# Help. Want to convert 86 Honda Accord DX 4door



## TheSGC (Nov 15, 2007)

Your budget and range/speed requirements are quite doable. 

Mounting a motor to a transmission requires a custom plate and coupling for your exact setup since they aren't truly generic. You can make one your self, or get one from EV of America or ElectroAutomotive. I designed up my own coupling and plates and had the local machine shop make them for me. You can check out my website in my sig for more info on my Civic EV.

I would suggest at least a 96 volt system, however if you do no have hills you may be able to get away with a 72 volt system. If you want used parts, the EV Trading Post is great - http://www.austinev.org/evtradinpost/
A quick looks shows you can get a 72 volt Alltrax controller for a real nice price, and a decent selection of motors. I would recommend an 8" ADC motor, but you may be able to get away with a 6.7" L91-4003. I had the L91's little sister motor (K91/K99) in my Civic for 6 months, and worked fine for up to 40 MPH, but I landed myself a deal on a 9" motor and decided to use it.


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## madderscience (Jun 28, 2008)

Given your performance requirements, a 72V system will work for your but the car will have a top speed around 40 or 45 so freeways will be out of the question.

for $3K you might need to scrounge some parts but you should be able to get into that neighborhood. The good news is there is a lot more stuff out there at 72V (due to golf carts) at better prices than when you graduate to 96V.

at retail prices, you can get a shunt wound 7" motor + matched controller (regen!) for $1500 or so from a couple of sources. new, quality flooded traction batteries will cost you from $1000 to $1500 for 72V depending on what you get. For your 10 or 12 mile range you could get away with T-1275 or equivalent batteries which cost around $200 each * 6 for 72V. I'd recommend 12 6v batteries instead if you can swing an extra few hundred and the extra weight, your range will be about double what the 12V batteries can give you.

The remaining parts you will need (bought new, again: a charger for around 300 or 400, several contactors and fuses for a few hundred, cabling and lugs (a couple hundred), a DC/DC for a couple hundred, and an adapter plate (a few hundred, probably or you could make one yourself if you are handy enough or have a machinist friend). 

With such a small motor and a limited sped range, you could probably go clutchless.

The accord isn't a bad conversion candidate, but to get better performance out of all the same components, get the smallest car you can find. a geo (there is a 4 door model), ford fiesta/festiva, etc. will probably weigh several hundred pounds less than the accord. that means better acceleration and better range from the same parts. At your speeds, aerodynamics are not that important. Even a compact pickup truck like a 70's toyota or datsun would work great unless you need the 4 seats.

Good Luck.


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## Greenflight (Sep 13, 2007)

IIRC the older Accords are pretty similar to the Civic so I think you're looking at a pretty good candidate.

It also has a transverse mounted engine so motor mounting should be a piece of cake... I believe there was a thread a while back about transverse motor mounts. Searching the forum should come up with a few pictures to help you out. You shouldn't have to learn how to weld. I didn't weld the motor mounts on either of my cars (albeit they probably would have been a bit tougher if I had).

Anyway, as always check out evalbum.com and try to find other cars with similar performance, and use those as guidelines to figure out your requirements. Good luck!


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## CorvetteZ0606 (Mar 27, 2009)

Thanks for the replys.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by transversely mounted engine, but in my case, the crank shaft points left and right towards the front two tires.

If I remember correctly the transmission is bolted directly to the engine block. I don't know if it's actually mounted to the body or not, so just removing the engine might be problem... I'm not sure I'll have to check.

I did check ev album and I saw someone else had converted an 86 accord, but it didn't have many details so there wasn't much to go by there.

My main resoning for going with this car is that I already own it and I know everything is in excelent condition except the engine. If I had to buy a donor car, that would kill the project...I'm kind of attached to this car.

I looked at the two web sites for info on the motor mounts, but I haven't found any info on anything available or how to make one. This seems to be the most complicated part of the project...


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## TheSGC (Nov 15, 2007)

Here is the Electro Automative's Adapter page - http://www.electroauto.com/catalog/adaptors.shtml

That setup retains the original flywheel and clutch. 

There is no set way to make a coupling and adapter plate, it depends on whether you want to keep your clutch or not. I built my own for my Automatic transmission, but it's the same as a clutch setup, so this is what I did:

1- I designed a hub piece that would connect between the motor's shaft and the flywheel. I did this by removing the flywheel and measuring the bolt whole pattern, then using a CAD software I drew up the hub, found a taper-locking H bushing online that would fit my motor shaft, and have the Hub machine by a local shop.

2- I assembled the hub to the motor and aligned it with the transmission to get and idea on what there was for a gap so I could make the plates that attached the face of the motor to the bell housing of the transmission. 

3- I then acquired my plates and spacers, and drilled them and attached them to the motor. I then aligned the whole system to the transmission and drilled the holes to match the transmission bell housing.

Hope that helps.

Here is the picture of the setup:


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