Day 2 2009

A full day at the workshop -- but full of fun as well -- with lots of progress made! We gathered first in the classroom to review Day 1 and outline the goals for the day. Then it was off into various work groups while I ran around trying to photograph everything that was going on at once.

Larry and John began the day inspecting their initial work on the battery racks.

One wasn't quite square, so our youngest participant Mike got to learn to weld -- and how to grind off welds!

Now the sides are mounted and ready to weld on.

Meanwhile Judy and Chris were fabricating washers on the punch press.

These big square washers will go underneath the van to support the bolts that hold the battery racks to the van's sheet metal.

Back in the auto shop, Nick -- who's an automotive repair professional -- supervised Vincent, Rob and Rudy in installing the motor.

Here's a shot from above as the motor was being bolted onto the transaxle.

The battery configuration group began to outline a plan on the whiteboard. First the overall battery layout ...

and then how they'll be wired together in series.

Bill is showing a battery cable-and-lug assembly to Paul. We had planned to reuse all our cables as they were from 2007, but in a later post to be called "Hitches and Glitches" you'll hear how that plan had to change.

Here Paul is clamping a cable in a vise and cutting off the old lugs. Oh, well.

Our two Johns -- both automotive technology instructors, one at NMTCC and one at Berks Career & Technology Center -- confer while looking for a tool.

Brett headed up a small crew making plywood rests for the batteries to sit on inside the metal racks.

Lynn, a veteran of the 2007 workshop, consults with Bill and students.

The old bolt-holes in the floor of the van don't fit the new battery box configuration, so they need to be mended.

David, who in real life is an aerospace engineer specializing in electronic communications, told me that the tool he's using above -- kind of like a pair of scissors powered by a compressor -- is called an "air nibbler". Now that is a picturesque name for a tool.

Here he is snipping steel from the old battery boxes to patch the bottom of the van. (It will be pop-riveted in and then sealed with silicone.)

John is fixing something with duct tape. For once, a shop item I didn't have to ask the name of.

The whiteboard consultations continued ...

for quite some time.

Over in the machine shop, Larry and Nick introduced Rudy, Rob and Vincent to welding.

This is someone's first weld, but it's hard to say whose!

J.J. and Leo are placing the batteries around the engine compartment lid, while Brett has his tape measure at the ready. They're not just checking for sizing but also orienting the positive and negative terminals for the wiring.

After lunch Matt, who is a battery professional, gave a lecture on different battery types going into their chemistry in more depth than is provided by our textbook, Convert It by Mike Brown and Shari Prager. The clarity of Brown's instructions and theoretical overview make it an excellent basic text, but it is an older book -- so it was wonderful to have a student step up to offer an introduction to contemporary battery technology!

Then it was back to the labs for more hands-on work. When questions came up about wiring in the controller, it was time to consult the manual that came with the original conversion kit from EVAmerica. Containing all the schematics and instructions for the various EV components, this is our workshop bible.

By the end of the day we had accomplished our major goals:

marry the motor back onto the transaxle

establish battery configuration and wiring

and complete the first battery rack!
Chris has primed and painted the bare sheet metal,
and it's ready to go in!

I took headshots of most of the students today and will introduce them one-by-one in a later post.

Till tomorrow, thanks for following along!

Day 1 2009

Wow, I knew this class was going to be great -- but until people started to introduce themselves this morning, I had no idea of the tremendous brainpower and experience we have assembled for the 2009 Conversion Workshop! What a great crew! We had 18 in class today (including 2 repeats from 2007, Lynn and Larry having rejoined us to lend assistance). I'll give you an intro to each one of them tomorrow when I have photos to go with -- for now I'll just post our opening-day activities.

After welcoming, opening questions and introductions, we had an extensive safety orientation from Bill. (My summary: batteries are heavy. They have acid in them. They can explode. Also, don't forget, they can shock you. Plus, you should not use any of the shop tools unless you've been trained on them. Any questions?)

We also toured the NMTCC facilities, visiting the carpentry, auto body, welding and machine shops. I loved this sign in the welding classroom:


Bill then reviewed some of the major components necessary in an EV conversion and some of the things you should consider before undertaking a conversion. As regular readers of this blog know, there are bolt-in conversion kits available for some makes and models of cars. Everything has been pre-fabricated to measure, and when you buy one of these, there are no design decisions to make and usually no surprises. Well, there is no bolt-in kit for a Volkswagen Vanagon -- so we have design decisions galore to make, and probably plenty of surprises along the way!

Now on to the rest of the photos:

Bill lectures to a full house.

In the afternoon, Larry and John -- both faculty members at NMTCC -- and our two youngest participants, Mike and Keith, were assigned to begin creating the battery racks. These metal racks will be bolted to the van, ensuring that those heavy, acid-containing, explosive and (oh yeah) high-voltage batteries are safely contained. The first step was sketching them out on paper (above)

then measuring the available angle iron.

Then there was more measuring,

and more still.

Finally it was time to do some cutting!

Here Mike is operating the foot pedal to make the slice.

Meanwhile the rest of the class had been given a worksheet showing how measurements are taken of the clutch assembly and transaxle in order to fabricate the adaptor plate.

Bill assigned them to practice taking those measurements themselves.

So there was more measuring to be done!

Meanwhile back in the welding shop ...


... Larry shows Mike and Keith how comparing diagonal measurements can help you tell whether something is square!


The afternoon wasn't all measuring. The old batteries were moved out of the van

and after the transmission worksheet there were battery configuration diagrams to play with. The above image shows the three cells in each of the e-Van's 6-volt batteries. The batteries themselves need to be wired in series -- positive to negative, of course -- and this little chart will help determine what the most efficient cable connections will be.

This is an occasion for group problem-solving

and lots of discussion and trying things out.

It was a fun day to watch and document! Stay tuned, and thanks for following along!