# New Member Corsa conversion



## efan (Aug 27, 2009)

hey there,
I have actually taught about converting a corsa but have gotten no where with it...so here's where you can look for some ideas, 

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/garage/cars/223

this is an AC conversion, of a forum member "tomofreno" who can give you more details but it uses a kit :

http://www.evparts.com/products/str...8-to-96-volt-street-vehicle-motors/mt5615.htm

you can also look here:
http://www.evalbum.com/type/GEO

I think a Corsa is simmilar to a Geo Metro and I hope all these links get you started.


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

Hello Steve and welcome to the forum. Where abouts in the UK are you?

There are a few of us from the UK residing here but you may also want to look up the Battery Vehicle Society which is a UK based forum. They are not too active but they would have knowledge of what is available locally and you may also be able to meet up with fellow EVers to share knowledge and research.

However, we are much more active here and so you may get quicker responses to questions from a much larger knowledge base.

What you use will depend a great deal on your budget. For new stuff there are Agni motors - light weight and efficient but you may need two or more linked together, Warp motors (among others) - heavier series DC motors of various sizes and there are AC kits available.
For controllers there will be the Soliton Jr, the half size version of the Soliton 1, as well as others Zilla, Curtis, Kelly, etc. Worth reading about them before deciding on merit but the designers of the Soliton are members here so support is available.

For a budget build look at the sticky thread in motors about using forklift motors and also look at the Open Revolt kit by Paul and Sabrina.

For a 50 mile range you are likelyto need to look at lithium based batteries as I doubt the Corsa will weigh as much as the amount of lead acid you would need.

Have a look in the garage too to find similar sized cars to see what their builders have used.


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## CdRsKuLL (Jan 13, 2011)

Woodsmith said:


> Hello Steve and welcome to the forum. Where abouts in the UK are you?
> 
> There are a few of us from the UK residing here but you may also want to look up the Battery Vehicle Society which is a UK based forum. They are not too active but they would have knowledge of what is available locally and you may also be able to meet up with fellow EVers to share knowledge and research.
> 
> ...


Wow two posts in so many minutes .. I noticed your from Manchester.. now your talking!! I'm near Bolton myself so not too far from you. Thanks for all the info.. It's going to take me a good few weeks to read through everything and get a plan together. The project will be at a garage in knowsley as I'm very friendly with the owner there and is also the place where my murcie is being built. I've got a bit of a background in electronics and I'm hoping to build a conversion box to link all the current dials into the default dash. I also know people from Lockwood dials so can get some custom dials made no probs  All planning.. will try and get some pictures up soon of my stripped out corsa.

Thanks again.. give me something to read on these cold nights.. lol

Steve


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

Hey, a local!

It will be good to have another local converter. It gives the option to share skills and access to parts as well as knowledge where needed.

I will need to figure an electronic speedo, tacho and rev limiter as well as making sure my gauges are correct. I'm going for vintage, posibly steampunk, look for my dials so I doubt Lockwood would be able to help on that one. I have some Speedhut electroluminecent dials but I am not sure I can use them for my project.

There is a long range Citroen Berlingo Electrique, that I have helped on, being built up near Manchester airport. Should be good for 250 miles on a charge. The write up in on the BVS forum. Also Duxuk isn't far off either with his EV trike.


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## CdRsKuLL (Jan 13, 2011)

I too would like to retain the original dash and workings. I will most likely be using a arduino board with a bit of code I will write to make them both compatible. 

I did something similar in a smartcar - gsxr bike engine on my last project.  youtube of it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II_tlkYLdyw

Anyway.. If successful I would like to do a conversion kit to the joe public but that's far far into the future at the moment.. will see how it goes. Again thanks for all the info and if you need a hand with your dials etc 

Thanks

Steve


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## CdRsKuLL (Jan 13, 2011)

OK.. so I have the donor, next step from what I can see is decide on the controller / batteries and motor.

Motor - I'm unsure if to buy new or to try and source a forklift dc motor here in the UK. 

Batteries - I've been looking at deep cycle marine ones. Unsure if these are anygood or not.. advice needed here (poss 144v system)

Controller - All depends on the motor picked.

Any help with the above items would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Steve


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## Huub3 (Aug 16, 2009)

Hi,

welcome here.

For a Corsa conversion you could also look at:
http://rc-autopilot.de/wiki/index.php/Opel_Corsa_Project

This is an AC conversion, based on industrial controller, a cheap chinese AC motor and some Huasa (sp?) LiFePo Pouch batteries. Done by a German guy (Nathan Arnold I think his name is).

Has been inspiration for my conversion plans at least (although I am looking at a BMW).

Regards,


Huub


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## CdRsKuLL (Jan 13, 2011)

Huub3 said:


> Hi,
> 
> welcome here.
> 
> ...


Hi Hubb,

thanks for the link  will have a read of that tonight.. Bit of a result today as I might of found a source for some batteries. Should get more info on them soon. 

Steve


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

CdRsKuLL said:


> OK.. so I have the donor, next step from what I can see is decide on the controller / batteries and motor.
> 
> Motor - I'm unsure if to buy new or to try and source a forklift dc motor here in the UK.
> 
> ...


Depends on your budget for the build.

Forklift motors are cheap and if you know what you are looking for then it is a good alternative and saves money for batteries. 

Talk to jackbauer,he is selling some Oddessy batteries in classifieds, he is only in Ireland so shipping may not be too bad. He can tell you what they are like. Duxuk is local to us also has some experience with batteries worth knowing about.

There is a fork lift breaker near Chesterfield who charges £300 a motor but you can also find them for much less then that. It is also worth talking to Jozzer about Agni 95R motor as another option.


For controllers I would recommend looking at the Paul and Sabrina Open Revolt kit. jackbauer has built one and modified it, Jimdear2 has just built one and did a write up on it and I will most likely be ordering one too.

If you budget is good then Kostov and Warp motors are worth looking at and it would be worth getting in on the discussion about Soliton Junior.

I have no budget at all so I am looking at the cheap/free end of the scale to excercise my creative ability.


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## CdRsKuLL (Jan 13, 2011)

Hey Alfred.. that controller is just up my street  Love the fact that you can assembly it yourself! Only a few things left to decide on now.. i will wait until my batteries turn up to see what's the best motor to get. Will get some sizes soon once the engine is out to see what will fit!.

Again thanks.. 

Steve


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

I take it that you will be keeping the gearbox?

Make sure that when you remove the engine you measure the magic number. 
The magic number is the distance from the clutch face of the flywheel to the rear mating face of the engine. 
Knowing that measurement you can then design your coupler/adaptor to fit the motor properly. 

I would recommend that you keep the clutch and maybe lighten the flywheel, remove ring gear etc. though there are many who would say that coupling without the clutch is fine and makes the job simpler. There are threads debating the subject so you can decide which way is best for you.


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## CdRsKuLL (Jan 13, 2011)

Woodsmith said:


> I take it that you will be keeping the gearbox?
> 
> Make sure that when you remove the engine you measure the magic number.
> The magic number is the distance from the clutch face of the flywheel to the rear mating face of the engine.
> ...


Yeah I'm a bit unsure if to keep the clutch or not.. the magic number is very critical if I do I would of thought. I can get the flywheel machined down at work and get all the adapter stuff done there too if needed. I'm quite lucky in that respect, working for a manufacturing company! Still doing lots of planning / reading etc..

your a walking library  

Steve


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

CdRsKuLL said:


> your a walking library
> 
> Steve


I try.

Say, do you have access to big machine tooling? I'm looking for a local company that can machine an aluminium DE cap for my 11" motor. My lathe can only manage 10 1/2" diameter.

I can do an AutoCad sketch, not sure if I can print it but could email the design. Alternatively, like for the rest of my trike, I have a handful of used envelopes to scribble the important dimensions onto!


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## CdRsKuLL (Jan 13, 2011)

Woodsmith said:


> I try.
> 
> Say, do you have access to big machine tooling? I'm looking for a local company that can machine an aluminium DE cap for my 11" motor. My lathe can only manage 10 1/2" diameter.
> 
> I can do an AutoCad sketch, not sure if I can print it but could email the design. Alternatively, like for the rest of my trike, I have a handful of used envelopes to scribble the important dimensions onto!


Hi fella.. If we can't do it I bet I know a company that can + they owe me a few favours.. so if you send over the dwg file and I will see what I can do.. Will pm you my email address.

Thanks

Steve


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

Thanks Steve, I will do that in the next few days. Just got to check a few dimensions first and make some changes.


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## CdRsKuLL (Jan 13, 2011)

huzzah.. managed to get hold of these;










unsure if there any good but it's a start 

info on em is - 12v 92Ah/C10 whatever that means.. lol 28kg each.. bloody heavy things!

Steve


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

Any further information about those batteries, Steve?


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## CdRsKuLL (Jan 13, 2011)

Woodsmith said:


> Any further information about those batteries, Steve?


Sorry fella, they have a sticker on them..

12v 92ah 2.(something) 10c from memory. I think they will be fine for testing purposes for now. Our next job is to remove the engine and see how much room we have to play with.. then it might be a time to come over and take you out for a beer  

I think we might be going for a low cost setup to start with and if we can find a cheap motor that does what we require then it will be all the better.

I'm still waiting on the fab shop getting intouch with me regarding your endcap.. shouldnt be much longer now.

Steve


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

CdRsKuLL said:


> Our next job is to remove the engine and see how much room we have to play with.. then it might be a time to come over and take you out for a beer
> 
> I think we might be going for a low cost setup to start with and if we can find a cheap motor that does what we require then it will be all the better.
> Steve


When you get to that stage give me a shout and I'll try and come over to have a look.
I can bring a 9" motor with me so you can see about space requirements and fitting. It only weighs 43kg
If you want to see a 12" motor you will have to come to it, as at 113kg it needs stripping down each time I have to move it! 

A video of my 7" motor on the tractor.


Heres a video of the 9".


Also the 11" I am going to use.


And of the 12" before it got ruined.


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## CdRsKuLL (Jan 13, 2011)

Hi fella.. 

The car isnt at my house but in Knowsley, where my other project is.. Your more than welcome to come and have a look and it would be great to get an idea of the motor size. It's a well equiped garage.. makes life easy doing things.










This one however is MR2 powered  and should be also finished early this year.

As soon as we have pulled the engine out of the corsa I will let you know.

thanks again

Steve


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