Rethinking a few things

I have been struggling with the placement of batteries and items under the hood. I am now considering keeping all the batteries together in the truck bed enclosed in a box. The reasons are keeping the batteries together will be easier to insulate and keep warm and I originally had too many batteries too far behind the rear axle.

It has gotten cold in the garage and the heater isn't cutting it, so work has slowed. Also other things have been taking priority.
I have taken the instrument cluster out of the dash and disassembled it to fit some digital meters into it. I have also figured out where the link 10 watthour monitor will be mounted.

Making it all fit

Although it is hard to see, this is a mockup of how the electronics enclosure and batteries will fit under the hood. Very rough at this point, just seeing how things will fit.

This is another shot of the heater core and installed electric elements before securing with high temp caulk.

I used 2 seperate elements for a high low heating setup and in case one element fails, Indiana winters can be a little cool and wanted to have enough heat.

Details, Details

I have converted the heater core to accept 2 heater elements that will run on 144 volts and reinstalled into the heater box. While in the heater box I sealed up all the holes from the Air conditioning condenser.
I have removed the instrument cluster and ordered a shunt, and some digital meters to install where the old gas and temp guages were located. While the dash was out I disabled the A/C switch for the compressor in the heater control in the defrost position, I will be using the A/C switch to turn the heating elements on and off and didn't want to run the heat on defrost unless switched on.
I made some mock ups of the batteries with cardboard to test fit the batteries and sorted out where and how the batteries will be mounted.
An old electrical box will house the electronic parts and will fit over the drive motor, I purchased a heat sink and some fans to keep the controller cool and happy. I will probably be mounting it on top of the box for better cooling.
I have made a vacuum resevoir from PVC plumbing parts and it will hold about 2.2 liters of vacuum and will be mounted under the hood near the passenger side fender.

Motor gets installed

After modification of the mounting plate and mounting to the motor the adapter was tightened and the motor was ready to install. First thing that had to be done was cut down the transmission shaft with a die grinder and drill and tap some new mounting holes in the transmission due to the difference in the mounting plate.

The motor was hoisted into the engine bay and bolted up without any real issues. I connected the battery to the motor and spun it with the transmission in neutral to check for vibration.

After some measurements, I fabricated the pieces that make up the motor mounts. I drilled the frame rails and installed the mount that supports and clamps the motor in place. I made a torque rod from some scrap round stock to ensure the motor would not rotate in the other mount, I bolted it from the transmission adapter plate to the frame.

I hooked the motor to the existing battery and tested the mounts, the first vehicle movement under electric power.

Mounting plate continued

The aluminum plate finally arrived after a shipping mix up. I cut and drilled it and the mounting plate for the motor. I found that I will need to shorted the transmission shaft or space the motor off the mounting plate 1/2 inch. I decided to cut the shaft being easier and faster.
I also had to drill out the locating dowels for the plate so the bolts will pass through them.
All that is needed is some new bolts and drill the frame for the middle motor mount.

Mounting Plate

I started the day cleaning the engine bay and transmission with degreaser and pressure washer.

The mounting plate that was ordered off Ebay was for a later year truck so it didn't line up with the mounting holes. I have decided to use this plate as the locating dowels and transmission shaft line up with the motor bolt pattern.

I ordered a 1/2 inch thick piece of 6061 aluminum on line and cut it to size to clamp the mounting plate to the transmission. I also made a new cover plate for the transmission to cover the starter hole.

Drilling the holes is all that is left to complete the mounting plate setup, then it will get bolted to the motor and test fitted.

Making something from nothing

I ordered a gear off Ebay that fit my motor output shaft and had enough extra material to work with for drilling or welding. I had previously cut the center hub out of the clutch disk to have a matching spline for the transmission shaft.

The task at hand is to adapt the motor to the transmission spline.


I found a scrap 1.5 inch piece of round stock that I machined in the lathe for a snug fit of the gear and the inside of the splined core so the 2 parts would be in alignment for welding or bolting together. I will need a roughly a 3/8 spacer between the 2 parts due to the construction of the clutch center.


I found that I needed at least 1/2 inch spacer between the transmission spline and motor shaft, I found in the scrap pile a
old coupler that was 1 inch and would work.

After machining and drilling the sprocket, I snapped a tap off and had to redrill the holes as removing the tap proved to be too difficult, after assembly it was far from running true.

I was out getting some allen head cap bolts for the adapter and found a hub for a weld on sprocket, it looked to be large enough for making the adapter so I picked it up, I found that the spacer and my new motor hub outside diameter were the same making alignment easier. I fastened the two together with a hose clamp to mark and drill the holes.
I redrilled the holes, broke another tap, and put it all together with my alignment shaft. I spun it in the lathe and it ran true, success!
I put what seemed like too much time in the adapter but it is an important part and I wanted it to be right, I only used four bolts and have looked up the shear and strength numbers, with no clutch and absence of shock loads I am confident it will hold up ok. Time will tell...

Stripping the truck

I took advantage of some vacation time and picked up a engine hoist. I unbolted all accessories that were associated with the ICE and unbolted the engine from the transmission. After checking that all hoses and wiring were disconnected the engine was hoisted from the truck.
I continued to remove all fuel system parts, exhaust, cooling and air conditioning systems.
I also removed the power steering unit and replaced it with a manual steering unit.
When the front shocks were removed, both the lower bolts broke off, another problem to deal with.
I found that the adapter plate I had purchased on Ebay is for another style bellhousing, many bolt holes didn't line up. I did find that the locating dowels centered the plate hole on the transmission, so I may be able to adapt it to this application.
While everything was apart I measured the shafts of the transmission and motor so I could start to build the motor to transmission adapter. I cut the center out of the old clutch to weld to the adapter.

I look at the growing pile of scrap and am amazed how many components are needed for the ICE system.

Fun begins

The long anticipated moment came today, the motor finally arrived! It had been on back order and was overdue. It came off the truck at 183 pounds on the skid. Once opened it seemed larger than I thought it would be, it measures 16 long not counting output shafts and over 9.5 in diameter, looked huge in the box when I opened it.

I am now a lot more motivated and looking to pull the engine from the truck. I bought a engine hoist that needs to be assembled first. I have almost everything I need except the batteries, which I will buy last.

Why a new donor is better..

I have removed all non essential items, spare tire and brackets, muffler, intake, some air conditioning parts. I have kept the truck running for now in order to move it in and out of the garage. I spent the better part of Saturday removing and replacing the spring mount, this turned out to be quite the pain due to rusty parts and murphys law fighting me at every turn. I will have to pick up new hardware to finish the task. Speaking of murphy's law.. the same side REAR mount was found to have too much rust so that will need replacement as well. Both cab perches in the rear are also rusted and new ones have been ordered as well. Note to self... next conversion, find a new or newer vehicle, a lot of labor here just for the glider and no real EV work done yet.
My motor has still not landed, getting impatient now.. ordered in May, hope to see it soon.

Step 2: Getting the hands dirty

I had been driving the truck in to find any problems and discovered issues that will need to be corrected to make a dependable glider for conversion. I found that the air conditioning doesn't work well, so I have made the decision to not work it into the EV system.
The list seems to get longer at every turn, but that is going to be the case with a 15 year old vehicle. I discovered a water leak in the cab and removed the seats and floor coverings to clean up the floorboard, the source appears to be weather strip around the doors.
I have removed the bed box to access the frame and components that need to be removed.
During this I found that one leaf spring mount was rusted through and got a replacement from the dealer to replace it.
While I am waiting for my backordered Warp-9 to arrive, I will be removing the muffler, fuel tank and other gasoline engine components.
I have almost all the components except the batteries and motor, the steering box arrived yesterday.

Step one, donor vehicle

I began by finding a suitable donor vehicle and chose a 1993 Ranger 2wd standard cab with few add ons. This is important for simplicity and weight. The truck came with cruise, air conditioning, power steering and power brakes.
I will use a vacuum pump to retain the brakes and find a manual steering rack to eliminate the power steering system, which is leaking. Air conditioning may or may not be retained as it is a lot of drag and weight.
The truck needed some TLC to make a dependable conversion, some brake work, body work, shocks replaced.

electricranger