# New first conversion - '84 Toyota 4x4 Electrolux



## DMPstar (Mar 2, 2016)

The electrical on this truck is pretty simple, so I am trying to keep the additions as simple as possible. To begin, I am wiring up only the basics required to drive it. Also, I want to keep all the related wiring and controls for each component as close as possible to each other. 

The 12V battery is split into 2 halves (space constraints) and situated in the 2 factory 12V battery locations behind each headlight.

DC/DC converter is mounted on a plate with the Curtis 1238 motor controller where the rad was, and scrap pieces of heatsink are bolted to the front side.


















For now, the DC/DC converter will be directly connected to the 12V LiFePO4 battery. For parasitic draw concerns, I thought about having the DC/DC turn off when the key was in the off or accessory position. I knew that if the 12V battery was discharged there would be a greater voltage difference between it and the DC/DC, so I did some experimenting with charging the battery at lower SOC. When connected it pulled the max of the DC/DC for longer than I liked. Connecting it constantly will keep the battery at 13.5V or 3.375V per cell. If the cells stay fairly balanced, it may work out.

The Curtis controller is very near the motor, and I plan to find a place for the FP-6 throttle box in the same area. I had a system poorly mocked up, but the FP-6 didn't have enough spring power to pull the throttle pedal back to idle. It caused what I like to call "Toyota throttle pedal syndrome". Nothing like truckin' down the road with no vacuum brake assist and a stuck gas pedal! I will try the same setup with a nice couch spring to help pull the pedal back for now.

I acquired a few broken Curtis controllers, and found they all suffered from logic board damage. The one I was able to repair originally had no main contactor output. When I poked around on the logic board, I found a shorted diode. All the driver lines have big diodes lined up (they have SD 06 printed on them), so it was easy to test in comparison to the others. I took a matching diode from a cooked logic board and did my best to surface mount it back in. Only then did I unscrew the logic board from the lid and examine the back side for more damage:









The board is multi-layer, and it was noticeable from both sides that the burnt trace continued inside the board as a big bulge. I said to heck with it and soldered a piece of wire in to patch the burnt trace. Somehow it works now 

The controller that I was able to repair was older. It had the brass coloured lugs on top for batt and motor connections, and the logic board sticker had a different model number on it than the newer controllers with the shiny silver connection posts.
I saw a couple different things inside the old and new Curtises, on the power board:
-In the older one, the big 10 ohm precharge resistor had a temp sensor underneath it. The newer ones did not. In my experience, there is no monitor data for this temp sensor anywhere.
-Several of the newer controllers had cracks in the precharge resistor ceramic. The old one looked good.
-This resistor is installed but not soldered down on the newer controllers









I first saw this in a completely non-functioning controller, and assumed that it needed to be connected. It didn't fix it. Not sure why they would have this half installed, perhaps for some fine tuning during assembly?


Still need to wire up some BMS harnesses and toss the batteries in. The truck frame is pretty rotten, so I am going to weld some plates on there before dropping weight in the centre of the truck.


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## BWA (Mar 14, 2015)

Nice job. 

The technical term for your heat press friction fit is Shrink Fit, although, I like yours better.....


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Looking good!

Question though: why do you have two contactors mounted next to the Curtis?


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## electro wrks (Mar 5, 2012)

Could you explain how your coupling(with photos of motor shaft, flywheel, trans. input shaft, etc.) is set up?


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## DMPstar (Mar 2, 2016)

> Nice job.
> 
> The technical term for your heat press friction fit is Shrink Fit, although, I like yours better.....


Allright! I will add that to my active vocabulary.

Now I have one for you, BWA:








The item beside the hammer in this image is called a Frame Pick. You will rarely find one in any mechanic or body man's tool box, but they are essential for cleaning out the gravel, rust flakes, mouse feces and carcasses, and other matter from the inside of Toyota truck frames. First the hammer is used to poke holes every few inches along the frame. Then the frame pick is inserted in each hole, is slid back and forth, and a vacuum cleaner nozzle situated at another hole picks up the material that packs the frame. 
This may take all day, as it did today.




> Looking good!
> 
> Question though: why do you have two contactors mounted next to the Curtis?


Thanks molten,
The other contactor is the ignition contactor (12V coil). For now, it only switches KSI into the Curtis. The coil + goes to "IGN1", the live line for when the key is on normal ignition mode. It is basically the only interface (for now) into the stock vehicle electrical. I looked thru my parts horde and couldnt find any reasonable relays with a ~100VDC contact rating printed on them, and in the past saw smaller relays fail when used to switch KSI. Call it overkill, but with all the other things to go wrong on this scrap build truck, I doubt it will be that contactor. 
I also can use it as a switched source for other battery voltage accessories later on. I would like to use it to switch batt power to the DCDC if I could find a simple passive way to limit current, as per my previous parasitic draw concerns. 




> Could you explain how your coupling(with photos of motor shaft, flywheel, trans. input shaft, etc.) is set up?


In the rush of getting this thing out of my buddy's shop, I failed to snap as many pictures as I would have liked. Also it would be hard to see all the parts fitting together when assembled. It has been a long day with the frame pick, so I will try to explain the best I can, and might get more pics next time I pull it apart. 
**The red hot piece in the original thread is the only additional spinning piece in this adaptor. It contains the AC50 mating spline, a centre bearing, and the output hub/pilot bearing from an ICE engine, thus bolting to the ICE flywheel.**
Starting from the motor: The AC 50 has a female spline. The input shaft of the scrap differential piece has the matching male spline with about 1" engagement when inserted. The cast body of the broken diff retains the bearing of that input shaft 2" or so away from the end of the male spline. When I say retain, I mean the bearing will slide in and out of the cast body from the transmission side. This means the "thrust pressure" (technical terms again) of the clutch release action will be transferred against this bearing (an engineer friend said I should look for an interchangeable bearing that would be designed for the thrust, but I'm going to leave it for now). The scrap diff cast body is bolted to the aluminium 3/8" adaptor plate. On the other side (transmission side) of the adaptor plate, the flywheel and clutch reside. 
On assembly:
- bolt the flywheel to the adaptor hub, 
- eyeball the clutch disk alignment and bolt down the pressure plate,
- push that entire assembly onto the transmission input shaft, 
- install the adaptor plate (scrap diff piece bolted to aluminium plate)
- install motor
-*NEW!* install motor mount
-*NEW!* install and align encoder

This picture may show the assembly a lil bit better:










Regardless, when spinning up the motor, there is a vibration and noise that cant be ignored. It is resonant around 800 RPM. I think our only chance at solving it is "resurfacing" the old ICE output hub face in the lathe. Any misalignment of the motor-to-transmission can be tweaked between the cast diff chunk and the aluminium plate.



Been a long day, got more frame picking to do tomorrow, and then hopefully after some welding it will be strong enough to hold the batteries on some sweet jumps. Frame has proven to be much worse than I thought it was, and it was actually starting to buckle when we put it on the hoist with 2 engines in the box. Everything in life, and life its self is temporary, so I will always be on the lookout for another truck to drop this drivetrain into.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

No frame pick for me- I hoisted my frame up nearly vertical using the ridge beam of my shop, then whacked the frame with a deadblow mallet until about five pounds of debris fell out the rear end. That was AFTER trying to blow crap out using compressed air and draw it out using the ShopVac. 

Interesting motor mount- it looks like it ties back to the transmission mounting plate. Are you trying to take any flex or misalignment out of your motor to transmission connection that way?

There was just no way I could trust a motor-transmission mounting assembly that I made, to align precisely enough. You're doing it very carefully, especially the hub portion.


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## electro wrks (Mar 5, 2012)

Interesting and novel motor attachment. It looks like the pilot bearing is well supported in your design. The input shaft in this kind of trans., if it's the typical front engine/rear wheel drive trans., has as much as 1/8" (3-4mm) of side to side movement on the end where the pilot bearing is located. Check it out next time the motor is pulled. The shaft is supported inside the trans. by 2 closely spaced bearings that don't support the shaft very well. It's kind of like trying to carry a flag staff in front of you with your hands close together vs. your hands a few feet or a meter apart. The pilot bearing provides the necessary additional input shaft support.

The adapter plate needs to be properly located on the trans. bell housing so the center lines of the input shaft and the motor shaft are in line within a few thousands of a inch(~0.08mm). Bolts alone and by feel are not accurate enough to locate the two. And, you can't use the input shaft to align the motor because of the bearing situation discussed in the first paragraph, even with the pilot bearing in place. It's just not accurate enough. Misalignment could cause all kinds of havoc to the gears and bearings inside the gearbox.

This could be the source of your grinding noise. Locating dowels are used by OEMs and reputable adapter plate makers to accurately locate the input shaft and motor. It's not easy for the average DIYer to set up a home made adapter plate. Using a ready made adapter plate could save a lot of hassle.

In short, the trans. input shaft can't be used to align the motor. The adapter plate needs to align the input shaft. This is what the dowels are for.


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## DMPstar (Mar 2, 2016)

I wish I had more resources like that ridge beam, but after poking around the frame I am realizing that this needs a just quick bandaid to keep it on the road for a while. Also it needs to drive to my place by tomorrow, so the heat is on to get some metal welded in and worry about further repairs later.



> Interesting motor mount- it looks like it ties back to the transmission mounting plate. Are you trying to take any flex or misalignment out of your motor to transmission connection that way?


The mount travels to the adaptor plate for a bit of extra hanging strength, I doubt it would do anything against flex as it is just parallel square tubing. All the parts of the adaptor plate assembly have machined faces so there shouldnt be any angular misalignment.

I also wouldn't trust myself to build anything like this, but buying a new motor and adaptor kit was not an option financially. Hopefully the work done by my friend is sufficiently accurate.




> The input shaft in this kind of trans., if it's the typical front engine/rear wheel drive trans., has as much as 1/8" (3-4mm) of side to side movement on the end where the pilot bearing is located.


Yes, I noticed this on both transmissions. Unfortunately we did reference the center point by the trans input shaft, but found its circle of movement and used the center of that. No it will not be within a few thousandths.
The aluminum plate is dowelled to the bellhousing, but the cast piece is just close fit bolted right now. I have the dowelling from the cast piece for setting it in stone, but want to have it running smooth first. I am very aware of the potential problems with that aspect of the build, but am only operating within my resources (one being time). I will not be ignoring any sounds coming from it and plan to get it to a point where I am confident in it.


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## electro wrks (Mar 5, 2012)

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" John Wooden

Not to mention the $ to put into replacement transmissions and other parts.


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## DMPstar (Mar 2, 2016)

> "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" John Wooden


Any day after today (thursday). 

electro wrks, your knowledge on all of this far exceeds mine. I really do appreciate and carefully digest your advice, and have agreed with you on the same subject in another thread about youngestEVer's Celica, so please understand. My current situation is not easy for me to explain, but I will try to give you the abridged version.
My budget has been set, spent, and owing. I have a salvaged/repaired AC-50, not compatible with off the shelf adaptors from CanEV etc. I thought about getting end plates to convert my motor to something more useful, but when I last talked to HPEVS they were not able to sell me the individual parts I wanted. Even these parts would have been out of my budget anyway. 
Cost of getting a local shop to do this kind of work, if it even ends up in tolerance, is out of my budget. The person that did the adaptor work for me is someone I trust and I was able to work alongside him thru each part of the build. That being said, I was paying him for a certain amount of his valuable time. He gave much more than what I am paying for; I am very grateful and glad that I went this route. For logistical reasons I must get my truck home (10km or so) and continue my work here. A tow truck is out of my budget (if that gives any hint to my so commonly mentioned budget  ). 

As requested, here's another picture of the adaptor stuff. Not a very good picture.










To solve this input shaft dilemma any day after today, I am still open to advice. The cast piece of scrap dif can still be realigned on the the aluminium plate by widening holes and adding new ones for dowelling or something. I have considered getting another 5M engine to take several 2-dimensional measurements, but that type of precision measuring is something I may not have access to. Also, both 5MGE engines I own are still bolted to old rusty Supras that wont die. I suppose some very obscure Toyota drawings exist somewhere, but I have a hard enough time with basic web searches. I'm defeated and tempted to just try it out.

I will monitor the temps of different areas of the transmission during testing, but if my transmission starts howlin, I wont take it to a shop and get it looked at, I will probably just put banana peels and scented candles in there to see if it shuts up.  
I am fine with this being a learning experience. I will strive to get this thing to a place where I am satisfied with it, but for now I would like to try to embrace the excitement of possibly driving my own electric vehicle! After a few hours of sleep and a few hours of battery setup.

The 2 worst part of the frame now have slapdash patches on them, so I can put some batteries in the truck. This is the smaller patch.


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## z_power (Dec 17, 2011)

I'd remove the obsolete starter ring from flywheel to loose some rotating mass...
As for input shaft misalignment - careful listening to sounds of transmission, vibration check with fingertips and visual inspection for metal shavings or oil leak from input shaft seal should be acceptable test procedures for low budget work. FWD transmissions with "rigid" input shaft require much tighter accuracy.


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## evforme? (Jul 23, 2015)

If you're trying to save money and just make it work did you consider spacing your ac50 forward and making a short CV shaft to hook up to your trans? That could take up any slop in your adapter setup.


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## electro wrks (Mar 5, 2012)

z_power said:


> I'd remove the obsolete starter ring from flywheel to loose some rotating mass...
> As for input shaft misalignment - careful listening to sounds of transmission, vibration check with fingertips and visual inspection for metal shavings or oil leak from input shaft seal should be acceptable test procedures for low budget work. FWD transmissions with "rigid" input shaft require much tighter accuracy.


NO !, DS's trans. requires about the same amount of accuracy as front wheel drive trans., with a better supported input shaft. People are fooled by the floppy, loose input shaft of DS's type trans. into thinking there's some kind of flexible coupling inside the trans., which there isn't. DS is on the right track trying to find the center position of the shaft play as a position for his motor/coupling. His problem is accuracy.

The problem with "noise, metal shavings, oil leaks" as an indicator of motor/ trans. alignment, as we've seen far too many times on this forum, it's usually too late. The trans. is ruined. It's better to set it up right in the first place. Or, for about the cost of replacement trans., buy a commercially made adapter plate/ coupling.


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## electro wrks (Mar 5, 2012)

DMPstar said:


> Any day after today (thursday).
> 
> electro wrks, your knowledge on all of this far exceeds mine. I really do appreciate and carefully digest your advice, and have agreed with you on the same subject in another thread about youngestEVer's Celica, so please understand. My current situation is not easy for me to explain, but I will try to give you the abridged version.
> My budget has been set, spent, and owing. I have a salvaged/repaired AC-50, not compatible with off the shelf adaptors from CanEV etc. I thought about getting end plates to convert my motor to something more useful, but when I last talked to HPEVS they were not able to sell me the individual parts I wanted. Even these parts would have been out of my budget anyway.
> ...



OK, I better understand your situation and have to admire your tenacity! Let's see if we can figure something out here.

First off, your flywheel mounting stub shaft may not work. The bearing looks a little small. Also, unless it's a press fit, the spline section may flop around with the single bearing design. Something like this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzo7SwspcsA
In the YouTube case, there's semi-flexible shaft incorporated in the aircraft generator causing the problem, but yours might act the same way. Also it's very difficult to line up three bearings(like in your case) on the same rigid shaft without a lot of precision machining. And, it would have to be a rigid shaft setup to properly support the flywheel (see the vid ).

Second, do you need to have the flywheel/clutch set-up? It's good for safety. But there's much less chance for a motor runaway, like with a DC motor. The AC50 might be a powerful enough motor that not much shifting on the fly is required, where the clutch is a real benefit. With no flywheel/ clutch, a coupling could be made that accommodates the female spline of the motor, the male spline of the trans. input shaft, and just as important -the pilot bearing end of the input shaft. The coupling needs to be rigidly attached to the motor spline with a press fit, maybe welding, and small enough on the OD to allow motor bearing removal. And, it needs to be accurately concentric to properly support and locate the trans. input shaft like the original ICE set-up.

I'll post later a some thoughts on lining up the motor and input shaft.


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## DMPstar (Mar 2, 2016)

> I'd remove the obsolete starter ring from flywheel to loose some rotating mass...


We have thought about this, but it is not high on the priority list.



> If you're trying to save money and just make it work did you consider spacing your ac50 forward and making a short CV shaft to hook up to your trans? That could take up any slop in your adapter setup.


I think that type of setup would offer less support and accuracy than the one that I have right now. In my experience, using driveline type components in high rotational speed applications just opens a new can of worms... vibration, weird angle physics, etc.



> The problem with "noise, metal shavings, oil leaks" as an indicator of motor/ trans. alignment, as we've seen far too many times on this forum, it's usually too late. The trans. is ruined.


Haha, should I start tranny shopping? First time I spun up the motor I got some gear oil come out the bellhousing. Since then I put about 13km on it, getting it home and creeping around the block last night. I assume that oil is a result of the input seal of the trans no longer being tight on one side of the input shaft due to the misalignment? The most noise really seems to be coming from the rear dif as little chirps on regen.
Another quick thing we did the other day to try and fix the vibration was put the coupler hub with flywheel on the lathe and look at the runout of the hub and flywheel. It was running out about .012", and by taking off a bit of the material on the centering portion of the old crankshaft, we manually centered the flywheel by dial indicator and hammer, then torqued the bolts and put loctite in the centering ring. It is now only .002" out and the vibration is a bit better. I think the motor I am using is bent inside and out of balance, but I will spin it up next time it is pulled out to see. 









Getting it home last night was kind of interesting. All the wiring and stuff was left long and just wrapped around the nearest component, there was no hood on the truck, and in the box were the batteries, a complete 22RE with accessories, a W58 transmission, and a spare transfercase. The 2/0 welding cables from the battery were thrown over the roof and ziptied to the drivers a-pillar (fortunately the windshield was not really attached in that area, it was very convenient for pushing zipties between the glass and a-pillar )
In all the rush I forgot to fasten down the 12V battery box. As I took a right turn into downtown, the battery fell off its perch and into the motor leads. When I jumped out and picked it up, 2 of the motor phases shorted out thru the electrical tape and made a good gunshot sound. I panicked because the last time I saw this happen to a Curtis, it ended up as scrap parts for the one I am using. Somehow it survived, and I scrambled to drive out of traffic. The battery only fell off one more time in traffic, but no sparks that time.
Here it is getting ready for its maiden voyage:









Now that it is home, I can slow down and do things properly. There is a big list of things to do first, as it will be parked and worked on outside "indefinitely" (stupid Scirocco). It needs to be parked on the street out front at night, so any work day on it needs to leave it mobile. 


> First off, your flywheel mounting stub shaft may not work. The bearing looks a little small. Also, unless it's a press fit, the spline section may flop around with the single bearing design


The bearing is press fit on the shaft, but can slide in and out of the cast section. I also have considered that the tolerances in the motor splines may cause flop, but don't really have easy means to add another bearing into the design. The only place I can see it going is around the ~3" crank output hub and being retained in the aluminium plate. That would be a big weird bearing, and if existent, probably not cheap. 
All the precision requirements of building this adaptor take a seriously equipped shop, or at least a few tools that I don't have access to. Its looking like my next vehicle will probably get a CANEV adaptor, which I then modify to work with my motor, unless someone has a burnt out AC-50 that they could sell for a reasonable price.


> do you need to have the flywheel/clutch set-up? It's good for safety.


It has become apparent that with the weight of this vehicle and the gearing (4.30 diffs, the highest ratio of these trucks), and my selection of compromised batteries, it needs all the shifting on the fly that it can get. I can powershift it without the clutch, but I have been driving like that for years. It's not a skill I want to have to teach anyone who gets into this thing, like my wife. Also, I have experienced encoder failures on HPEVS motors (both optical and bearing encoders) that immediately lock up the drive wheels. Cruisin' at freeway speeds with your back wheels stopped is not fun, even in the best summer conditions. Now I picture that situation with someone I care about in the driver's seat... I would be better off just taking this thing out for one big offroad hurrah and destroying it and buying a used leaf at a local no credit-credit scumlot ! I am not comfortable driving a vehicle with only 2 pedals, nor am I particularly fond of modern Nissans.



> I'll post later a some thoughts on lining up the motor and input shaft.


Again, I really appreciate the help. I was thinking again about where to get the measurements I need, and I still have the blown 5m block laying in my yard. The flywheel was cut apart, but with some creative measuring and maybe some dimensions from another crank, someone could make sense of it. I am not a machinist or a real precise builder, more just a troubleshoot and fix/repurposer. 
I'm now going to focus on evicting the mice and their mess from the interior, getting a pack of batteries into the cab, and sealing up anything I don't want getting wet.

I realize that something is going to need to be compromised on the project, be it my budget, timeframe, or expected reliability of the vehicle.


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## electro wrks (Mar 5, 2012)

"Getting it home last night was kind of interesting. All the wiring and stuff was left long and just wrapped around the nearest component, there was no hood on the truck, and in the box were the batteries, a complete 22RE with accessories, a W58 transmission, and a spare transfercase. The 2/0 welding cables from the battery were thrown over the roof and ziptied to the drivers a-pillar (fortunately the windshield was not really attached in that area, it was very convenient for pushing zipties between the glass and a-pillar )
In all the rush I forgot to fasten down the 12V battery box. As I took a right turn into downtown, the battery fell off its perch and into the motor leads. When I jumped out and picked it up, 2 of the motor phases shorted out thru the electrical tape and made a good gunshot sound. I panicked because the last time I saw this happen to a Curtis, it ended up as scrap parts for the one I am using. Somehow it survived, and I scrambled to drive out of traffic. The battery only fell off one more time in traffic, but no sparks that time."


Geez... Who needs to watch old Mad Max movies when you've got this.


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## DMPstar (Mar 2, 2016)

> Geez... Who needs to watch old Mad Max movies when you've got this.


Hahahaha. You have picked up on the theme of this build rather quickly. 
I got the original Mad Max on VHS a few weeks ago and have really benefited from the inspiration. Although in the movies the cars actually go fast and seem to run without many problems. 

In regards to the adaptor assembly, how would one go about getting measurements from an ICE motor to a few thousandths to replicate it on an adaptor? You have 2 or 3 dimensions to deal with when trying to measure the critical portions (i.e. dowelling to idle bearing). Are there people who have successfully done this with simple means, and what kind of measuring tools could achieve this accurate measurement?


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## electro wrks (Mar 5, 2012)

DMPstar said:


> In regards to the adaptor assembly, how would one go about getting measurements from an ICE motor to a few thousandths to replicate it on an adaptor? You have 2 or 3 dimensions to deal with when trying to measure the critical portions (i.e. dowelling to idle bearing). Are there people who have successfully done this with simple means, and what kind of measuring tools could achieve this accurate measurement?


Unfortunately, typical methods of setting up an adapter plate involve some machine work and careful(do I dare use that word around you?) use of a dial indicator. 

First, If a clutch is used, the fore and aft position of the flywheel needs to be established. It needs to be as close as possible to stock, using the thickness of the adapter plate and/or spacers. This is so the clutch linkage doesn't have to be modified. 

If the bell housing is removable, a dial indicator can be mounted on the e-motor shaft and rotated to center the housing on a blank (no holes drilled yet)adapter plate (and spacers, if used) that's bolted up to the e-motor. Once the housing is centered, it can be used as a guide to drill (ream and thread, if needed) mounting and dowel holes in the plate. If you're careful, the dowel holes can be reamed the stock size. More likely, they will have to be drilled and reamed to the next oversize.

If you have the original ICE, the flywheel end of the crankshaft (when it's mounted in the engine) can be used to mount and rotate a dial indicator like on the e-motor shaft as above. If all of the internal parts of the ICE except the crank, front and rear main bearings, and caps are removed, the crankshaft will rotate more easily. If there is excessive play in the ICE bearings and they're going to be scrapped anyway, the ends of the bearing shells can be ground slightly and backed up with strips of paper or tape to tighten up the clearances. This time, the machined hole (and it needs to be machined-not just cut out with a jig saw) in middle of the adapter plate/spacer blank is being centered with the dial idicater and the engine block used as drilling, tapping, and reaming guide. Some of the bolt and dowel holes might be blind, requiring some creative drilling and reaming. Some of the holes may need to be located with the trans. bell housing as a guide.

The third method I can think of is just a more accurate way of centering the input shaft like you wrote about doing. I've never tried it and I don't know if it's accurate enough. Also, this probably will only work with a plate and spacer type design. You're on your own if you try this so keep the "banana peels and scented candles" handy.

This has to be done with the trans. out and firmly mounted vertically, input shaft up so weight of the motor and trans. don't throw off the messurments. This method assumes that all surfaces on the plate and spacer are as flat and parallel as possible-otherwise it won't work. The sliding surfaces need to clean, burr free with edges and holes well chamfered. The center opening in the plate can be saw cut and doesn't need to be machined. It needs to be big enough to clear the shaft and coupling as you move it around. Attach the adapter plate to the trans. The plate needs to be bolted and doweled to the trans. in its final position. Lightly score X and Y axes lines, 90 degrees apart, on the plate with a straight edge and sharp awl centered as close as possible to the centerline of the trans. It doesn't need to be exact, just as close as you can. Use the center position of the floppy input shaft as a guide.

Assemble all of the parts of the set-up. If you're using a clutch, you'll have to take the plate off and put it back on to assemble the clutch/flywheel. But that's no problem because it has the alignment dowels to re-position it in the same place, right? the spacer need to have a good machined push fit on the machined register on the shaft end of the motor housing and be bolted to the motor. The spacer/motor combo needs to slide freely, for now, on the plate. Maybe use a little light grease or oil between the plate and spacer. Slide the motor/spacer back and forth along one of the axes lines you scored on the plate. Use a consistent, even pressure until it stops sliding. Measure the total distance it travels with a caliper depth gauge or a dial indicator. Note this distance. Half of it should be near the center of the axis. Repeat this along the scored line of the other axis. Repeat the procedure several times to increase the accuracy. I'm sure it's similar to the technique you used when you attached the motor-but with much more accuracy. With the spacer centered, semi-permanently attach it the the plate with small welds, bolts, etc. 

To summarize: the adapter plate is bolted to the trans. and has alignment dowels so it can be taken off and put back on without upsetting the alignment. A spacer is semi-permanently to the plate, so it's alignment is fixed. And, the motor is bolted to the spacer, with the end housing of the motor having a register matching an opposite one in the spacer to keep the motor aligned when it is removed and put back on.

If you're careful, I'm guessing this will get you within 0.005-0.010"(0.12-0.25mm) of the centerline. Is this good enough? I don't know. If people have other ideas or suggestions, let us know.

Hey, if you think these are too complicated, check out the adapter plate in this build: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Electric_Vehicle_Conversion/Powertrain


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