Is that an engine in your car...

Or are you just happy to see me (post).

First a  quick thanks to my well informed brothers who assured me I should be able to cut the stock I bought.  I just need to brace it (better).  Low and behold two 11.1/8 cuts, and 2 12" cuts.

Now that I had the assembly, for the forward engine mount, is was time to mount it.  In a very PG way of course.

 The mount allows me to take advantage of the normal cast iron 914 engine brace.  As you can (kind of) see, the host is directly above the brace.  This was done to allow the engine to 'balance' on the brace.  And not put any extra stress on the transmission mount.

Which you really can't see in the above photo.  Maybe if someone asks I'll take a better version of this photo.  I'm really proud that the planning paid off, and the cuts to with-in 1/8 on an inch worked out.

But I doubt anyone else will think it's a good idea to put and engine this big in a car this small.  BWAHAHAHA

Higher ground

If you're going to be hosting 235lbs of motor and transmission its a good  idea to have some leverage. Back in the day, if you need an engine hoist, you just stopped by Pep-boys and $20 you had one for a couple of days.
I'm not sure what happened; but auto-parts stores don't rent them anymore (to me anyways).
So I had to make a trip to "HARBOR FREIGHT AND TOOLS" the mecca of all things tools.  Had a couple of coupons so your price may very.

 So for about the cost to rent I bought a 400lbs electric hoist.

Home Depot supplied some plumbing parts.

By the way, a note to my Dad.  Sorry I kept screwing around with all your plumping spare parts in the garage growing up.  I didn't realize they were going to be part of your retirement plan.  You're looking at 7 parts that cost $40 dollars!  Made in China no less!

Why I wasn't posting...

I didn't want to jinks anything.  However my car has reached that stage where I had to pick my batteries.

• Lead acid would be cheap, and workable.  
• AGM has come down in price, and they have 'good' performance.  

But that I wanted was...

• Lithium.  

But could I; a humble shady-tree mechanic possible afford (and get) what I knew I wanted.

Some background.  AC motors and converters COULD be run as a 'low' 114 volts DC.   And the lead acid folks run at that voltage.  It doesn't leave much head-room; but it works.

AC motors scale directly to voltage.  The more volts, the more efficient the motor works.  This is why Tesla runs their Roadster with an insane number of batteries.  They want the voltage as high as possible, while keeping the Ah around 60 (I don't know the actual layout math for Tesla, but if I was a betting man).

So I knew I didn't want to run at just 114V (36 cells).  Also the folks over at Azure (the makers of my inverter) had already said that between 114V ~ 205V they have a kind of dead zone for how well the 440 works.  Mine was already programmed and rated at 364V max, 312V normal.  So it was on the other side of that dead-mans valley.

However anyone with a calculator out there is saying, wait a minute... that's 98 cells!  You can't fit that many batteries into that car.

Enter Sinopoly.  They bought Thundersky; and earlier this year announced the SP-LFP60AHA(B).  A 60 amp hour cell half the size (36mm thick instead of 61mm).  And; they said, at the same cost. Cost at the time for a TS60Ah was running about $1 an amp hour.  Could Sinopoly be serious?

I called for a local distributor; and was told they wanted to sell directly to the end user (from China).  They would drop ship to a local port (I'm on the west coast); but they also had a courier service that would deliver (for an additional fee) right to your door.

E-mails and money wires followed...

I now have 109 60Ah batteries to test, balance and install!  That's 348V for those playing along at home.

Not the Beiber

Just when I thought it was safe to drive again...

I'm sure it wasn't going to suddenly stop.
It sure is a fine looking car. Too bad it's not 100% electric.

Too big for my britches?

Well I buttoned up the transmission and motor. Now I can sit back and wonder, "Maybe the I could have gone with the AC-24 after all."

Nah....

I'm sure it will still fit...

On a sad note; I just got word that Azure (formally Solectria); where I got my motor and controller, has chosen to close their doors. They make one of the most robust and AFFORDABLE AC systems out there (I'm looking at you AC Propulsion). It's too bad, I feel the market was just coming around.

Fewer parts.

One of my helpers called me out on finishing the transmission. So we buttoned that up.

Getting unhinged

Here's a collection of the pivot joints I installed.