# '69 Datsun PU: another newb lewking for cheap speed



## battlewagon (Nov 28, 2011)

Spent the last month lurking and reading this site, bought the "Build Your Own EV" book by Leitman and Brant.

Started a thread on a Datsun board regarding my build plans for chassis and aesthetics here: http://community.ratsun.net/topic/39067-back-to-the-future/

I have a about $4k budget to prep the rig for batteries (hoping lithiums get a little cheaper by the time I'm ready to drop them in) giving myself about 2 years to do it.

The truck is a '69 Datsun PL521 that has been in my family since '71, I drove it in HS with a 90 degree Cheby V6 previously converted by my grandfather. It was stolen about 10 years ago and stripped of the interior and drivetrain before we recovered it. It has retained Wilwood discs up front and the Corporate 8.25" rear end. Manual everything, relatively lightweight and a beefy enough chassis to carry batteries. I had earlier planned another ICE but the day I saw a baby blue Datsun without a tailpipe cruising I-205 here in Portland it peaked my interest in EVs. I obviously tracked down some info on the rig, discovered the Plasmaboy site, this site and blah blah blah.

Since I am not an electrical engineer a lot of the technical info here is lost on me but I have decided to dive in and learn along the way. I pre-emptively apologize for any dumb questions but I am committed to this project so I hope to learn a lot in the process.

I would like 40-50 mile range and 6-7 second runs to 60, this rig will be a grocery getter and garage ornament. If I can manage to up the range to 90 miles some day then it might pass as a daily commuter.

I have gravitated to the OpenRevolt and forklift motor stuff for budget constraints but I would also like to get some decent performance out this thing. Since my knowledge is limited I would also like to approach it from the KISS principles, hoping to make it direct drive and ditch any ideas of regen or super advanced practices.

I am a modest fabricator, own a Millermatic 165, TIG welder, JD2 tubing bender, Oxy torch and most common metal working tools. I am confident I can learn to solder well enough to get the job done. I plan on airbags front and rear with a back-half tube chassis and 4-link setup.

Questions: 

Would a siamesed forkilft motor setup get me my speed goals? assuming I would have to run dual controllers.

Has anyone ever tried a tri-motor setup using stock forklift motor controllers? Tell me why this is a terrible idea.

I was also dreaming of a direct drive setup wherein the motor/motors are mounted on a wishbone link mounted to the axle and connected to the chassis via a heim joint ala:










I realize my plans will drastically change thoughout this build and I welcome all criticism and I thank you ahead of time for your help and wealth of knowledge.


and just to satisfy those who like pics, here's what I am starting with:


----------



## madderscience (Jun 28, 2008)

Welcome to the forum.

John wayland's creations are pretty much the gold standard in conversions and performance. You are lucky to have him in your neighborhood. 

6-7 seconds 0-60 isn't too extreme relatively speaking (white zombie does it in under 2 seconds last I checked).

You would probably get performance in that ballpark perhaps even with a single Z1K or Soliton controller and a warp 9 motor with the right battery pack, like maybe a 300V, 50Ah or so battery pack made of headway cylindrical cells. That same battery pack in a 2000lbs or so truck might give about 50 miles of range at freeway cruising speed, maybe a bit more.

Such a setup would not be as expensive as you could go if you really wanted, but it isn't going to be bargain basement either. You are probably looking at around $20K for the whole conversion not counting whatever chassis and restoration you need to do. This is just off the top of my head, but the breakdown would be something like 3K for controller, 2K motor, 2K charger (and up) 10K battery and BMS and another couple of thousand for the ancilarries. 

You could use a forklift motor but while it might be cheap to source you would have to do a lot to it to make it handle a couple hundred horsepower. A warp 9 costs more up front but can handle a lot more oomph out of the box, probably enough to reach your goals. Just make sure it is fully broken in before you stomp on it.

The Z2K controller (more expensive than Z1K of course) is designed to handle a siamese motor. I am not aware of any other controllers that do. Trying to balance two separate controllers would be fussy work. 

there are a fair amount of performance minded conversions with dual motors out there. Some are siamese which seems to be the cleanest method of doing that if you ask me. The balance are all either joined by flat toothed belt drives. There are a few cars with 3 or more motors hooked up by belt but I haven't seen too many of those that look to be very practical.

If you haven't done so yet, attend some of your local EVA meetings (OEVA I think??) and ask a lot of questions and see what works for others. There is a lot of YGWYPF (you get what you pay for) and TNTTDIRBTIATTDIO (theres never time to do it right but there is always time to do it over) in the world of EV conversion. Learn from other's experience and mistakes and stay someplace at least in sight of the "reservation" and you should be able to build something that performs quite well. 

Cheers


----------



## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

Sounds like you've got a good plan. Revolt is a good idea. There's also a DIY charge controller you can do. Those can save a bunch of cash and really don't scrimp much on performance or options.


----------



## battlewagon (Nov 28, 2011)

thanks for the feedback. I did indeed attend an OEVA meeting, met some cool people, there was only 3 conversions there (2 Yaris and a Beetle) and I think only the beetle was DIY. Kinda seems like it's turned into a "Leaf club" and more about politics than conversions, not that there's anything wrong with that, just not quite where my interests lie at the moment.

I did however run into a guy with a conversion for sale, 9" ADC, Grizzly controller and a Manzanita Micro charger set up on a 192 V system. I think the lead acid batteries are toast. I think I could swing it financially and would probably be the easiest route to pirate all the goods and install it in my Datsun, with the exception of the tranny as it is front wheel drive.

I don't see a lot of Grizzly controllers, are they a good unit? Do you think I could attain my performance goals with that setup?

Is it easily converted to Lithiums when the time comes?


----------



## Rob A (Feb 7, 2010)

battlewagon said:


> I did however run into a guy with a conversion for sale, 9" ADC, Grizzly controller and a Manzanita Micro charger set up on a 192 V system. I think the lead acid batteries are toast. I think I could swing it financially and would probably be the easiest route to pirate all the goods and install it in my Datsun, with the exception of the tranny as it is front wheel drive.


That sounds like a good plan. You could sell the adapter plate and recover some of the money you spend. If you are going direct drive there is a driveline shop in Portland that can make you a custom drive shaft that will couple directly to the motor. It's Driveline Specialties. They are currently building a carbon fiber drive line for me.


----------



## EVfun (Mar 14, 2010)

The Grizzly is an old controller. It is difficult to determine how much abuse it has seen or the condition of the electrolytic capacitors inside. I would shy away from that controller unless I got it cheap. There is no more support for this controller anymore. Here is a copy of the documentation for the controller.


----------

