# ER-6 1973 Triumph TR6 conversion



## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Sorry guys, I can't make this stupid forum work any more! Building a thread here is pointless, so I just wanted to let you know what's going on.

I lost my beloved E-Fire 1975 Triumph Spitfire conversion to a moment's inattention on the part of a big pickup truck driver. Car was a total loss- I walked away without a scratch. 3 months later, the insurance company gave me my legally incontesible settlement- AND the car for salvage. All the EV stuff worked...then started a fruitless search for insurance. A complaint to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario shook an insurer out of the woodwork- one who had declined me TWICE- and now a conversion was possible- but in the meantime I'd bought a nice 1973 TR6 which didn't NEED converting- it was fun as it was...

...but totally unreliable, noisy and leaky and smelly...and it finally puked out all its transmission oil and killed its transmission. 

I'm most of the way through converting it- and if I could figure out how to post pictures here (using Chrome simply doesn't work, and yes I"ve enabled popups for this site). So I'll likely build a blog somewhere and toss you a link so you can see what I've done. It's not all that exciting- simply putting the E-Fires drivetrain and batteries and the like into the TR6, which was easy. And the big bonus- the TR6 is in better shape (so no bothering EVMetro for endless bodywork advice!) and has a stronger rear end so I won't likely be destroying U joints all the time either!

We'll see how it goes, but I should be test driving in a week or so, then down to just finishing touches.

I grouped batteries and added one, got rid of the "control plate" that was in the way of working on or looking at the motor except from under the car, but otherwise a TR6 is more or less the SAME build as a Spitfire. The motor landed on the same cross-member of the frame, I had to make an adapter plate to connect the old driveshaft to the different differential flange size and bolt pattern- but even the tranny shifter ended up in the right place! No need to build or to even alter the transmission tunnel cover- easiest build going. I took my time and made it more neat and tidy this time- and the car is in better shape for shows, though the paint is scratched and bubbled and chipped in a few places. It's not a show queen but should be a fun driver- just not to work and back any more because a) COVID 19 means I don't have to drive in to work any more (so I hope the lockdown stays a while, though I don't want anybody to get sick!) and b) I think the crash has sobered me up to driving a tiny, silent car on freeways being just not worth my life to do any more. 

Fun stuff- best wishes to Duncan, EVMetro, and numerous others who were a great help to me on the E-Fire project, who still hang around here. Hope you're all keeping well and healthy! And if you have any advice on how to post pics using Chrome, I'm open to suggestions- it just isn't worth the bother with this site being as badly administered as it has become.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

None of the buttons work- not the old paperclip attachment button, nor the "insert photo" button either. None spawn the necessary HTML code. Not going to be bothered editing that by hand...but the pic shows up in my post preview. Here's what the E-Fire looked like at the end...

And here's what it looked like after I chopped it up for the urban raccoons to take...


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Sorry, here's the picture.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

The TR6 before conversion. Nice car at a nice price. Badly boxed frame, some weaknesses as a restoration candidate, but didn't need any bodywork and has nice chrome so that was a plus.

The engine ran well- but needed quite a bit of work to get it roadworthy. Then the tranny went and it just wasn't worth bothering with my my opinion. Pulling the tranny required pulling the interior, and converting it was actually a) what I wanted and b) cheaper than bothering and c) will give me a more reliable ride when I"m done. So why not?

TR6s are fun rally cars- they don't handle or corner as nicely as a Spitfire, but with a massive 2.5 L straight six with only 4 speeds topping out at about 100 km/hr, they heave themselves up in speed quite nicely. They're not fun on the highway though with the engine spinning too fast, and like with Spitfires, the overdrive transmissions were a big price adder so there are few of them around.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Engine coming out...one of the lifting lugs on the engine failed during the lift but nothing was damaged- it happened early enough. The engine and tranny were pulled as a unit which took some effort in my low front section of shop.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Hugging the E-Fire's drivetrain- same AC50 and W50 transmission from a 1980 Celica, plus CanEV plate and hub.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Studded adapter plate made at work, allowed me to re-use the driveshaft I already had, which was a major cost and PITA savings.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Motor and tranny, installed.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Front battery box underway.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Rear pack installed- same pack from the E-Fire, in exactly the same place. Just the mounting bracketing changed.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Main pack interconnector 2/0 cables in ENT conduit same as last time- in fact I used the same 2/0 cables as last time and just made them fit!


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Front pack- similar to last time but lower down and a little further back, and narrower because the fender wheel wells are huge on the 6. I added one cell total, so I have 19 in the front, a nice easy to pull 4 cell (12V nominal) pack in the middle to use as emergency backup on the house if required, and ten in the rear.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Working on the dash removing the old gauges, I invented a new yoga pose I call "upward electrician"


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Dumb previous owner destroyed the dashboard by sanding off the face veneer (and through another couple layers in spots). So I had to re-veneer the board, after adding spacers to account for my smaller Intellitronix gauges.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Veneering in progress...a vacuum press is better but every clamp I own was just enough.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Dash, finished, gauge installation underway.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Floor pans just needed wire brushing and painting, sound deadener and carpets re-installed. Tranny tunnel cover and driveshaft tunnel cover (paperboard) took a little fibreglass reinforcement but were generally OK too.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Hood goes on, seats go in and soon enough it's out for a spin!


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

I think this build has cost me $100 so far- even the jumper leads were re-used and I only had to cut a few shorter and crimp on new terminals. Just wire, crimp connectors and heat shrink, some steel, paint etc. A lot of it I had just laying around from the last project...

Only one thing left to sort out, and hopefully you guys can help. The TR6's hydraulic brakes had a vacuum assist which it would be nice to maintain despite the fact that I have the same pedal braking arrangement as last time. Thinking of just installing a small 12V diaphragm pump and a capped piece of PVC pipe to store "vacuum" in reserve, a couple times the volume of the vacuum assist diaphragm chamber on the 6. Any thoughts?


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## Baratong (Nov 29, 2012)

Great to see you'll be electrified again! Nice little TR6 you have there too.

On the image issue, the only way I can make it work here is to upload all my pics to an album. Open my profile, and then upload images to an 'album'. From there you can reference the album image in your post...

Just paste in the image link from your album picture... 

Example:
[IMG]https://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=841&pictureid=6867


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Great to see you back!

One of my pals restored a TR6 back in the 80's - the fastest tractor on the road with suspension that made a mini feel softly sprung

I agree about the site - even the "reply" button is broken these days! I just use the "reply with quote" and delete the quote

For photos I click on the "Advanced" button 
and then on the "Manage attachments" 

Which then lets me attach pictures


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Hey Baratong- you still driving yours?! Still taking it to shows? How does your BMS work?

Duncan- still racing yours too? 

Awesome that you guys are still around- wonder if EVMetro ever finished his Caddy...


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Moltenmetal said:


> Hey Baratong- you still driving yours?! Still taking it to shows? How does your BMS work?
> 
> Duncan- still racing yours too?
> 
> Awesome that you guys are still around- wonder if EVMetro ever finished his Caddy...


We had to close a bit early this year with the Virus - so my plan to try a 1/4 mile at the last event failed!

Did 7.8 and 96 mph at our annual 1/8th mile drags - they put me in the same class as the Corvettes - including a supercharged one - no problem!!

But I did go backwards as two of the supercharged V8 T Buckets beat me - not just one like the year before

We had our first Tesla - not on full charge so not a good time - I think he was in the 9's

Had a tarmac track event just before the shutdown - great fun - car went great but the drivers - not so much 
It was a fast event I was hitting 90 mph at times 
Waiting for the spring!
Monday is the first day of winter


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## Baratong (Nov 29, 2012)

Moltenmetal said:


> Hey Baratong- you still driving yours?! Still taking it to shows? How does your BMS work?


Molten, yes my Spitfire is running great. No shows this year for obvious reasons, but went to quite a few last year. There was one group here that did a 'rolling' show. Everybody came with their cars, and stayed in them, while driving a route with all the other cars. I wasn't available that day though.

BMS is working great, but I'm about ready to overhaul a few bits of it. Specifically I'm going to be routing all data to my in-dash entertainment display instead of the small 3" touch screen. The entertainment system is android based so shouldn't be a problem. I've been working pretty extensively in Android and iOS the past few years in my consulting company.. so it' should be easy to do. 

How long have you been working on your TR6? It looks great!


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Time's a blur- I had to look up the dates on the photos! Taking it slow and easy this time- the E-Fire I tackled like a 2nd job, and no kiddo helping me this time either.

Looks like I started disassembling the engine in mid January, and pulled it mid February. Sold the gauges, new bits that I bought for the engine, fuel tank and a few other bits, but the engine's still here looking for a new home (and driving my wife NUTS...though she likes the TR6 much more than the Spitfire which she always hated).

It's buttoned up now, interior's all back in, and I'm about to lay down and do some rust preventative spray in the lower body panel and frame tube cavities and paint places on the rear frame that need a touch-up. Raining today and tomorrow likely but it could be a test-drive as early as tomorrow!

Still using the miniBMS although it's not for sale any more so no replacement parts if any of the boards go bad. I do have a few spares from a guy I met here. Would REALLY like another couple 180 or 200 Ah LFP prismatics as spares too, as my pack is 6 yrs old now and I know that bad cells are only a matter of time.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

First drive!

https://youtu.be/36d-e-ZjTCE


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## Baratong (Nov 29, 2012)

Congrats on the new ride! You sure had that big EV grin! 



Very nice car!


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Suffering right now, as it's a beautiful day and yet I can't have it out driving- too many other cars in the way, and I'm still getting all the cells top balanced. They were in all sorts of other projects and had to be removed at various states of charge...


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## evric (Oct 26, 2008)

Congratulations on a great conversion.
I know what if feels like to not be able to drive your EV.
Mine is on blocks, waiting for modifications to my adapter plate for it to be connected to a Hyper 9 HV AC motor. (old motor was Advanced DC X91-4001 which wore the brushes out twice)
I originally converted my Holden Barina (Suzuki Swift) to electric drive back in 2008.
I recently ripped out the 10yr old Thundersky 90Ah cells and put in Westart NMC cells, nearly doubling the capacity in the same space! - at a higher voltage.

All the best...

Eric
Downunder


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## dwolvin (Jun 7, 2009)

Thank you much for sharing this build- I have a soft spot in my head for all small British sports cars. Looks great!


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Wow, some people have been at this a long time!

No NMC cells in my future, unless they're out of a crashed OEM EV. That's the only way to afford a conversion these days. When my pack goes, I'm not sure what I'll do- I do like LFP and am not itching for more range really. Might just do a deal with a few others and import a bunch of cells directly from China. Hoping that prices on LFP will finally drop to the extent they should in the next few years, and hoping that my pack will LAST the next few years...

I have loved little British cars since my brother brought home a TR3 for $25 literally out from under a haystack in a barn...


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## EVSpitfire (Feb 28, 2014)

Looks like a great ride. Nice to see you back in the EV saddle after that nasty crash.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

I'm lucky to be alive, much less unhurt. But I do admit that even with the ER-6 nearly done, with only a few things left to do, I AM still hurting from that crash and the loss it represented to me!

I LOVED that Spitfire- and though the ER-6 is a sturdier car, in better shape, prettier (in terms of paint and finishes, interior) more comfortable by far, and likely to cause less anxiety in driving due to a better rear drive, I'd trade it in a heartbeat to have my E-Fire back again. 

As to an update: I've received an electric diaphragm pump which I hope to use for the hydraulic brake assist, and I've finally become fed up with the PB-6's mechanical potentiometer and its claimed 1 million cycles but actual few-thousand cycles before it gets dirty and develops a flat spot and jerkiness in the throttle action. So I'm replacing it with a 50 degree Hall effect 0-5V "pot replacement" from Honeywell, which I picked up on DigiKey. It's a RTY050LVEAX. I've already replaced that pot once, and I only bought two replacements because the bloody 40 degree mechanical pots are expensive too! 

I'm appalled that nobody has come up with a Hall effect true replacement for the PB-6- the packaging of the PB-6 is so much more convenient to a retrofit than it is to rip out and replace the whole accelerator pedal and linkage on a TR6 and replace it with the unit out of a Prius, etc. The alternatives offered by EV West etc. are not all that exciting to me- too spendy, custom made. So yep, I have to build one myself. Will report back with how it works out. Think I'll get rid of the clunky PB-6 box and just have an arm on the "pot" with a light spring to pull it back, and of course a mounted microswitch for the all important protection against pot failure in the "full on" condition. That interlock is a key safety feature offered in the HPEVS Curtis programming and I will definitely be using it.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi Molten

I am using a modified Subaru TPS as my throttle - works fine and as its an automotive part it should be good for a long life

The TPS is the black plastic part on the right of the throttle pedal with the heat shrink tubing on it 

As far as the safety shutoff is concerned I have a microswitch on the brake pedal - this shorts out the throttle 

As soon as I touch the brakes - zero throttle


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

I successfully installed that Honeywell Hall effect pot replacement on its own with an arm that I made for it, and a microswitch for zero throttle. Works great- think it should last a lot longer than the PB-6 too.

Kept the Chinese PB-6 version for the brake pot for the timebeing.

Implemented a little chamber made of PVC pipe with some PVC plate ends, and a small 12V diaphragm pump to generate vacuum to act as a brake assist. Works well but I have to run a long tube on the pump discharge as it's now by far the loudest thing on the car!


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## dwolvin (Jun 7, 2009)

That's great, and a bit funny. The first time I ever heard an electric vehicle up close it was a converted motorcycle and I heard a strange noise... It was the chain on the sprockets.


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## Drphilwv (7 mo ago)

E- spit you say? Well I’m about to embark on that right now. Going to do a chassis and body resto as I learn about and source bits for the project. This is also a 1975 Spit 1500. The leaf motor seems about right but not sure where or how to mount it just yet. Might pick your brain if you’re still on here.
Phil


https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/u133/wvcruffler/11CF6EA6-06BE-4FD3-B693-8ACD5BDC16C9.jpeg






Moltenmetal said:


> I think this build has cost me $100 so far- even the jumper leads were re-used and I only had to cut a few shorter and crimp on new terminals. Just wire, crimp connectors and heat shrink, some steel, paint etc. A lot of it I had just laying around from the last project...
> 
> Only one thing left to sort out, and hopefully you guys can help. The TR6's hydraulic brakes had a vacuum assist which it would be nice to maintain despite the fact that I have the same pedal braking arrangement as last time. Thinking of just installing a small 12V diaphragm pump and a capped piece of PVC pipe to store "vacuum" in reserve, a couple times the volume of the vacuum assist diaphragm chamber on the 6. Any thoughts?


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## evric (Oct 26, 2008)

Moltenmetal said:


> I'm appalled that nobody has come up with a Hall effect true replacement for the PB-6- the packaging of the PB-6 is so much more convenient to a retrofit than it is to rip out and replace the whole accelerator pedal and linkage on a TR6 and replace it with the unit out of a Prius, etc.


The Hall Effect PB6 throttle pot has been available for a very long time.
This is where I got mine (Western Australia): DRIVE SYSTEMS Accessories and Throttles
This is originally from China - I had trouble with the microswitch and had to replace it with a descent one ( about $2.00) and it is a very common switch.
Mine would have purchased in around 2009, originally on a DC motor/controller combo, and now the same one is in use with my replacement Hyper 9 HV combo - it works great.
Sorry if this reply is a bit late, but it may help other people.


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