frame to the frame. Greg modified the original design by using saddles and bolts to hold the frame to the chassis in the front instead of u-bolts, and u-bolts on the rear of the sub frame/chassis assembly. In these photos we were checking the fit, The sub frame is being held up by two jacks, while we check the location of the rear brackets which will have the u-bolts.
In the following photos you can see the brackets were moved and welded. We then attached the sub frame to the chassis. The nuts in the photo will be replaced with Nylock Nuts during final assembly and those u-bolts holding up the back sub frame will be replaced with 3/8″ u-bolts.