Hi everyone!

Total newbie here.

Do you know any material who can be use as interior lining for my old Gwendolyne (that my '93 Sidekick).

I've begin to modify her for electric propulsion and have to remove as much weight as possible.  As a result, the interior is completely empty to bare metal and I need to hide the surface under something waterproof and solid enough to support the weigth of about a hundred lithium-polimer batteries (they will be placed essentialy where the back seats use to be).  The lining must also be fire-resistant since Li-Po batteries have a tendency to build heat very rapidely.

I was thinking of some kind of synthetic asbestos-like clothing material.  But where to find that?

Thanks.

BTW, what do you think of my new paint sheme?  It comes from the movie "Austin Powers 2" (the scene with the time-travelling VW).

Most people just use bed-liner.  You can get the roll-on stuff from JC Witneys or just about any auto-part store. 

As for the paint job... that is interesting...   It reminds me of the paint jobs they gave destroyers back in WWII to make it harder for the subs to hit them because their eyes couldn't track the speed properly when looking at them. 

i like it

post more pics if you can

WOUHOUUUU!!!!

NOW I'M TORPEDO-SAFE!!!!  (I use to fell so insecure about U-boats attacking my car!!!)

 

But seriously, about that bed liner, is it fireproof?

An other angle:

Hi. Interesting project, how about some more details on the conversion? What motor(s) are planning on using?

Well, it is probably the opposite of fireproof, as it is rubber based and would probably melt. 

if you want something besides a thick primer your probably going to have to go with a fire retardent material.  Have you thought about just using mats and pulling them out at the track?

Of course I want to use fire retardent material (that was my question at the first place).  But where to find that?

About the electric convertion, i'm building the motor myself (i'm working on it right now).  It's actually a simple brushless DC motor of about 1 meter of diameter.  I calculate its maximum RPM to be just about 3000 but since it have such a huge "bras-de-levier" (not sure about the translation of that term "lever-lenght" maybe?) it have a torque way superior to any commercial motor actually available.  So, in theory, it can be attach directly to the drive shaft without any reduction system.

The speed controller is a very simple Pulse Width Modulation system.  The PWM is cheap, very easy to build and quite sturdy.   Its only problem is that high-pitch noise it tend to emit on low power (you can hear it on any cordless drill).

I bought a motor specially for that use but wasn't satisfied of its performance.  That's why I've decided to built my own.

I will connect that motor directly to the transfer case.  That way I still have the 4wd option.

Actually, that remind me a little concern I have about my choice of a Sidekick for my convertion project:  Do you know if the gears in the transfer case can be used in both direction without problem?

Since electric motors have the hability to turn in both direction just by switching polarity, I've decided to eliminate the transmission completely.  So, to go backward I just have to use a polarity inverter relay on my system.  Lots of weight saved this way.  But can the gears take it?

I would still want a transmission on there, at the very least put some sort of clutch system in place so the engine doesn't have to absorb all the shocks from the drivetrain.  Maybe a two-speed system out of a Spring car?  If you do want to hardwire it though, the transfer case should be able to take the power in both directions though.

For Fire Retartent, your looking at a specialty shop.  There are a few that allow you to apply retardent to existing cloth.  If you just worries about your batteries though, nothing doesn't burn like Metal. 

Well, I already made a electric convertion on an other vehicle (a '93 4 dr Geo Metro) and remove the transmission completely, without any kind of clutch or anything.

It work just fine since I actually WANT the movement of the driveshaft to be transmitted to the motor.  The idea is to use the motor as a generator and partially recharge the batteries during "power breaking".

That option allow an increase of about 10% of the running time in the case of classic lead-acid batteries (I haven't test it yet on Li-Po's but I supposed it will work as well).  On my old "Toutite" (I have that nasty habits to give silly names to my cars) with only 12 old-style heavy lead-acid batteries i was able to run for about 50 km at 80 km/h on a charge with that on-board recharging system enabled.  I expect to make at least the double of that on my electric Zuki "Gwendolyne" (also, the motor I use back then was an ordinary DC 24 volts commercial golf-cart motor, not the most efficient kind to say the least.  My actual homemade motor will be far more advanced).

Besides, contrarely to those primitive and unreliable petroleum-swallowing-oil-leeking-noise-making-ozone-lair-depleting gas engines we are forced to use in ordinary cars, the electric motors are quite sturdy and can take a lot of punishment from the road.

About that interior lining: My first idea was effectively to let the interior on metal with just a good anti-rust paint.  But I remembered one itsy-bitsy little thing:  THERE'S WINTER HERE!!!!  I just need something who can isolate me from those minus 40 degrees celsius up here in my Ile d'Orleans without risking to burst in flame because of a short or something.

Just one thing:  WTF is a "Spring Car"?  And why is it using any kind of two-speed system?
 

I'd love to see pics of the motor you're building, and how your planning to put it in.
In regards to a fireproof coating, is fiberglass fireproof? I think it is.... you could make panels, or just sand the metal, and apply it right to the metal.

Hello Uncivilized.

I don't have any picture for now.  But there a description:

Actually, my "pancake motor" (I haven't find any more gratifying name for the moment) is just a steel circle of about 1 meter of diameter with 20 copper wire coils placed at equal distance on is perimeter.  Instead of being cylinder-shaped like most electric motor, this one looks more like one of these big round flat boxes where they put rolls of film in those old movie cameras, only much bigger.

The idea is just to built a standard brushless motor where these coils will drive a 60 cm rotor with 20 permanent magnets on it.

The only difference from existing brushless motor is that unusual diameter who allows the motor to be linked directly to the driveshaft via a 90-degrees two-gears system without any reduction.  The motor itself simply lie horizontally under the hood (actually, it will look like a huge round air filter from one of those absurd american muscle cars!!       You know, these flat things with screen all around?)

Of course, that diameter make the motor quite low on RPM's.  So the speed transition risk to be a bit rough.  Well, we'll see that during the tryings (next summer if everything go as scheduled). 

As always, it's only a question of budget (those "rare earth" permanent magnets cost a fortune!!!   )

You are going to use a lot of you selectability by removing the tansmission but, if you are comfortable with that decision then go for it.

As far as fire-proofing, Fiberglass is probably heading in the right direction.  You might also look in the direction of the roll out linings that I have seen in Race cars. I know that those are fire-retardant.

Just curios but, how many Kw do you think that motor you are building is going to produce? And what are you expecting for an amperage draw? I have always wanted to convert a Sami to all electric but......have never gotten around to it. Please keep us posted.

Actually, I'm kind of improvising here.

Since the kind of motor i'm building is all new I cannot say in advance how much energy it will produce when it will be used as a generator.

Since that depend on the intensity of the magnetic field generated by the permanent magnets revolving toward the collecting coils, only mesurements on the final product will tell me that.

The Li-Po batteries I will use can deliver 2,4 amp |removethispart|@ 7,4 volts.  So the feeding will be about 1,8 Kw.  In generator mode, I expect the motor to deliver about 20 / 30% of that charge but I can't be sure of anything as long as it will not be operationnal.

And, of course, that mean a lot of time.  Building the motor is easy, paying for the parts: that's hard!
 

Returning to the main issue: I know Nascar racers use a kind of wool-like lining but what is it and where to find that?  Fiberglass is of course an obvious solution but, on it's solid form, it's not very good as a thermal isolant.

Maybe I will use pink fiberglass, drywall, paper tape, some plaster and a good amount of lilac-blue wallpaper.  With maybe some victorian highlights and nice deep-blue velvet curtains.  I think Betty Travis can help me here...

I meant to say Sprint car. 

I must say though, I didn't even think about the recharging/generator aspect of this.  It sounds like one heck of a project. 

Its quite a project, please keep us updated as it progresses. I do a fair bit of work with motor control, mainly positioning. The company I work for makes various stabilised platforms. We buy in servo amplifiers and motors, but I have a passing interest in that side of things too.