Moving slower than a truck with no motor

I just noticed that it has been a full month since our last post. Unfortunately that means that it has also been a month since we worked on the truck. We are at a stand still for a couple reasons: it has gotten cold and our shop is not insulated, we don't have an engine stand yet (for tranny), and we have no electric motor to base the re-build off.

Steps will be taken in the near future to remedy all three of these problems. After some research we are no longer set on a DC power source. It would appear that AC motors offer some advantages which I was unaware of, one of the most important being availability. There is some forestry and mining industry in the area and it is hoped that there may more potential donor motors suited to our needs. I will be meeting with "a mine man" this week and hopefully he will have some leads.

Getting the shop a little warmer won't be too hard either. It is a small space and we are not looking for 20 degrees here, just enough so my hands don't stick to the tools :)

Keep posted for progress before we run out of 2010!

Yea Buddy... Day 4, instant update!

OK, we acquired a forklift so the only sensible thing to do was pull out an engine. Click on the video below to watch.

Too much fun.

James

A dry place to call home

We had to take a detour from car deconstruction to garage reconstruction. With our big plans for this winter we needed a dry place in order to work. Previously my garage and its aging flat roof did not fit the bill.

Thanks to a couple of friends with some know-how and good day's building, we now have a place which will weather the winter. Watch the garage progress with this conversion as insulation and heat have both been contemplated for the near future.

Goals

We have 3 main goals for this project;

1. Ability to travel at highway speed
2. 200km range between charges
3. Entire conversion to be under $5,000

What do you think, is the bar set too low, too high?

Leave your suggestions in the comments.

E-10

Lunch Hour Update

Well it's been a while since I've posted am I sure you are at the edge of your seats for news on what is going on.



It has been a busy week on all fronts, here is a quick rundown on some develpoments;

• Our workshop roof was leaking so it has been repaired (Blaine's going to post some pics and maybe a posting if you're lucky)
• Day 4 of work fun has come and gone, it was an exciting one (additional post
  & pics forthcoming)
• Had a meeting last Friday with KRIC (Kootenay Rockies Innovation Council) to
  discuss the project and our goals (upcoming post for more information)
• Michael Linton was in Kimberley to give a speach about local currencies
  (Link to come soon)
• There's a wee bit of snow on the ski hill, snowboarding is right around the corner

Yea Buddy.

James

Day 3 ish...

Well the fenders have been 'dissappeared' and then we decided that the gas tank was asking for a lickin!  The doors came off for access, and because we like taking things apart.  We are running out of excuses not to remove the engine, as soon as we arrange a lift and a future home for it it will be gone.  First attempts at a replacement power source were fruitless but this was perhaps to be expected.  It is hard to tell someone what you need when you don't yet know yourself.  Plans to ramp up our search will commence shortly, anyone with ties to the electric forklift industry feel free to point us in the right direction.

As you can see, we already have the neighbours attention.
Blaine

Day Two Work Festivities

Well yesterday was our second work day on the truck. I've added the photo feed on the right which is a full collection of the day's fun.

starting

We are still in removal stage, stuff pulled off yesterday include;

• Exhaust system (including manifold, catalytic converter, muffler and all the bits in between
• Drained and removed the radiator
• Pulled off the air intake
• Ripped out some sort of dome (assuming it's part of the vacuum system)
• Removed the front grill
• Started taking off bolts for the fenders

finishing

We also stopped by a local garage looking for an electric motor. The shop owner had just sent an electric fork-lift to the scrap yard. The scrap yard was closing for the weekend but it seems as though they may have a few electric motors around... Exciting times, more on that front Monday!