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smart car owners forum model 451 fortwo - Discuss upgrades, modifications, ideas > smart car owners general chat forum > Off topic lounge > The Honda Del Sol electric car conversion thread |
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smart car owners forum model 451 fortwo - Discuss upgrades, modifications, ideas > smart car owners general chat forum > Off topic lounge > The Honda Del Sol electric car conversion thread |
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| The Honda Del Sol electric car conversion thread | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Tue Dec 27th, 2011 12:25 am |
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61st Post |
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ALephart Administrator 
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I flushed the power steering lines with new fluid. I also put a small hose from the power steering cooler to the inlet of the steering rack. I found that a NPT fitting from a air compressor fit the thread pattern, and I had a spare handy. Its a temp solution until I can get the car on the ground with some weight on the wheels and go from there. All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Thu Jan 5th, 2012 02:27 am |
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62nd Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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I ended up talking to Matt at EVwest today. He sourced good Grade8 attachment hardware for the adapter plate. Still waiting on the machine shop to mill the coupler. He expects that to be done on Monday. So things are looking up that next week could be an eventful one. In preparation for that, I still have yet to put the new rear struts on! All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Tue Jan 10th, 2012 01:31 am |
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63rd Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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OK I am going to stop posting updates until I get the adapter plate. Last I heard it is now coming in on Wednesday. The rear strut replacement is coming along. I had to grind off the lower link bolt that mounts the strut. This is a clean car however its time spent on the East coast took its toll on low hanging metal bits. The rubber bushings are rock hard and need replaced. So right now I am trying to find the best solution. There are some aftermarket pieces have a high BLF (blinky light factor). All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Sat Jan 14th, 2012 02:30 am |
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64th Post |
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DaveInTexas Member 
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While you at it, see if you can fit an instrument panel out of a 2003-2005 Hybrid Civic or the 1st gen Hybrid Insight I like the indigo blue dash and the battery gauge and motor use gauge is also nice.
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| Posted: Tue Jan 17th, 2012 03:42 am |
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65th Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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No, I have no update on EVwest. But I have got a lot done on the car. I have the rear struts replaced but am running into problems trying to remove a bolt I HAD to grind off from into of a bushing on the rear A arm. Both rear struts seemed really light and easily compressible and judging by the residue with dirt on the strut I doubt it had much (if any) oil in the struts, being that they are original. I removed a lot of undercoating from all the plastic mud flaps and engine bay trays. The parts look brand new! I removed the fuel filler tube which involved a lot of interior trim removal. And I spotted some poor aftermarket speaker wiring so I redid that. I also pulled the wires for the fuel tank sensor back up into the car and pushed them under the center console for future use. I don't know if I will need them at all but figured they are easier to rear in there rather then remove the rear trim again. Other then that I took a dry hand brush and got dirt from under the car and it looks really clean! All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Wed Jan 18th, 2012 02:21 am |
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66th Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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Today was a mixed bag of goodies. I heard from EVwest after I sent them an e-mail the day before. Everything is done and we are scheduling a time for them to come back up with the parts and transmission. Tp prepare for that I set out on installing the remaining right rear strut. The bolts where seriously rusted on. I had no other choice but to grind the bolt off holding the rear A-arm on. So now that makes 2 bolts busted off in bushings I had to get pressed out, on top of the bushing being in poor condition. And I still have that bushing that is questionable on the left rear A-arm. Best thing to do at this point is source some nice aftermarket pieces. My only worry about going that route is the fact that they are aluminum. With the potential added force of batterys and electronics I am more inclined to have good old steel back there! I could care less about saving 2lbs of weight. All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Thu Jan 19th, 2012 01:20 am |
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67th Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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I am happy to report the plate has arrived! I rotated the motor brushes in the motor for proper Honda rotation. I just need to find a 1/4 keyway for the coupler and I can put everything together. On the suspension front I was able to find a A-arm from a local wrecking yard for $25.00. That seems like the way to go for now.   All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Sun Jan 22nd, 2012 11:59 pm |
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68th Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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 Baby steps, the transmission in in and hooked up. The axle are not in however. I thought about putting 1 axle in the transmission and then installing it leaving only 1 more to install. But I thought better of taking a shortcut and opted to install the tranmission and then the axles later. The rear suspension has been a pain! One of the reaining bolts snapped off in the A-arm which left the remainder of the bolt in the compensator(Honda's word not mine)/trailing arm. So todays fun and games involved removing that. Along the line I had to remove the parking brake cable to pull that arm off. And of course the cable set pin was rusted in and no amout of oil or cleaning off rust was going to remove it. So I had to grind off the parking brake cable. Its a good thing I have'nt put the interior back yet because this is going to make the cable replacement a breeze. Once that it complete I still have to get that plate machine for the motor mount. In the meantime it will just hang with support from the engine hoist. YouTube has really helped me out as I was guided and where to grease the clutch assembly for proper fitment. I still have to get a keyway but no rush, as I have decided to get a matching SPEC aluminum flywheel to go with the new clutch. There is also the matter of finding where the 4-5 wires go from the transmission. With the engine harness off the car, I cannot find the same colored wires on the car. Luckily I still have the harness/engine so it will just take some tracking down. All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Tue Jan 24th, 2012 01:11 am |
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69th Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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Ever have one of those days there you wish you could do-over? Well today was that day. I set off for LOWES to find a keyway. I needed one 1/4inchx1.25inches long. I found a 1/4 by 1.5 inches long and just hacked off the excess. (yes I hate modifying parts to make them fit). Then I set to mount the coupler and then went on the adapter plate. I was'nt given specs other then "just good and tight". I used 45ft lbs as a figure to work with. This based on torque specs I found of 35ft lbs for the other plate on the other end of the motor. I used 45ft lbs because this was a larger bolt and had more metal to go through. Not to mention if was going to have alot more stress put on it. I put red loctite 271 in the holes and started all the threads. I snugged up all the bolts but on my first pass to torque it to the final value the bolt snapped! UGG! It was a clean break flush on the motor. I called up EVWest to relay the news and they where surprised. They are now sending me Grade8 bolts to replace the Grade5 they supplied with the plate. I went to LOWES again the find an Easy-Out only to find they pulled the stock 6 months ago for an unknown reason and dont have a replacement. So add this hiccup to my list of things to do.  All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Thu Jan 26th, 2012 11:26 am |
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70th Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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What to say, what to say. After many calls back and forth to EVWest, I think the problem has been identified. And to make long story short, I dont think it was on my end! That being said I am taking the motor and adaoter plate to EVwest in San Diego on Friday. They are going to make the repairs and I am to leave with a motor and adapter plate all ready to go. From there I will take it home, bolt in the new clutch and be set to bolt everything together. From there I still need to confirm placement of a rear plate for the motor to act as an engine mount. All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Fri Jan 27th, 2012 12:31 am |
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71st Post |
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DaveInTexas Member
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If the bolt snapped off clean and did not bottom out on the motor, removing it should be easy. For future reference, I would suggest Fastenal for bolts and hardware. Also Easy-outs should be easy to get at Fastenal or Sears. As for the 1/4" key, we buy 1 foot long pieces of key material and trim to fit where I work at. Good to see you are making progress.
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| Posted: Sun Jan 29th, 2012 03:34 am |
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72nd Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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Well, yesterday I went to EVwest. And for those who don't realize it, I fit the motor in its big box in the back of the smart car! So I got there and they got right to work on it. They ended up snapping an easy off in the bolt. Then they had to drill out the set screw for the coupler because they wanted to replace the entire endcap. They did and they used my original 0mile bearing. However when they got everything bolt up they became concerned with some measurements. So I had to go home a verify a couple things. They want to mount up the new flywheel which chould be here early next week and verify there will be no more problems. So I left the motor and adapter plate at EVwest. They also ordered a GE watstation from LOWES online but for some reason it came without the grey trim piece on the outside edge. And they are back and forth on the phone trying to figure that one out. I got the new rear A-arm in the mail, and this time it is the correct one! I still need a parking brake cable and a couple other bits. All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Sun Feb 5th, 2012 07:03 pm |
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73rd Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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 I am back in town after being gone a week. The SPEC aluminum flywheel arrived. I was worried that through the delay in time between e-mails to SPEC when I originally contacted them in December that they might ship a flywheel with the ring gear in place. I ended up calling them a couple days ago when I was on my trip to confirm that was not the case. I came home to a nice flywheel set to bolt up. The shipping weight was noted as 10lbs and I can tell you the stock flywheel is HEAVY compared to this one. It's my understanding that reducing rotating mass is good for HP more then TORQUE. And since this electric motor creates a good amount of torque, that shouldn't be a problem. I will take the flywheel to EVwest tomorrow and have them verify fitment. I hope after that I can take everything home and bolt it up! All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Thu Feb 9th, 2012 06:50 pm |
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74th Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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Not wanting to leave anything to chance I let EVWest come up and re-measure the Honda engine. They also brought the motor, the coupler, and adapter plate and assorted bolts. They replaced the outer ring plate on the adapter plate with a slightly thicker one. They also now feel it is required to space out the couple a fraction of an inch with either a smaller collar/washer. I will wait to get that from them in the mail. I expedited the request from EVwest to come up because with the gas engine up for sale, I have an interested person coming to take a look at it this weekend. Rockauto.com came through with a DORMAN brand right rear parking brake cable that even my local auto parts shop couldn't even get. And also for $35.00 which is alot less then the Honda dealer. All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| Posted: Tue Feb 14th, 2012 09:58 pm |
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75th Post |
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ALephart Administrator
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As soon as the spacer for the coupler arrived I put it on the motor and bolted everything back together. I was set to finish for the day and I just HAD to get the motor in yesterday. So I bolted the flywheel up only to have one of the bolts strip some thread off the coupler. Upon further examination there is alot more threads that could have been used. So I do need longer bolts and there is enought thread material left to not be concerned. The bigger issue came when trying to mate the adapter plate to the transmission. No amount of tugging or losening of bolts gave me enough room. By the way, forget trying to drop the motor in from the top. Although it is possible you will scrape up the engine bay doing it. Instead I put it in the same way I removed the gas engine. Slid it underneath the engine bay on a moving blanket and then lifted it up with a hoist. Come to find out after a step back observation, the adapter plate is hitting the drivers side axle. So out everything comes and down to EVwest in San Marcos today to see what could be done. I thought they might send it out to be milled but instead they ground off the metal to make space. Now I have to tell you, I had my reservations about saking a jigsaw and grinder to this nice piece of billet aluminum. However they did a GREAT job and it looks clean. So I am now waiting on longer flywheel bolts and I will try this again! As a reminder although I do get back here to post updates regularly, I post more frequently on my picture blog. That is located at: http://smartcar451.blogspot.com/ All the best, Aaron Lephart
____________________ I got my smart car! |
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| smart car owners forum model 451 fortwo - Discuss upgrades, modifications, ideas > smart car owners general chat forum > Off topic lounge > The Honda Del Sol electric car conversion thread | Top |
