# ElectroVette (Chevette)



## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

I have this old Chevette sitting in my backyard. I am thinking about removing all the ICE related components. Then perhaps attemp to locate and install a motor. That's my plan. I was driving it a few years ago when the transmission went out. It is a manual. It may have been a bearing.

I have this crazy idea to rotate the drive axle up ninety degrees and have the motor mounted directly to the differential perpendicular to the ground. The motor should be sticking up through the floor under the hatchback window. With led accent lighting of course!


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

maybe I can call her E Vette or Yvette. Lol.


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## dougingraham (Jul 26, 2011)

You probably need the transmission. If you try to eliminate it you need a much larger motor and battery. A budget build is going to need it or you wont have any acceleration or ability to climb hills. It is also pretty essential for obtaining reverse because with a series DC motor you would need three full power contactors which each run around $130 to reverse the direction of rotation. If you get lucky you can find three for a total of $180 but that would probably get you a used transmission.

Best Wishes!


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

thank you for the help. I'll try to start this project soon. even if I don't get very far I just want to be working on it. There's a lot of prep work to do. My Taylor Dunn may have contactors. I don't know if I want to scavenge parts from it because I may want to get it running or trade it for ev parts.


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## RIPPERTON (Jan 26, 2010)

Need photos and specs like diff ratio,
If its a independent rear axle with a ratio of 5 or 6 to one you might be lucky.
If its a banjo axle you will have too much weight on it with the motor added and the suspension wont work as well with the motor added to the unsprung weight.


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

Ripperton, I believe it is a solid rear axle. I am going to go pick up the car soon and bring it to a location where I can begin working on it soon. I'll start getting some photos. And don't know the ratio yet either.


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## toddshotrods (Feb 10, 2009)

Chevettes have a solid rear end, with a 3-link + panhard, coil-sprung, rear suspension. You would have to get rid of the torque tube, create a new center link, and re-work the outer control arm mounts/coil pockets; plus rework the panhard bar - a LOT of work. And, as Rip said, ride and handling would suffer, compared to stock.

The other problem - that rear end isn't made to handle very much torque. An electric motor strong enough to move the car around, without a transmission, might destroy it in time. A transmission is probably your best bet, without getting into a lot of fab work and/or cost.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

_The other problem - that rear end isn't made to handle very much torque. An electric motor strong enough to move the car around, without a transmission, might destroy it in time. A transmission is probably your best bet, without getting into a lot of fab work and/or cost._

Here I disagree - that rear end is designed for IC motor torque MULTIPLIED by the bottom gear ratio
Which is exactly what you want out of your motor


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## toddshotrods (Feb 10, 2009)

Duncan said:


> ...Here I disagree - that rear end is designed for IC motor torque MULTIPLIED by the bottom gear ratio
> Which is exactly what you want out of your motor


Chevette torque numbers are between 67 & 88 (http://chevette-forum.freeforums.net/thread/4/engine-specs#). Multiply that with the deepest ratio in the transmission and there's still not a lot being introduced to the pinion shaft. When Chevette engine swaps were (arguably)"popular", here in the States, the first concern with any swap was getting a rear end under it that would last...

I know what the numbers seem to say, history begs to differ.


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

Ages ago (or so it feels) I thought about using a 12" motor on end to drive an IRS diff, with the pinion pointing upwards, in the back of an MR2.

Two concerns that came up were:
1: Lubrication to the pinion bearings, they end up way up at the top of the diff and well away from any oil splash.
2: Motors are not intended to carry their armature load on the DE bearing in an axial direction unless it is changed to incorporate a thrust/taper roller bearing.

The motor can be sorted with a bit of machine work but oiling the bearings in the diff pinion is a little more complex to sort out.

Putting the motor direct onto the diff on a solid rear axle is going to add a lot of unsprung weight in the wrong place! have you considered how that motor will be thrown about as a wheel hits a bump or pothole?
Also the load on an axle casing is intended to be where the spring mounts are. Adding a big load right over the diff will put a big bending moment into the axle case pushing the diff downwards while the wheels push the ends of the axle case upwards.

If you are intent on keeping the standard solid axle then put the motor where the transmission was and use the standard propshaft.

I think you would be better off changing the rear end for an IRS and keeping the diff in its normal orientation to be driven by a motor in the transmission tunnel.

If you want the motor on show in the rear window then mount it above the IRS diff and use a big toothed belt drive down to the diff pinion. That will allow you to change the ratio by changing the toothed pulleys for the drive belt.
It will look like a supercharger, on a V8, poking out of the hood of a 70's muscle car. You can even include the air scoop as part of the motor cooling!


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## dougingraham (Jul 26, 2011)

I am guessing that the people who had problems with the diff also tended to run up the revs and drop the clutch. Huge instantaneous torque numbers. Not possible to do this with the electric motor directly driving the diff. The most you would see would be the slop in the U joints being taken up when you have the Soliton 1 set for 25k amps per second slew rate and you floor the throttle.

My first gear is a 3.674 so that 67 ft-lb would be amplified to 246 ft-lb into the diff. The 88 ft-lb would be amplified to 323 ft-lb. That is kind of the upper range for torque of the 9 inch Series DC motors at around 1000 amps. So could you stress the diff with direct drive? Depending on the actual first gear ratio in the car it seems like you could be close. So if it breaks you replace the diff and turn down the motor amps a little until it stops happening.


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

woodsmith,

"If you are intent on keeping the standard solid axle then put the motor where the transmission was and use the standard propshaft.
"

it does sound like a better idea. Anyone, know how I can get my hands on a good inexpensive motor? What about 48v golf cart and controller? I may also look into getting a transmission if mine it too torn up.


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

dolinick said:


> it does sound like a better idea. Anyone, know how I can get my hands on a good inexpensive motor? What about 48v golf cart and controller? I may also look into getting a transmission if mine it too torn up.


The usual route is to look for a used forklift truck motor and then over volt it with a bigger pack and controller.

Measure the area where the trans sits in the tunnel and determine the largest diameter that can fit in there at various points so that you can find out what diameter and length of motor it can accommodate.

The usual advice is to find a motor of about 9" diameter but if you are without a trans then you might want something bigger that will give more torque. A golf cart motor is about 7" diameter and probably not be able to move your car without a trans, nor very fast with one.

If you can replace the trans then go the usual route of fitting the motor to the front of the trans and mounting it in the engine bay on the old ICE mounting points.


If you only have a small budget to work with then sometimes it pays to be very inventive in the set up, but it is also safer to do things in a more conventional way as there will be tried and tested methods to save unusal and costly experiments.
(Or so says the person who is building completely from scratch with an 11" motor and direct drive!)


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

Thanks for all the comments! I can't wait to get started on the teardown.


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

Don't forget photos! 

It will be interesting to see if your Chevette is the same as the Chevette that we used to have in the UK!


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

Woodsmith said:


> Don't forget photos!
> 
> It will be interesting to see if your Chevette is the same as the Chevette that we used to have in the UK!


These pictures are from a few years ago when I bought it. The last photo is of the differential on my Taylor Dunn Truck. Gear ratio 14:1 and top speed 12mph. The motor is mounted directly to the rearend and somewhat narrower than the Chevette's. If I could use this I would put some fat tires on it to make it look like a drag car. Lol!

https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=chevette&ss=2&ct=6&mt=all&[email protected]&adv=1


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

That Taylor Dunn truck axle looks the same as the one on 'Beryl', the electric truck my fiancee drives at work.

The axle you have would make a great base for a little yard tractor.
Beryl is due to be 'decommissioned', which is a shame, but I am hoping to acquire most of her EV parts for another project. I had my eye on her cab but an artist blacksmith is hoping to turn her in to a sculpture.
This is the Chevette in the UK.
http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/vauxhall/unsung-heroes-vauxhall-chevette/
Not my preferred car!


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

Woodsmith said:


> That Taylor Dunn truck axle looks the same as the one on 'Beryl', the electric truck my fiancee drives at work.
> 
> The axle you have would make a great base for a little yard tractor.
> Beryl is due to be 'decommissioned', which is a shame, but I am hoping to acquire most of her EV parts for another project. I had my eye on her cab but an artist blacksmith is hoping to turn her in to a sculpture.
> ...


 What is Beryl's top speed? Drive ratio?


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

I managed to bring the Chevette home today.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dolinick/14068614769/


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

I need to make some room in the garage for it.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dolinick/14255263015/


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

zsnemeth said:


> Links are dead:


I think the photos were set to private. Try the links now or try this link.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dolinick/sets/72157644769397386/

The car had been sitting in my backyard for about five years. The tires didn't even go completely flat. It sank down in the mud.


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

I found a couple of items that I left in the car. One is a Hyster scr control. Maybe someone could use for an ev project. Also, a submersible motor control box. Looks like capacitors inside.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/4813697/EV1-SCR-Motor-Controller


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

Hyster Ev-1 Scr control
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dolinick/14073737628/sizes/l


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

Info on operation of EV-1 SCR Control.
http://www.evdl.org/docs/ge_ev1_rs_notes.pdf


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

I read the PDF about this controller. It seems like it might be able to work in my car with the right motor.


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

put the car in the garage today.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dolinick/14362152394/sizes/l


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

I cleaned out the garage a little bit. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dolinick/14361516082/sizes/l


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## dolinick (Feb 4, 2009)

I sold the Chevette but still have the '74 Chevy Nova.


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