# 1985 Mustang Coupe



## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

Greetings everyone! My name is James, I'm in the Air Force, originally from NW Oregon and currently in TX. 

I work on all kinds of vehicles, new and old, large and small. It is just a hobby up to this point. In my circle of friends I am known as the "car guy". Recently I have been helping buddies work on their projects in my garage. I recently bought an '85 Mustang from CL in the hopes of building it into an SVO inspired hotrod, and powering it with a turbocharged 2.3L. 

I had a change of heart and want to go full EV with the car, but still with a sporty side. I'm getting some good suspension and brakes parts for the car. I'm even trying a multiplexer based body wiring system from Infinitybox.

For motivation I plan on a Warp9 and 60 or so 100Ahr CALB batteries. This will be a commuting car with a fun side. If you folks don't mind I would like to share the build up here. I'm currently waiting on a batch of parts, so there is nothing to show yet, currently the car is sitting in the garage with the old blown V6 pulled out. Here's a few pics.

Latest plan (current as of Feb 17, '16):
Maximum Motor Sports suspension - Installed
Manual rack and pinion steering - Installed
Manual (four wheel disc) brakes - Installing....
Infinity Box wiring system - Installing....
ZEVA EVMS (BMS) w/ custom color scheme - Installing...
Single Warp9 motor - Installing...
Zilla 2K EHV controller - Installing...
42 Leaf battery modules (84s, 60ah) - need to buy
Five speed transmission - Installing...
Intellitronix LED gauges - Installed
Charger - Undecided
DC/DC converter - Undecided

Future plans:
Second motor, possibly a UQM
Additional high C rated batteries in parallel
High Voltage drive A/C system
Decent sound system

I will be back to work on this car in April


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## madderscience (Jun 28, 2008)

looks like the start of a great sleeper project. 

Keep in mind you can get a lot of benefit out of the little details in a conversion, in addition to just putting in a big motor, battery, and controller. Owing to where the efficiency losses are in an EV vs. ICE, chassis and drivetrain tweaks have a 4x bigger effect on an EV than they do on an ICE.

The right tires, synthetic oils, optimizing the drive train, making sure the brakes don't drag, and such can add another 10-20% to your EV range depending on where you are starting from. You can have some good narrow wheels with LRR tires for daily commuting and some wide DOT slicks for those days when you are feeling punchy.

Don't know how the 80s mustangs are for weight and aero, but they probably aren't optimal there but you can still do things like lowering the car, adding an air dam or belly pan and such to help a bit. I imagine as is the case with many popular detroit vehicles it is possible to put it on quite a diet with aftermarket body panels, seats, and other interior stuff as well. Given the size of the mustang community there must be good options out there.

Welcome and good luck.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

Thank you!

Yes, I plan on minimizing friction as much as possible. I'm looking for a minimum range of 25 miles, for daily commuting, which is basically work and back (80% of my driving) I'm going with some moderate sport tires: BFGoodrich Sport COMP-2 in 245/45R17 on 2005 Mustang wheels. I have a heavy foot, and don't want surprises.

All of the V8 powered Mustangs from this generation were very nose heavy, I'm hoping to get closer to a 51/49 weight distribution. You are right, the aftermarket for this car is massive. Some fiberglass panels will be in the future once I have the car rolling, I have been thinking about ground effect work, but I'm not sure if the extra weight will be worth it. My average speed commuting is 25 MPH and might exceed 50 mph for one forth of the trip. I am replacing some of the heavy stamped steel front suspension bits with lighter/stronger tubular bits, that should help. Besides the heavy cast iron engines, these cars are pretty light, on par with a Celica or BMW of similar size.


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## dougingraham (Jul 26, 2011)

jwiger said:


> Yes, I plan on minimizing friction as much as possible. I'm looking for a minimum range of 25 miles, for daily commuting, which is basically work and back (80% of my driving)
> 
> <snip>
> 
> I have been thinking about ground effect work, but I'm not sure if the extra weight will be worth it. My average speed commuting is 25 MPH and might exceed 50 mph for one forth of the trip.


With your driving pattern you will gain nothing measurable from ground effect work. I estimate you will want a minimum pack size of 16kwh if the pack is to last. This means a salvage Volt pack would be enough from a kwh standpoint. You would have a drop dead range of 45 miles which means that even 8 years in you should still be able to do your 25 miles easily. Your proposed pack of 60 CALB 100AH cells should give you a drop dead range of around 55 miles. Another way to do this would be going to higher voltage and smaller capacity cells. I have 52 100AH cells (166 volts) and if I were doing it over today I would do 96 60AH cells (307 volts). This would have the advantage of being able to run the motor voltage up to 190 volts which widens the usable torque band on the motor. Battery sag becomes irrelevant. With your plan of 60 cells a 15% sag would give you a motor voltage of 163 volts which will lower the point where you see maximum torque. It also would lower the battery current. With your 100AH cells a 10C burst is 1000 amps which is comfortable for your motor. With 60AH cells a 10C burst is 600 amps but since your voltage with 96 cells would be 307 and the motor controller will reduce this to whatever you tell it you get a current amplification. Lets say you fix the motor voltage to 172 which is what Netgain suggests. 307/172=a current amplification of 1.78. So if the motor is pulling 1000 amps the batteries will see only 562 amps. I see 266 ft-lbs on the dyno at 1000 amps with a Warp 9. Power input to the motor at 172 volts and 1000 amps is 172kw which is 231 HP. At the wheels you might see 90% of that or 208 HP. Without exceeding a 10C rate on the batteries you could run to 184 volts on the motor at 1000 amps giving 184kw (247 HP) input and a potential wheel HP of 222. Soliton 1 or Zilla HV required for this though. Torque band will extend from zero to almost 5000 rpm.

Higher voltage has other advantages in that you don't need as heavy of cable between the batteries and the motor controller. 1/0 is more than enough for that. Since the loop between controller and motor is still seeing 1000 amps you should run 2/0 there. The downside is more interconnects in the battery pack and a little more difficulty with things like DC-DC converters.

I look forward to watching your build.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

I figured it couldn't hurt to over budget the battery pack a bit, Central Texas gets pretty cold, the wife's C MAX PHEV normally gets 24 EV miles in warm weather and it only gets 11-12 right now in the cold.

You pretty much nailed the numbers I'm hunting for in this first build. I like to go fast, and will try this car at the drag strip a little. I don't expect amazing numbers at the strip, but I hope to learn how to setup and launch the car with this combo, while not blowing up any expensive parts. I will be using a Soliton 1, and investing in cables and suspension bits that leave me a good motor/battery/transmission upgrade path in the future.

In fact I will be converting the junk factory four-link suspension to a heavy duty torque arm from maximummotorsports.com. Hopefully it can handle full amp launches with no problems.


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## Vhclbldr (Feb 8, 2014)

James, have you considered using dual Warp 9's?
Just my own two cents, but it would give you a bit more punch (but suck up more juice). 

Doug, would the 60AH 96-cell system you suggested still work (would the motor voltages need to be set for less than 150 each)?

Downside is the added weight/system complexity.
Upside is potential for massive power/torque..


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## dougingraham (Jul 26, 2011)

With dual warp 9's you would need more battery to take advantage of them. If you want to push them to 1000 amps and 170 volts each you need enough battery to provide that amount of power. This is 170kw each or 340kw total. A 96 cell pack of 60 ah cells at 10C could provide 184kw (briefly). And at a 3C rate could provide 55kw continuous. You would want two controllers and at least 120 ah at 96 cells to feed them. A budget version would be a single controller with the motors in series and 96 100 AH cells operating at 10C. This would be able to do close to 300kw briefly.

The motor voltage would be self limiting because it would be 1/2 whatever the batteries sagged down to. 96 cells gives 307 volts nominal and with 100AH CALB CA's would probably sag down to 261 making the motor voltage 130 each.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

If the car is successful in commuting, there will be upgrades in the future. limiting myself with a single warp9 is my EV training wheels... I am sure I will not break the chassis or axle with that motor.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

I got my suspension kit in the mail last week and have unpacked it. The only real work I have begun is refurbishing a pedal box with a clutch pedal to replace the current automatic transmission pedal box. I will be converting the car from vacuum assisted disc/drum setup to a manual disk/disk setup using rotors and calipers of the same spec as 94-04 Mustang Cobras, this paired with a 1 inch bore master cylinder and revised geometry brake pedal lever should give me nice sporty brakes, with no need for vacuum.

I will be taking next week off, and after completing some Honey-do items I should make some real progress on my car. 

Gratuitous stack-of-boxes pic, and before/nearly complete, after pics of pedal box:


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## Vhclbldr (Feb 8, 2014)

jwiger said:


> If the car is successful in commuting, there will be upgrades in the future. limiting myself with a single warp9 is my EV training wheels... I am sure I will not break the chassis or axle with that motor.


You make a good point, but I figured I might as well plan on designing for both motors from the get go so that all mounts, brackets (including battery racks) and wiring/controllers don't have to be reworked later on.

Based upon Doug's feedback, a 96-100 pack of 100AH cells would be enough for both the range and performance requirements we both are looking for.

And the second warp 9 only adds about $2000 to the build costs...


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

I'm absolutely planning an upgrade path for this car. I know my suspension will be up to the task. I think my transmission will be, for lack of a better term, my mechanical fuse. However I also have a future upgrade for that in mind. For now I'm budgeting on things needed to get on the road, I will make it more complicated after I master a basic build.


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## miev 1 (Jan 22, 2015)

Ok, My build is just an idea at the moment, but will be following yours closely. I am just pondering donors, but was thinking an older Mustang would be perfect.

Looks like you are off to a great start. With extra parts for Mustangs abundant, sounds like a good pick.

My requirements:
1. 4 passenger
2. range, range, range. - Have a Miev, but will want something I can take up to my summer house in MI, which is about 80-90 Miles. The Miev has to stop and charge around 65 miles. 
3. simplicity - utmost efficiency. Lightest weight possible etc.

With that in mind a few comments:
Love the new suspension parts - this will reduce weight right?
What about the transmission. I see the convert to manual, but some have done a direct connect to transaxle. Would this save the weight of the trans. But would it work ok? (I am like you - not a mechanic but like to do some things - light engine work, brakes etc..). I was thinking clutch/clutchless when I get a donor.
Love the simple factor - no vacuum manual brakes and I assume rebuild/replace steering box to manual?

What about dc-dc converter so don't have to keep the original 12v battery. Again to save weight and keep simple.

Anyway, I should stop talking and start looking for a donor.


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## dougingraham (Jul 26, 2011)

miev 1 said:


> What about the transmission. I see the convert to manual, but some have done a direct connect to transaxle. Would this save the weight of the trans. But would it work ok? (I am like you - not a mechanic but like to do some things - light engine work, brakes etc..). I was thinking clutch/clutchless when I get a donor.


Manual transmissions weigh less than automatics but the weight of the transmission might be worth keeping. The reason for this is you need a lot more torque to do without a transmission and this generally means a much larger and heavier motor. I weighed my manual transmission at 72 lbs (without lube) and to get the necessary torque to do without would have required a second motor or a much larger motor. You could however easily do with a 2 speed transmission with a reverse. It all depends on expectations and because you are converting a Mustang I am making some assumptions about acceptable performance. And in the clutch vs clutchless debate you would save 25-35 lbs in eliminating the flywheel and clutch/pressure plate but the tradeoff is potentially slow shifts and extra wear on your synchros. If you keep the clutch I suggest a lightweight aluminum flywheel and possibly a heavy duty clutch. The Centerforce type clutch will not help because where you really need the additional pressure is when the motor is not turning. Eliminating the transmission is going to require careful selection of the rear end ratio. Too high a numerical ratio and you will restrict your top speed but have great acceleration and too low a numerical ratio and your acceleration will suck but your top speed will be potentially unusable. With a WarP 9 and 1000 amps and 2 ft diameter tires you would want something like a 4.7:1 rear end ratio. This would give you a top speed of 84 mph at 5500 RPM. And you would see about 1240 ft lbs of torque at the face of the tire at 1000 amps. This would give you a 1/2 G acceleration if the car weighed 2480 lbs at 1000 amps up to about 65mph. Above that the torque tapers off.




miev 1 said:


> What about dc-dc converter so don't have to keep the original 12v battery. Again to save weight and keep simple


Your best bet is to keep a buffer battery in conjunction with a DC-DC converter. There are a number of benefits. It does not have to be a 40 lb 12 volt lead acid battery. I have about a 2 lb LiFe battery that will run the car systems for about half an hour at night if the DC-DC were to fail. It will run the necessary systems a couple of hours during the day and run the hazard flashers for about 8 hours. Sudden loads like turning on headlights can cause the output voltage of a DC-DC converter to dip briefly. The dip can cause issues if it is severe enough. Even with a buffer battery I see the non LED lights in the car dim when the vacuum pump turns on.

Best wishes with your conversion.


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## miev 1 (Jan 22, 2015)

Awesome info! Rx-7 came to mind also for Donor! Will see.

I am very new to research, so adding up my notes. So looks like keeping the manual is way to go and a smaller buffer battery - great idea.

I am more familiar with residential electric - wired my own house, but not motors. 200 amp panels with 110 volts, but of course seemingly unlimited supply. I am no electrical engineer, so will have to read some more.


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## dougingraham (Jul 26, 2011)

miev 1 said:


> I am more familiar with residential electric - wired my own house, but not motors. 200 amp panels with 110 volts, but of course seemingly unlimited supply. I am no electrical engineer, so will have to read some more.


I like the phrase "Seemingly unlimited supply." In fact a 200 amp 240 volt residential service only provides 1/3 to 1/2 of the power most people would like to see in their EV's. If all you had was a residential service you would not be happy with the performance of your EV (64 horsepower).


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

The suspension components are for performance handling, the number one priority for this car is being fun to drive, and I only need about a 30 mile range. EVs are heavy, so spirited driving is a lot harder on suspension components. If you want four passengers and lots of range I would strongly suggest a front wheel drive smaller car. Not a Mustang. The driveshaft and large rear axle will take up a lot of space I could use for batteries. 

An AC motor with good regen would almost be mandatory for you. Also with the large battery pack you would need a good investment in charging would have to be planned, otherwise it will take days to recharge. 

For a long range car a 12v battery is a must. You will need it to wake-up the systems that manage your traction pack. The Soliton (like what I plan to use) have a pretty healthy draw, if I flicked some headlights on, without a battery in the system, the controller would cut-out. Additionally, I would advise against manual brakes and steering for a long range car, unless you like crossfit. 

Since my build will not require the traction motor to idle (power steering, vacuum, etc) I plan on using a circle track clutch. They use a light flexplate instead of a flywheel, which I will cut down to basically just a spacer, the clutch will be a 7.25 inch multi disc style. And I will use a factory style T5 for now. 

Back to the suspension parts, I will have less unsprung weight, but overall the car will gain a little weight because of all of the extra reinforcements that will be added.


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## dougingraham (Jul 26, 2011)

jwiger said:


> The suspension components are for performance handling, the number one priority for this car is being fun to drive, and I only need about a 30 mile range. EVs are heavy, so spirited driving is a lot harder on suspension components.


The idea that EV's are heavy is mostly because of Lead Acid Batteries. A lithium pack in a car with only a 30 mile range stands a good chance of coming out lighter than the original car with a full tank of gas. If I were to cut my pack in half so as to get a 30 mile range I would be just under the original weight of the vehicle. My car gained less than 200 lbs from the conversion. There are lots of things I could spend money on to make it lighter. My estimate is that I could save almost 200 lbs by spending $3000 on carbon body pieces and polycarbonate glass replacement. After that it gets kind of crazy stupid and probably easier to start over on a clean sheet of paper and build the whole thing out of composite materials. I am not going to spend any of that money anytime soon as I am perfectly happy with a car that has 2.5 times the torque of the ICE setup at the same weight. I am going to do some drag racing this year and maybe I will decide that the need for speed exceeds the need for $3000.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

dougingraham said:


> ...and maybe I will decide that the need for speed exceeds the need for $3000.


The theory of relativity is a slippery slop indeed. I'm bolting almost $7k of suspension and brakes on to a car I bought for $1500.

Some quick math on my car.
Curb weight with 5.0 engine and manual trans: 2850 lbs (ball parking here, mine is a coupe with very little trim or add-ons.

Dry weight of 5.0 engine: 440 lbs 
Full tank of gas: 128 lbs 
Total: 568 lbs

So removing those things my chassis is down to 2282 lbs.

Batteries (72 cells at 8 lbs each): 576 lbs

So just the weight of the batteries alone, makes up for the major ICE components that are being removed. that's before adding the motor, controller, charger, DC-DC converter, and who knows how many pounds of copper wire, etc. Again I know I have more batteries than I need for 30 miles, but the range buffer helps especially in the winter. I'm confident I can keep the curb weight under 3500 lbs. Which is pretty competitive with modern cars. My advantage is I can lower the center of gravity and reduce the yaw moment arm, making the car more fun to drive! I need to calculate the budget of this car so far. I will get back to you later today.


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## dougingraham (Jul 26, 2011)

jwiger said:


> Dry weight of 5.0 engine: 440 lbs
> Full tank of gas: 128 lbs
> Total: 568 lbs


Don't forget gas tank 25 lbs, exhaust 100 lbs, and cooling system 75 lbs. Motor weight doesn't usually include the alternator either. And if you remove the Air Conditioner that is going to be another 100 lbs. That brings you up to 768 or 868 lbs. You will be surprised just how much stuff you pull off the car.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

I think the number for the exhaust is a little inflated, I no doubt omitted some things, but I know I will be adding lots of incidentals back on the car, so a lot of those small items will break even.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

Started installing rear axle last night. It is a Ford 8.8 with 3.73:1 gears, limited slip diff, and a torque arm suspension with adjustable ride height. I also mocked up my dash with pictures of my gauges, the white rectangle on the bottom left will be a ZEVA EVMS display.


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## epyon (Mar 20, 2008)

Are you getting a aluminum drive shaft too ? It will be a two seater like my Thunderbird right ?


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

For now it will be a stock steel DS, just to get it on the road. I'm torn between giving up the back seat for batteries or keeping it for passengers. I know performance would be better with the batteries closer to the center of the vehicle. My concern is that it would be too unstable for frequent (though brief) trips on the freeway during my commute.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

I got the rear axle installed on Sunday and hurt my back in the process, I had to take Monday off, but I'm doing well now. No worries. Anyway, here is the rear installed with the panhard rod mocked up. I need to weld up the sub-frame connectors now, then I can install the cross-member to finish out the torque arm. The interior will have to come out to weld in the sub-frame connectors. I will share what I find under the carpet.


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## bwjunkie (Jul 31, 2013)

My Ford Cortina has a Mustang T-5 trans hooked to the the same differential 8.8 you have there. Basically the setup from a 5.0L. I would think a T5 trans will bolt right into your chassis, have you considered that? (I tried to read the whole thread I may have missed that discussion)

My warp 9 was a fairly easy connect to the T5 after spending the money on the Canadian adapter plate. I use 2nd and 3rd gears and it is a fun drive.

Let me know if you are considering manual trans and want to see pics of my motor/adapter/trans setup.
Josh


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

That's my plan exactly. I will try a Ram Assault Weapon clutch. I'm weird like that. It is built for circle track race cars and is 7.5 inches (19cm) in diameter, and doesn't need a stock size flywheel. I have 3.73 gears in the axle. So acceleration should be good.... if I break the T5 I will try this out:

http://www.mustangandfords.com/how-to/drivetrain/m5lp-0401-mustang-t5-transmission/


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## bwjunkie (Jul 31, 2013)

Wow cool information on the clutch, I see they have a 1, 2, or 3 disc version. With electric I assume we RARELY slip the clutch since overrev is not good for the motor, so do you think the 1 disc would be the right choice?
I'm still making a clutch decision myself, I was previously going to just get an aluminum flywheel but I kind of like this 7.25 better. 

As to "breaking the T5" haha, I really didn't think that would be a worry with a single Warp9 turning a trans that previously was connected to a V8, but who knows? maybe.

-josh


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

You're more likely to overwhelm the clutch at low RPM and/or higher gears in an EV. So you need to look at the ratings per clutch configuration and output of your motor. Since this is a race clutch it has a very grippy and aggressive engagement. I would not recommend it for an EV that needs to idle the motor to run accessories. 

A stock T5 will probably be fine behind a single 9" unless it is damaged. I do plan on upgrading the motor in the future though. So we will see how long the T5 lasts.

In other news: I will delete the rear seat for batteries. I will get as many as I can back there.


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## miev 1 (Jan 22, 2015)

Was reading up on mustang suspensions. Are you going to delete the front anti-sway bar? If doing mostly drag, it would help with weight.

I took it off my VW Passat few years back - 2000 cause the multi-link suspension was starting to get and noisy. Solved my problem and I actually liked it better without it on. 

Always wondered if it would be a safety thing at highway speeds, but I guess it is more for turning better/faster. Is there a rear one too?

BTW, was kinda looking for a donor mustang in the '99 model year range. 4th gen - heavier than yours, but lighter than the 2005. All the ones I am finding are completely beat to crap - or pristine and garage kept. Will keep looking. Sure is a lot of aftermarket parts!

Hope your back is better. Injuries suck.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

I will have front and rear swaybars installed. My top priority is to make this fun to drive on twisty roads. The reont swaybar is very easy to remove if I feel the need at the drag strip. 

My back is about 98% now. I'm just waiting for the temperature to warm up. Working on 35 degree concrete is no fun.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

miev 1 said:


> BTW, was kinda looking for a donor mustang in the '99 model year range. 4th gen - heavier than yours, but lighter than the 2005. All the ones I am finding are completely beat to crap - or pristine and garage kept. Will keep looking...


Might be easier to find what you want farther south:
http://killeen.craigslist.org/cto/4893400665.html

I live next to an Army base, so Mustangs are very common.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

It's been to cold for me to work in the garage lately, but I've found this old pic. It was for a High School club, we raced in the Portland (Oregon) General Electric Electron Run series this car won us first place for the 1996 season:


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## Vhclbldr (Feb 8, 2014)

Looks like the kind of vehicle we drive in the Electrathon races here in Maryland.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

PGE pretty much ripped off the idea from Electrathon. There were some 20 or so high schools building cars. We had two cars by the time I graduated. The premise was take over a parking-lot with a few hundred little orange cones. Build a 1/4 to 1/3 mile road-course track, then see how many laps we could get in one hour. Our car wasn't the fastest, we never got a first place at any one race, but we were always in the top five with a car that was probably the most reliable in the field. Typical top speed was around 20 mph (fast when your butt is a few inches off the ground!) I built the car to fit me, If I leaned forward it would over steer, lean back and it would under-steer. two hub mounted drums brakes on the front wheels. Stopped great, but the idea was to never need the brakes (waste of energy).


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## Vhclbldr (Feb 8, 2014)

I started an Electrathon team at one high school in Harford Co. back in 2006, expanded to four other schools after that, and have coordinated events with Electrathon America sanctioning since 2012. We used a Blue Sky Design kit the first year, then built the rest from scratch. Our track was the MD State Police highway course - a 1-mile, kidney-shaped two lane loop in the rolling hills of Sykesville - and we have run events there almost every year since 2007 (had to cancel due to rain last year). Our cars averaged 28 MPH at best, but every team I mentored had the winning vehicle at the race. We kept learning and jetting better, and hope to break the 30-mph mark this year.


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## p63 (Apr 8, 2015)

jwig,
I'm interested in your build. I have a 95 mustang, which is essentially the same as your fox. I want a grocery-getter that can also be fun in the twisties.

Can you post a parts list of the conversion parts? 
Any lessons learned yet?


My only comment on your build is the choice of tires. 245s have a lot of rolling resistance and is way more tire than a mustang ever needed... Ford just puts wide tires on because the buyers prefer the looks. 
Case: the 95 cobra came with 255 width tires, "to handle its brutal 240 hp". The 2014 Mustang V6 had 225 width tires for a 305 hp motor... and the car is significantly heavier.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

P63,

You have a valid point. However, my definition of spirited driving may be different than yours. I have invested a lot in the suspension and brakes of this car, and I don't want to compromise that by under-tireing it. 

Most of the parts I have purchased so far have nothing to do with the actual EV conversion. Here is what I have so far:

Tubular K-member and control arms
Manual steering rack 
Front coil-over conversion with caster-camber plates
Manual brake conversion with '04 Mach 1 spec rotors and calipers
Torque-arm rear suspension with adjustable height tubular rear control arms and panhard bar. 
Infinitybox three-cell wiring kit
Custom gauge panel (about to post some pics of that)

The one thing EV wise I have bought is a full EVMS (BMS) from ZEVA. 

The EV parts I will start with include:
Warp9 motor
Soliton1 controller
72x 100ah CALB batteries
CANEV transmission adapter plate to bolt to a SBF T5 transmission. 
I was planning on Elcon charger and DC-DC converter, but I'm becoming intrigued by the OEM stuff that EVTV is doing. 

This will get me rolling, with an upgrade path in the future.


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## p63 (Apr 8, 2015)

jwiger said:


> P63,
> 
> You have a valid point. However, my definition of spirited driving may be different than yours. I have invested a lot in the suspension and brakes of this car, and I don't want to compromise that by under-tireing it.



Thnx mucho for the parts list, it is a big help.

As far as tires, well, I threw the entire Maximum Motorsports catalog at my 95 cobra, and it is a blast to drive. So I share your enthusiasm. 
Even with my 370 rw ft lbs, I'm investigating going down to 225mm. To make a long story short, the tire's contribution to handling is the stickyness of the rubber compound and the amount of sidewall flex. ... a wider tire does not give more traction. 

It's just something to consider. 

Thanks again for the parts list. We've just installed solar PVs on our house. I'm thinking that my 95 cobra can not only be an electric grocery-getter, but possibly its batteries can power the house for a short while if the grid fails.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

p63 said:


> ... a wider tire does not give more traction.
> 
> It's just something to consider.
> 
> Thanks again for the parts list. We've just installed solar PVs on our house. I'm thinking that my 95 cobra can not only be an electric grocery-getter, but possibly its batteries can power the house for a short while if the grid fails.


On the contrary it does. If the friction coefficient was less than 1.0 (anything not rubbery) then size would be less of a factor. You are correct about the stickiness. However, the width of the tread has an impact on slip angle (turning). I won't go in-depth on it (unless you ask me to here. Long story short, I will try some autocrossing, and will need the tires.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

Not much has happened since the last post. Here are a few pics (ZEVA BMS, Floor pan, Subframe Connectors, Infinity Box 12 volt wire harness):


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

I finally got some vacation time and put some hours into the car, specifically the dash. I got a custom instrument panel from Florida 5.0, some red LED gauges from Intellitronix, and a custom EVMS display from Ian at ZEVA. I think it looks pretty sharp. I went with the red since I fell in love with that on my first Mustang, an '84 SVO. 










With fake paper gauges, the dash its self needed some cutting and trimming to fit the new instrument panel, this took me a lot longer than I think it should have, but I think I will be happy with the results:









Making a wood mock-up of the ZEVA EVMS display:









Using the mock-up to fit the display:









A hint of the customization (Thanks Ian!):









Marking the layout:









Cutting the ABS panel:









Round holes cut, starting to finish them with a sanding drum on the dremel. This was slow work. I wanted a slight interference with each gauge so they don't buzz or wiggle:









Bench testing the gauges. (top left: "FUEL" will show 00-99% for SOC; the RPM will show battery amps 1000 "RPM" will equal 100 Amps, the gauge will go up to 9999, so essentially max at 1000 battery amps, which I shouldn't hit; The speedometer is typical; "VOLTS" is showing the 12vdc system; "TEMP" will be controller temp) I will probably end up with some pillar gauges for motor temps, that will happen after I get the car on the road:









The whole dash is out of the car still, I need to figure out where to place the cells for the Infinitybox wiring system. Also I need put lamps for turn signals, high-beam, error, etc in to build up the wiring for the instrument panel. I like that the whole panel blacks out when the power is off. 

Thanks for looking!


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

I got enough of the suspension installed to get the car off of the jack stands. Many things need adjustment (the toe-in is to far off the roll the car) but at least I can push it out of the garage with the help of some wheel dollies. Now I can start roughing in the low voltage wiring, and cutting up the rear seat area for the main battery box.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Your dash pics display as question marks to me...anxious to see them!


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

Moltenmetal said:


> Your dash pics display as question marks to me...anxious to see them!


I was hosting the pics on a in-home web server, apparently my domain name died recently. I will try to fix it tonight for you. Will repost if I get it to work.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

Webserver back up.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

See them now- beautiful work! Love the look-


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

Slow progress so far. The front alignment is close enough now that I can push the car around with one hand. I've swapped out the automatic pedal box for the manual, also the brake booster for the manual adapter block. 

I need to get the dash back in place and start finding locations for my infinitybox master cell.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

I'm out of the country for a few months. I will be back in the Spring. So unfortunately there wont be any build progress while I'm gone. I will keep trolling on here though.

Additionally the cooling system on my server has crapped out  -fine time for it to do that. I guess it was due though, it has about five years of (nearly) 24/7 uptime. Maybe I just need to go with web based storage instead of maintaining my own server...

See you around!


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

updated the first post of the thread with a "Current as of:" section. I've been changing my plan of attack a little bit considering the status of Evnetics and the availability of used OEM batteries. Big changes to the plan are Leaf battery modules and a Zilla 2K EHV controller.


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## miscrms (Sep 25, 2013)

Sounds fun, looking forward to following!

Rob


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

Days until I get home are dwindling. I just placed my order for my Warp 9 and Zilla2k. But to make you guys trully jealous, I will be picking it up from John Metric's shop in person


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

I drove down to Houston, TX to pick up my motor and controller from LoneStar EV Conversions. Got to meet Adam and some of the Korean trucks they are converting to electric.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

Purchased a T5 (five speed) transmission off of craigslist last week. Just finished teardown, inspection, and re-assembly. Reverse looks a little rough, but overall it will certainly get me on the road. Now I just need the adapter plate...


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## Baratong (Nov 29, 2012)

jwiger said:


> Purchased a T5 (five speed) transmission off of craigslist last week. Just finished teardown, inspection, and re-assembly. Reverse looks a little rough, but overall it will certainly get me on the road. Now I just need the adapter plate...


That's a very nice tranny. I picked up a T5/WC for my Spitfire. With the 4-cylinder bell, I managed to fit it in the Spitfire without too much trauma.

I'm looking forward to seeing your build progress!


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

Thanks Baratong, I got mine from a '92 V8 Mustang, the input-shaft/bell is a little shorter than the four cylinder variety. The gear set is usually a little stronger too. 

I've started the initial planning of the 12v wiring between all of the systems, between the three computers (infinitybox for body, ZEVA EVMS for bms, and the Zilla Hairball) there is some simple logic that has to get figured out between the circuits, for instance, both the EVMS and the Hairball want to control the main contactor, I may just cascade a relay in-line to the main contactor. I will mock these systems up on a board to try it out soon.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

Back from a one year deployment. Got my InfinityBox wiring system zip-tied into Judith and finally got the first lights lit!!

It is admittedly un-impressive to look at especially since one of my reverse bulbs is out. Still this is the first time in six years this car has ever had any lights. 

Now to rough-in the front lights!









Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk. -Yeah, a BlackBerry.


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## jwiger (Oct 18, 2014)

I feel this thread is becoming geriatric. However I have been incredibly busy doing things like retiring from the military, moving to Oregon and finishing school.

I finally have a garage I can work in again. And my new employer has free level 2 charging. Time to unpack the project.

Sent from my SM-A526U using Tapatalk


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