# SolidWorks Help



## shoup (Feb 10, 2009)

I can probably help, but you will need to include the 3D models with the drawing files.


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## green caveman (Oct 2, 2009)

shoup said:


> I can probably help, but you will need to include the 3D models with the drawing files.



I've (hopefully) updated the original zip file so now it should contain:

motor_bolts.SLDPRT 
motor_bolts.SLDDRW 
transmission-bolt-pattern.SLDDRW 
transmission-bolt-pattern.SLDPRT

Thanks,


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## Yabert (Feb 7, 2010)

Hi

A good thing with drawing is the possibility to print at scale 1:1 to verify dimensions on the motor and transmission!


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## green caveman (Oct 2, 2009)

Yabert said:


> Hi
> 
> A good thing with drawing is the possibility to print at scale 1:1 to verify dimensions on the motor and transmission!


 There's a free viewer also. I haven't used, I left that job for my son who's car it is, it but I assume that you can print out at 1:1. http://www.edrawingsviewer.com/pages/products/SolidWorks-Viewer.html The local folks who were helping us with this cut a prototype out of clear plastic. My recollection is that except for the size of the hole in the middle (which we expanded with a dremel), the prototype work (although we should probably re-check this before we cut the aluminum). Looks as though you made the changes. If you get a chance to upload it, we'll do whatever we can to verify it (including getting the final plate if it looks good). Hopefully it will be useful to others. Thanks.


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## shoup (Feb 10, 2009)

Clearance holes for a 12mm bolt should be .5" for a free fit or .484" (31/64) for a tight fit.
Clearance holes for a 7mm bolt should be .29" (L) for a free fit or .281" (9/32) for a tight fit.

Use tight fit for a locating hole and loose fit for a clearance hole. 

What size holes do you want where?


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## green caveman (Oct 2, 2009)

shoup said:


> Clearance holes for a 12mm bolt should be .5" for a free fit or .484" (31/64) for a tight fit.
> Clearance holes for a 7mm bolt should be .29" (L) for a free fit or .281" (9/32) for a tight fit.
> 
> Use tight fit for a locating hole and loose fit for a clearance hole.
> ...


12mm is the tranny. There are two locating bolts. Hopefully the photo will be enough to show where these are. Would it make sense to put the tighter clearance on these two (and just these two)?

I have no idea what to do with the motor since the bolt pattern is just a circle (almost). You probably (certainly!!) know more about this than I do - any thoughts?


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## cbliss (Jun 28, 2010)

I thought the Sidekick was the same as a Swift, but it isn't. I took the model and overlaid it on the one I have for the Swift. I also checked the part about it being a circle and it isn't or the model isn't. For a fact, the Swift is not a circle.

The original housings were bolted together with several hollow dowel pins for centering. Make sure you use those with the electric motor mounting.


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## green caveman (Oct 2, 2009)

cbliss said:


> I thought the Sidekick was the same as a Swift, but it isn't. I took the model and overlaid it on the one I have for the Swift. I also checked the part about it being a circle and it isn't or the model isn't. For a fact, the Swift is not a circle.
> 
> The original housings were bolted together with several hollow dowel pins for centering. Make sure you use those with the electric motor mounting.


 The motor is a circle, but actually not quite. The tranny isn't. I think that the two fixed bolts that you can see in the picture are the only locating points. 

There's some commonality between the Samurai, the Sidekick and the Swift.I think you can do a direct engine swap between the Sammy and Sidekick, there's some swap with the Swift also, but I don't remember the details. There's also a 1.0l and a 1.3l in the Swift so there may be differences there. In the (unlikely) even that the engine fails on the Metro, I might convert it, so this may become interesting again (probably not, there are enough other problems with that car). 

This whole solid-model for the adapter plate is probably one of the more difficult parts of the conversion. I would have expected that more of these would have been "published". Perhaps we need a thread dedicated to collecting transmission and motor models.


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## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

green caveman said:


> This whole solid-model for the adapter plate is probably one of the more difficult parts of the conversion. I would have expected that more of these would have been "published". Perhaps we need a thread dedicated to collecting transmission and motor models.



certainly the least likely for people to be able to machine a quality plate and hub unless they have expertise and access to a mill and lathe. I just went to CanEV.com

but.... will be faced with what to do for a non-available plate someday soon I am sure as I am going to do an (old) sports car next summer. I will probably just trash the original tranny though, and upgrade to a more modern one that IS in the repetoire of CanEV unless I can find a local shop I can give drawings to and get decent work for a competitive price.


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## green caveman (Oct 2, 2009)

Dan,



dtbaker said:


> certainly the least likely for people to be able to machine a quality plate and hub unless they have expertise and access to a mill and lathe. I just went to CanEV.com
> 
> but.... will be faced with what to do for a non-available plate someday soon I am sure as I am going to do an (old) sports car next summer. I will probably just trash the original tranny though, and upgrade to a more modern one that IS in the repetoire of CanEV unless I can find a local shop I can give drawings to and get decent work for a competitive price.


I don't think that either one is particularly difficult as a machining job. The problem is the model. We had both the motor and the tranny measured (CMM) locally. The coupler was made at the metal fab shop of a relative - we'll see how well that works out when run at speed. The adapter plate will (probably) be made locally.

I think if you took a model of the tranny and a model of the motor and a large chunk of metal to any worthwhile machine shop they could cut it fairly easily. For a clutchless conversion the thickness is not too important. With a clutch you'd need to keep the distance to the front of the flywheel correct, so the plate thickness becomes an issue.

Even so, a collection of models would help the folks like CanEV. Most of the tranny and motor bolt patterns are not published in any publicly available form and many people might benefit from knowing them.


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## shoup (Feb 10, 2009)

I changed the 2 of the transmission mounting holes to .484" (the ones with the bolts) and the other 2 to .5". the rest of the holes are not for mounting the transmission to the motor and take a different size bolt. 2 are for the starter, 2 are probably for the clutch inspection plate. Not sure what the others are for. If there are any dowel pins the holes will need to be sized accordingly for aligning the plate up with the transmission. 

I changed the motor mounting holes all to .29". This seems small. 

The files are attached.

Print the drawings out 1:1 and confirm all dimensions compared to the transmission and motor before cutting any metal. 

I agree that a sticky thread with transmission bolt configurations would be useful.


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## green caveman (Oct 2, 2009)

Thanks for taking time out from the BMW build to work on this. That car looks great! and in awesome condition for a 1990. Looks as though you might have benefited from someone doing some nice cosmetic/custom work and then having the engine fail.

I'll have the young'un check the bolt size, but I'm pretty sure that he took the front of the motor down to the hardware store to match the size.



shoup said:


> I changed the 2 of the transmission mounting holes to .484" (the ones with the bolts) and the other 2 to .5". the rest of the holes are not for mounting the transmission to the motor and take a different size bolt. 2 are for the starter, 2 are probably for the clutch inspection plate. Not sure what the others are for. If there are any dowel pins the holes will need to be sized accordingly for aligning the plate up with the transmission.
> 
> I changed the motor mounting holes all to .29". This seems small.
> 
> ...


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## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

green caveman said:


> Dan,
> 
> 
> 
> I don't think that either one is particularly difficult as a machining job.



not difficult, just a matter of availability to basic lathe and CNC mill. The hard part about the adaptor is accurate measure and fab of the positioning dowels to be SURE motor is centered, depth of clutch face is correct, and adaptor faces are parallel to avoid misalignment. easy with a CNC mill... tough with hand tools in the garage. 

I am not a fan of clutchless designs.... first because the downshifts are slow, second you lose a safety disconnect, third the slightest misalignment or brittle weld will crack without the 'give' that a clutch interface provides.

centering could rely on sloppy holes and 'spin-centering', but I'd hate to rely on bolts staying tight forever under that kind of torque to keep things lined up.


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## Sompom (Jan 15, 2011)

shoup said:


> I changed the 2 of the transmission mounting holes to .484" (the ones with the bolts) and the other 2 to .5". the rest of the holes are not for mounting the transmission to the motor and take a different size bolt. 2 are for the starter, 2 are probably for the clutch inspection plate. Not sure what the others are for. If there are any dowel pins the holes will need to be sized accordingly for aligning the plate up with the transmission.
> 
> I changed the motor mounting holes all to .29". This seems small.


This is young'un. You're right on both counts. The transmission has only four "structural" bolts, the others were for attaching various things for the gas engine.
In regards to the motor, I took the back of the motor to the hardware store to get the bolts. They are way too small for the front. I went again, and the bolts for the front are 10Mx150. This would agree more closely with the original model (which we did not make). I don't know much about machining, is it possible that the ~9.5mm bolts on the original model are correct?


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## green caveman (Oct 2, 2009)

Sompom said:


> The transmission has only four "structural" bolts,


Would it make sense, from a machining standpoint, to take all but the four bolts out of the model?


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## green caveman (Oct 2, 2009)

shoup said:


> I agree that a sticky thread with transmission bolt configurations would be useful.


Woody has set up a sticky thread. Whenever we're ready, we should put these models into that thread.

Anyone else with a model, or just the output from a CMM, please add content to that thread.


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