E-Stang Build Thread
06-05-2010, 04:00 PM
#101
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: florida
Posts: 183
After a LONG break from the forum -- I'm back.
Believe it or not, I still don't have the car. It's been very frustrating. There have been multiple problems, from the controller issue mentioned above to other more mundane (but tricky) issues.
It's been harder than imagined to get all this sophisticated electronics to fit and work in a 45-year old car. But we think we're basically done now. There are three remaining issues to work out.
First, and most importantly, the car has a jerky start unless you punch it. Joe (my converter) has been working on this for months and has been going back and forth with the controller manufacturer. He thinks he's close and will figure it out this week.
Second, the heater's not putting out as much heat as it should. Not something that's going to hold up the project, but still something I'd like to get working correctly.
Third, the speedometer needs to be calibrated. It seems to be working, but it's a tricky thing to get it working properly off the controller's electronic output signal. It hasn't been a high priority, but I want to be sure it's really working before Joe ships the car out to me.
So, if all goes well the car should be ready to ship by next week. Then another week or two to get it here (from Oregon to NY). Then the restoration work begins.
Believe it or not, I still don't have the car. It's been very frustrating. There have been multiple problems, from the controller issue mentioned above to other more mundane (but tricky) issues.
It's been harder than imagined to get all this sophisticated electronics to fit and work in a 45-year old car. But we think we're basically done now. There are three remaining issues to work out.
First, and most importantly, the car has a jerky start unless you punch it. Joe (my converter) has been working on this for months and has been going back and forth with the controller manufacturer. He thinks he's close and will figure it out this week.
Second, the heater's not putting out as much heat as it should. Not something that's going to hold up the project, but still something I'd like to get working correctly.
Third, the speedometer needs to be calibrated. It seems to be working, but it's a tricky thing to get it working properly off the controller's electronic output signal. It hasn't been a high priority, but I want to be sure it's really working before Joe ships the car out to me.
So, if all goes well the car should be ready to ship by next week. Then another week or two to get it here (from Oregon to NY). Then the restoration work begins.
06-13-2010, 01:53 PM
#103
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: So Cal
Posts: 153
I've connected with another conversion company here in NY (Electric Cars of NY). They offered to help 'consult' with Joe to work through the last few remaining issues. Last Friday we all got together on a conference call.
Their engineer (Jon) came up with some good suggestions for the jerky start issue, which Joe is going to try out this week. Jon also said that a little jerkiness is not unusual. We'll see how that goes.
Jon didn't have much to say about the heater issue. The heating element doesn't seem to be heating up much, which is hard to explain. It's a 240 V element and I have a 312 V battery pack feeding it. It should get plenty hot!
The speedo still needs to be calibrated, but that isn't really a problem, just something that needs to be done.
The jerky start is the only one of the three that I think absolutely has to be done before the car ships, and I want it to ship soon.
If Joe can't figure out the jerkiness in the next few days, I think I'm just going to tell him to ship it to ElectricCars of NY and I'll let them finish the job. Joe is a very nice guy, but I've run out of patience. I want my car!
Supposedly, there is a video of the car's first move (under EV power) -- the guy that sold me the car drove up to Joe's garage to film it. I've emailed him a couple times to see if I can get a copy of it, but he hasn't responded.
Their engineer (Jon) came up with some good suggestions for the jerky start issue, which Joe is going to try out this week. Jon also said that a little jerkiness is not unusual. We'll see how that goes.
Jon didn't have much to say about the heater issue. The heating element doesn't seem to be heating up much, which is hard to explain. It's a 240 V element and I have a 312 V battery pack feeding it. It should get plenty hot!
The speedo still needs to be calibrated, but that isn't really a problem, just something that needs to be done.
The jerky start is the only one of the three that I think absolutely has to be done before the car ships, and I want it to ship soon.
If Joe can't figure out the jerkiness in the next few days, I think I'm just going to tell him to ship it to ElectricCars of NY and I'll let them finish the job. Joe is a very nice guy, but I've run out of patience. I want my car!
Supposedly, there is a video of the car's first move (under EV power) -- the guy that sold me the car drove up to Joe's garage to film it. I've emailed him a couple times to see if I can get a copy of it, but he hasn't responded.
06-24-2010, 04:07 PM
#104
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: So Cal
Posts: 153
The Mustang is heading East!
I got the email yesterday that the car is loaded up and headed my way. I'm having it delivered to my house. The first thing I'll have to do is get the top put on. Joe sent me a bunch of pictures and as you can see -- I have some work to do!
Once the top is on I'll try to get it down to Electric Cars of NY to have them take a look at the set up. Joe sent them the schematics and they've already noted a few things that didn't look right to them. I'm getting a hitch put on my SUV so I can tow the car down to them (about 150 miles, so too far to drive it).
Then, finally, I can set about restoring!
Obviously it needs paint and a new interior. I've already bought new carpet and seats -- what's the common wisdom, paint it first then do the interior?
Mark
Once the top is on I'll try to get it down to Electric Cars of NY to have them take a look at the set up. Joe sent them the schematics and they've already noted a few things that didn't look right to them. I'm getting a hitch put on my SUV so I can tow the car down to them (about 150 miles, so too far to drive it).
Then, finally, I can set about restoring!
Obviously it needs paint and a new interior. I've already bought new carpet and seats -- what's the common wisdom, paint it first then do the interior?
Mark
06-26-2010, 09:22 AM
#106
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: So Cal
Posts: 153
I'm told it works -- as far as 'proof,' I guess I'll have to wait until it gets here. The guy who sold me the car finally answered my emails and said he has a video of the car's first moves under electric power, but he hasn't sent it to me yet.
07-11-2010, 09:01 AM
#108
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: So Cal
Posts: 153
Well it's finally here, and it works....sort of.
It arrived with the 12V accessory battery dead. Unfortunately, you need the 12V to get the rest of the system going, so without it nothing else would work. And when I say dead, I mean DEAD. My mutimeter said it was at 3.5V.
It was so dead that my 'smart' charger said it needed to be replaced and wouldn't even try to charge it. So I put it on my 'dumb' trickle charger overnight and that brought it back to life. The next day I took it out for a drive around the block.
Joe had mentioned that the car shook a bit when you first start out. Well, it's more than a shake, it really bucks. It vibrates like when you let the clutch out with the engine rpm too low (I don't have a clutch, so that's not it). Once it got going it worked fine. The steering is loose and it pulls to the left, but I'll figure that out later. Also, the fiberglass hood is not locked down yet (I didn't want Joe installing the hood pins) so I can't get it going too fast. But other than the initial bucking, it seems to work great.
The 12V continues to be a problem though -- something's draining it. I let it fully charge (13.5V), then after a day it's back down to 10.5V. This is a deep-cycle, 140 amp battery so there's no way it should be losing that much juice. I'll test the battery today to see if it's bad, but I think it's probably something in the system that's draining it.
This is also the first time I've actually seen the mustang. It's going to need a lot of attention. It's in basically good condition -- there's one spot of rust at the bottom of the RH rear quarter panel. Not too bad though, and the rest of the car is solid.
It looks pretty much the way you see it in the pictures above. Almost none of the trim is attached; it's all in boxes, which makes it hard to do a good inventory of what I have and what I need to buy. The vinyl top is new, but also in a box, and the top frame is not attached. That's going to be my first priority -- getting the top on. Until then, I can't really take it anywhere or leave it outside.
More to come.
It arrived with the 12V accessory battery dead. Unfortunately, you need the 12V to get the rest of the system going, so without it nothing else would work. And when I say dead, I mean DEAD. My mutimeter said it was at 3.5V.
It was so dead that my 'smart' charger said it needed to be replaced and wouldn't even try to charge it. So I put it on my 'dumb' trickle charger overnight and that brought it back to life. The next day I took it out for a drive around the block.
Joe had mentioned that the car shook a bit when you first start out. Well, it's more than a shake, it really bucks. It vibrates like when you let the clutch out with the engine rpm too low (I don't have a clutch, so that's not it). Once it got going it worked fine. The steering is loose and it pulls to the left, but I'll figure that out later. Also, the fiberglass hood is not locked down yet (I didn't want Joe installing the hood pins) so I can't get it going too fast. But other than the initial bucking, it seems to work great.
The 12V continues to be a problem though -- something's draining it. I let it fully charge (13.5V), then after a day it's back down to 10.5V. This is a deep-cycle, 140 amp battery so there's no way it should be losing that much juice. I'll test the battery today to see if it's bad, but I think it's probably something in the system that's draining it.
This is also the first time I've actually seen the mustang. It's going to need a lot of attention. It's in basically good condition -- there's one spot of rust at the bottom of the RH rear quarter panel. Not too bad though, and the rest of the car is solid.
It looks pretty much the way you see it in the pictures above. Almost none of the trim is attached; it's all in boxes, which makes it hard to do a good inventory of what I have and what I need to buy. The vinyl top is new, but also in a box, and the top frame is not attached. That's going to be my first priority -- getting the top on. Until then, I can't really take it anywhere or leave it outside.
More to come.
07-11-2010, 10:11 AM
#109
Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Hills of California
Posts: 5,208
I wonder if the bucking is from the 3 phase motor attempting to turn under load with zero initial RPM.
Does the motor have any assist system to get it rotating first or is it attempting to move everything from the ESC pulse alone?
-Gun
Does the motor have any assist system to get it rotating first or is it attempting to move everything from the ESC pulse alone?
-Gun