Blog EV Chile

I went today to the post office to get my new Alltrax Controller I bought off eBay for US$399. After suffering with the US$120 I had to pay for taxes, I have with me. At first I thought I had bought the wrong controller, as I could not find the serial port to configure it, but after a quick post on the ev list I learnt that it was behind a plastic cap.
I just bench tested it and it passed all tests. The software detected it and gave it a clean bill of health. I also tested it with a 0-5K throttle pot and everything seems to work. Nice.

I finished today reassembling the GSs front end and the 12volt electrical system. I managed to make most lights and indicators work. I did lose 2 hours trying to figure out why headlights did not work, only to realize that most of the car’s electrical system is grounded via a tiny ear-shaped connector that used to be on a bolt on the alternator stand (no longer existant, of course)
Well. I could not make the reverse lights work. The switch is fine and 12volts get to it, so something’s work but could not figure it out. Minor problem.
Here are some pictures of the motor/pump/reductor assembly. It took less than 30 seconds to pump the car up today and did not even get warm to the touch. Very nice.

Just a meta post to let you know updates are coming. Electro-hydraulic system is finally assembled and the nose is back in place. Pictures as soon as I get them…

Holy overenginereed pumps, Batman!

Last few weeks were spent cleaning the gearbox, removing the driveshafts to renew the CV joints, and driving to the machine shop with the puzzle to be assembled. The result was a gorgeous and very precise cast steel adapter and a very rought, but very precise adapter plate made out of a solid 1/2 inch painted plate.
The machinist I was sent to, a friends brother, turned out to be the same guy I took my motorcycle back in the nineties, now working days as a lift repairman and moonlighting on his own machine shop in the backyard of his house.
I spend a week driving to and from his place with parts in the trunk and managed to get him and his father impressed enough that they will try to convert an old Fiat 600 they have lying around.
Anyway, here are some pics of the motor mated to the gearbox. I already installed it back in the car, but have no pictures of that yet, so I’ll try to make another update tomorrow.

Today I got, with a lot of help, the trasmission out. Several busted pieces of anatomy and lots, lots of grease on me, but it was worth it… oh yes. I am exhausted in an incredible way. I managed to work a whole week on my day job, give two mornings of lectures and one public lecture, go to the first day of my fifth active company (I have two more with no activity) go to a meeting of the project management and dissassemble the car. Uf. Exhausted is not enough to describe it.
As a friend said today, the entrance of the tunnel is finally in view. I was hoping for the light at the end, but he is right. Its just the entrance.
The car it not gas powered anymore. Never will be.

The engine hangs by 4 captive bolts and nuts. Two of them I had already managed to losen. Two I had been unable to. Today I was inspired. After 15 minutes of fight, the engine came out. Tomorrow out comes the gearbox. Monday machine shop. Maybe I can make it this month.

Another couple of days tearing down a Citroen. Friday I tried to remove the engine without the gearbox and failed. The bolts that join them were completly unaccesible. The F. manual says it is possible, but I dont see how. Anyway, after a lot of cursing and some bumped knucles, I managed to undo the CV joints, the hydraulic pipes for the brakes and suspension and the exhaust. I should have been able to remove the engine today, but daylight was running out and I did not want to end the day with an engine hanging from a fastener I did not see in the evening light. Attached pictures from the carnage

Today I packed a tier-3 shirt in my work backpack and managed to get 2 hours work in my soon to be EV after a full day of meetings and classes. A couple of pictures of how easy access to the engine bay is after you take the whole front end of a Citroen GS with just a small amount of bolts taken out. And yes, its supposed to be held on by around 20 bolts. I only counted 12. All the rest were MIA.