Transmission Spacer Plate Finished

This is the completed spacer plate, before and after. This was cut using a jig saw and hand file. It took quite a bit of time, but that's the nature of the beast.

Tranmission and axles

We remounted the transmission back into the engine bay. A four inch in diameter half moon shaped piece was cut out of the transmission for future battery mounting space. The left axle hooked back into the transmission easily, however the right side had some difficulties. Unfortunately, we ended up ripping the rubber boot, so we'll have to order and install a new boot assembly.

Rear Springs

We switched the rear springs to see if there was perhaps a problem with one of the springs. However, we found that the left side (2.75") was still sitting lower than the right side (3.25"). We're not going to jump to any conclusions since the the front end is still up on jack stands which may be causing our problem.

Manzanity Micro Battery Charger

We received our Manzanita PFC20M Battery Charger!

Details:
Manzanita PFC20
EVSource.com/PFC20Series

Two month catch-up

So, we actually achieved some huge hurtles in the past two months.

For starters, Bill hooked up the high voltage electrical system. It was relatively easy with the directions supplied by our controller manufacturer Kelly. However, our initial high voltage test on the motor was problematic. The motor has no limiting factor and goes from O rpm to 5000 rpm instantly. All components are hooked up correctly (we think), but we could not figure out our problem. Bill has contacted Kelly several times, however, they have not given him a definitive answer to the problem. Our main objective was to get the motor spinning at a low rpm, so we could balance the coupling and transmission on top for alignment. We ended up using one low 6 V battery which spun the motor to suit our needs. From there, we stood the motor upright, and placed the transmission on top with the spacer plates between them to mark holes to be drilled into the transmission bell housing spacer plate.

The transmission and motor have been successfully mated together. We have four 2 1/2" bolts going through the 1/2" transmission bell housing spacer plate, through the three 1/2" aluminum spacer plates, and into the motor.

A few odds and ends include cutting the keys for the motor and transmission couplers. Bill's welder came over on Friday and put a bead of weld on the transmission spline so the coupler would not move depth wise.

First Testing with Transmission on Motor

We're currently testing out the rotation of the motor and coupler to the transmission before we bolt both pieces together. Again, since this is one of the vital pieces of the EV, we want to get it right. We've decided to stand the motor upright (all 156lbs), and mount the transmission (all 75lbs) on top. We will test the coupler alignment using one of our depleted batteries. This test will help align the motor and transmission through the coupler to ensure accuracy. The transmission bell housing holes will be marked, then drilled through the spacer plate. We understand that the coupler pieces won't be exactly aligned, however, we're relying on the spider insert between the two coupler pieces to help with the accuracy