I started pulling a 1996 Saturn SW2 down during Xmas. Here are the pelimanary pictures. The car is licensed and insured for the 2009 tax year. It is cold here!!!
I have the car half done, I decided to rethink my battery configuration, and make a new control board. Something that is easier and more fluid than the last one. So today I picked up some steel for fabricating my new battery boxes. I have changed the rear drum brakes to disk brakes. All the unnecessary junk has been stripped from the car. I took a big chunk of the radiator core support out to make room for installation of the batteries. Some of the steel I bought will be used to reinforce the core support back to it’s former strength. I changed the rear struts from the SC into the Wagon as they were made for the weight of the rear batteries. I’ll post pictures tomorrow. I expect to be done by the end of this month.:cool2:
:welcome:I just wanted to say a few words about oppertunity. I have a unique oppertunity to adjust and tweak my car, the Saturn platform is so similar that I could have just transferred my components from one car to the other car, but I have decided to tweak my second car by making some major changes to it. The first thing I have decided is to only have two of the propulsion batteries in the front of the car as I have room now to put ten in the rear. Thus starts the project. I project the car to be back on the road in two weeks from today or sooner, unless some major upset happens in my life.
Now that most of the transfering of parts has been done I can concentrate on the Battery Boxes. I cut out most of the old box in the front and kept only what I could use for the new one. :second:
Here are some pictures to check out my project. As you can see I have cut out most of the Radiator Core Support and then reinforced it with welded in steel. I removed the seats console and carpet to clean and replace the shifter to my manual one. The rear is ready for the Battery Box. I am going to cut the spare tire well out and mount the spare tire under the car with a cable system like a truck has for it’s spare tire. I also have plans to coat the steel with a rubberized sealant and slope the steel with a drain so I can wash the batteries in the car, I used to pull them every six months and wash them then dry them and replace them in the car.
The vaccum tube is still in the same location, as is the negative and positive cables. The car needs a bath badly.:clap2:
Here are a couple of pictures of the pelimanary rear battery box, I need to reinforce it, grind it down, add sides and paint it. It fits perfict!!!
I worked on installing the parking brakes, hooked up the brake lines, ran the shifter thru the firewall, and installed my JVC radio/cd player. I also searched out a suitable reinforced flooring for my rear battery box. And did allot of cleaning in the garage, it’s amazing how a little grinding can cause such a mess.:brick: Most of the mechanical is done on the car, I still have to hook up the shifter, bleed the brakes, and install the heater, plus put the interior back in, but that about does it for the mechanical end of it. then the electrical end kicks in. I also went and checked out decals and costs over the weekend for my logo.:llama:
:laser: I finally found what I was looking for in the back yard frozen to the ground in one foot of snow. LOL I got out the come along out fastened it to the tree and up it came, slowley but surely. Then I drug it to the pavement and hammered the huge pile of dirt that was frozen to it before taking it inside the garage to cut up. Here are some fabrication pictures of the still in process rear battery tray. Just in case you are wondering why it is built so sturdy, I will have ten, eighty four pound batteries, a total of 840 pounds, sitting in the back of the car, so I need lots of support, it is still not compleate. I will post more pictures later as I progress on the project.
Here is the last picture for the night, I worked on it for about 10 hours time to call it a night.:behindsofa: Tomorrow I will finish it and install it in my car.:clap2:
I got up early today and went out and cut and welded the corners on the tray, here is a picture. It’s time for me to go work out at the center. More later:drum:
:juggle: The rear tray is coming together nicely, here are a few more pictures to show how I do it. I still have to weld some steel on the sides, make a boltable bracket for the back, Paint it and figure out how I am going to secure it to the car. I had to cut the plastic panels and remove the insulation from the rear strut towers so the tray would fit into the car.:lol: Oh yes I have to cut and place the plastic insulator in the bottom and sides of the tray.
I had to cut some more plastic from the strut towers trim panel, but the tray fits nice and tight. Tomorrow I’ll get some more steel as I have no more to work with.
:lock1: I didn’t work on my car this weekend but am back at it today the rear box is shaping up nicely. I also cut out the tire well as it would be usless space. Here are some pictures.:hat:
I still have to paint and secure the tray in the rear also cover the hole I created cutting out the tire well. For your infro, the flat steel I welded in covers the sides and ends of the battery’s for support, the fabric is not welded in it will spread the weight so there are no stress points and the blue plastic is a insulator. I still have to cut it for the sides, I plan to caulk it also, in case of a spill so it will be contained. :rolleyes: My baby is getting closer to compleation:preggers:
I fitted the batteries in the tray tonight and they were too tight. So I got the sledge hammer and made a few adjustments. LOL I still can only fit 9 of the planned 10 batteries in the rear of the car. Oh well so goes it, they are huge batteries. Here is a picture of the configuration I came up with. :washing:
I power washed the carpet then hand washed with a brush and Dawn dishwashing liquid then power washing again, it cleaned nicely with minimum stains. I installed it in the car after it dried. I cleaned and reinstalled the center console and other trim parts. I still have to clean and install the seats. I also installed the ceramic heater and controls in this car. The front wiring harness is almost done I still have to hook up the tach and make a signal wheel to send the signal to the tach. Also I have to make a bracket for the Cherry GS100502. Thankyou Dave Kohler for the tech help on how to hook it up!!
Success, Original Equipment Tachometer Works | The Similarly Stimulated Saturn
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I finished painting the trays today and they look real nice, here are some pictures.
I just took a couple of pictures and thought it would be a good time to update the blog. As you can see I have cut a piece of steel to cover the missing spare tire well. I still have to weld it in and paint it. The bar on the floor came out of my first electric car and will be used under the steel fro the wheel well and welded to the unibody to strengthen the frame for the batteries in the rear of the car. I have bolted the front box in and still have to support it in the front. The interior is back together and bolted in. I decided to replace therear rotors with new. Also I have weeded out unnecessary wiring in the engine compartment.
Just a note the steel I am goung to use in the unibody originally came from the rear bumper of a 79 Trans Am I used to own!!! Talk about recycling, LOL