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^^ Nice! I'm in awe of anyone that can do good body work. I know I'm not cut out for it...that's about the only thing I'll just hand over to pros to do.
Last night and tonight, I started the mock-up process of a custom dash. I'm mocking it up in foam core and am planning on having it made in aluminum by a local fabricator. Picked up some Elmer's black foam core, some big white construction paper, and went to work.
First I transferred the contour of the original dash to the white construction paper, then checked it in the car. Then transferred that to the black foam core. Fiddled around with that. This evening I finished up the front face of the dash. Here's what it looks like at the moment.
The dash faces flat until about half way to the passenger side, when it angles towards the driver. I am planning on using my stock speedo from my cluster (to keep odometer reading, as this car is still insured). I also have a Mazdaspeed 10K tach I'll be using that's currently installed in a JDM SA cluster. I need to figure out what bits I'm going to take from my cluster and use for gauges and what aftermarket gauges I'll be using. I'm going to print out some gauges and figure out the arrangement.
I wanted to see what it would look like without a center console. I may not go with one...I'll have to sleep on it. Opinions appreciated.
fm
Last edited by Fungus Mungus; 08-20-15 at 12:14 PM.
Finally got the ol' girl out of the garage on Sunday; Had to do some interior work on the Z and wanted to be in the shady garage doing it, where it was only 90*.
Once I had the Beastie down off the skates and idling in the driveway, though, the urge to sake her for a spin around the neighborhood was overpowering, even though it was damn hot out.
Finally got the ol' girl out of the garage on Sunday; Had to do some interior work on the Z and wanted to be in the shady garage doing it, where it was only 90*.
Once I had the Beastie down off the skates and idling in the driveway, though, the urge to sake her for a spin around the neighborhood was overpowering, even though it was damn hot out.
Funnzors!
I've got a Tandem Garage so mine tends to not get driven enough because it's a pain in the *** to move the 3 sedan out onto the street. I did manage to take it on a short errand the other night (after it cooled down!). I will have to take it out for a good wash before JCCS.
Fungus looking friggin AMAZING. Opinion on the center console: I like it without!
Suggestion: fabricate a custom (wait for it......) CUP HOLDER to replace the console! Just a single cup holder. To keep your Capri Sun handy while you race.
there is a cabinet on the left side, so there is a small chance i can pull a fender/headlight/bumpers and sneak my car by, but i didn't get a chance to measure the cabinet, so i'm not sure.
not sure what plan B was, but both of these are 1st gens, so we could, you know, drive them. it is 400miles each way
there is a cabinet on the left side, so there is a small chance i can pull a fender/headlight/bumpers and sneak my car by, but i didn't get a chance to measure the cabinet, so i'm not sure.
not sure what plan B was, but both of these are 1st gens, so we could, you know, drive them. it is 400miles each way
Uhaul rents car trailers, I rented one from them, it was actually really cheap
there is a cabinet on the left side, so there is a small chance i can pull a fender/headlight/bumpers and sneak my car by, but i didn't get a chance to measure the cabinet, so i'm not sure.
not sure what plan B was, but both of these are 1st gens, so we could, you know, drive them. it is 400miles each way
Maybe take off the front bumper if that gets you enough room. Its just 2 14mm bolts (up through from the underside) and disconnect the parking light harnesses. Slides on and off easily enough
Maybe take off the front bumper if that gets you enough room. Its just 2 14mm bolts (up through from the underside) and disconnect the parking light harnesses. Slides on and off easily enough
its not 38" long though!
i'm already pulling both bumpers off my car, and maybe the left fender/headlight/header panel, and the rear bumper off of the other car, even then....
Changed the transmission and differential oil. Cleaned the undercoating and grease off the differential. Adjusted the drums. Installed the T3 strut brace ad new V belts for the dual pulley. Then took it for a drive! Maybe later I'll give it a wash and wax.
Been a while since I posted. Still daily driving the 85 GSL converted to an EV. A few months back I replace the front strut tubes with the KYB's that Mazdatrix carries. The ones in the car were starting to rattle a bit. The replacements were better. However there was a rattle in the right front that was getting worse. I jacked it up thinking that maybe I got a bad tube but it turned out I didn't get the piece that holds it together tightened up and it was loose about 1 and a half turns. I checked the other side and I was able to tighten another 1/8th turn. This completely solved the rattling.
I have been preparing the car to set a couple of EV drag records in about a month. There are numerous classes. I am mostly interested in the Street Class (SC) which does not allow for any changes to the car except for the conversion to battery electric operation. Interior must be intact with stock seats. Tires must be stock street tires. No modifications for lightening so no carbon or fiberglass replacement panels and no polycarbonate windows. There are 14 different voltage ranges of the traction battery. A lot of people have worked on setting records at the lower voltages, 0 volts through 132 volts. Your power is limited by your voltage and the battery sag. The largest controller available can do 2000 amps and that means the max possible power into the motor would be 132 volts times 2000 amps / 746 = 354 HP into the motor of which about 60% comes out as mechanical. So 212 HP into the transmission and differential of which 85% makes it to the wheels giving 180 WHP. But it is worse than this because the batteries sag under load so you never see that voltage. You can beat this with multiple motors and controllers. The controller I have is limited to 1000 amps so the only way I can increase power is to increase the voltage. I have built a reconfigurable battery pack so I can get four voltage ranges above the Low voltage ones mentioned above. A (300 volts), B (240 volts), C (192 volts), and D (168 volts). I am going to concentrate on B, C, and D for this summer. What I should see for WHP is around 131 WHP for class A, 119 WHP for class B, 105 WHP for class C and finally 99 WHP for class D. In all cases I should see 266 ft-lb at the wheels pretty much from zero up to some RPM which depends on the voltage. Horsepower is torque times RPM. With the daily driving battery pack which weighs a little over 400 lbs I see the torque drop off at about 3200 RPM. With the highest voltage racing pack this should be flat from 0 to around 5000 rpm. This wide of a torque band is unique to electric motors and makes the car very quick off the line. Wankels have their torque up high. My redline is 6000 but there is no power up that high so I never get close to that. And probably nothing bad would happen to the motor until it got to over 8000 rpm. But I don't want to see that. The drag racing battery pack only weighs about 55 lbs so the car weighs about 350 lbs less with the drag pack. With the street pack the car weighs 2424 lbs and should weigh around 2074 lbs. I am going to take the battery charger out of the car for the races and that should save another 25 lbs so call it 2050 without me. This is lighter than a stock FB. There are currently records for the 1/8th mile only in SC/D of 9.128@72.92 mph set by an Electric TVR in Jan of 2015. I know I cant beat that now with the street pack but hopefully the lighter weight and greater power output of the drag battery will do it.
The action should take place on Oct 4 at Dyno Dons 1/8 mile strip in Sikeston MO. Wish me luck!
Found a SE swap at the yard today
The booster and proportion valve were gone already. Anyone know if I can use a GSL prop valve with an SE suspension?
Should work fine. My '79 was converted to '84 GSL brakes and suspension (master cylinder, prop valve, and lines as well), then subsequently converted to GSL-SE brakes using the same MC, etc. No problems. The relative size of the discs front to rear is about the same. I'm not sure that there is an actual difference in the MCs and prop valves, but the GSL units work.
Been a while since I posted. Still daily driving the 85 GSL converted to an EV. A few months back I replace the front strut tubes with the KYB's that Mazdatrix carries. The ones in the car were starting to rattle a bit. The replacements were better. However there was a rattle in the right front that was getting worse. I jacked it up thinking that maybe I got a bad tube but it turned out I didn't get the piece that holds it together tightened up and it was loose about 1 and a half turns. I checked the other side and I was able to tighten another 1/8th turn. This completely solved the rattling.
I have been preparing the car to set a couple of EV drag records in about a month. There are numerous classes. I am mostly interested in the Street Class (SC) which does not allow for any changes to the car except for the conversion to battery electric operation. Interior must be intact with stock seats. Tires must be stock street tires. No modifications for lightening so no carbon or fiberglass replacement panels and no polycarbonate windows. There are 14 different voltage ranges of the traction battery. A lot of people have worked on setting records at the lower voltages, 0 volts through 132 volts. Your power is limited by your voltage and the battery sag. The largest controller available can do 2000 amps and that means the max possible power into the motor would be 132 volts times 2000 amps / 746 = 354 HP into the motor of which about 60% comes out as mechanical. So 212 HP into the transmission and differential of which 85% makes it to the wheels giving 180 WHP. But it is worse than this because the batteries sag under load so you never see that voltage. You can beat this with multiple motors and controllers. The controller I have is limited to 1000 amps so the only way I can increase power is to increase the voltage. I have built a reconfigurable battery pack so I can get four voltage ranges above the Low voltage ones mentioned above. A (300 volts), B (240 volts), C (192 volts), and D (168 volts). I am going to concentrate on B, C, and D for this summer. What I should see for WHP is around 131 WHP for class A, 119 WHP for class B, 105 WHP for class C and finally 99 WHP for class D. In all cases I should see 266 ft-lb at the wheels pretty much from zero up to some RPM which depends on the voltage. Horsepower is torque times RPM. With the daily driving battery pack which weighs a little over 400 lbs I see the torque drop off at about 3200 RPM. With the highest voltage racing pack this should be flat from 0 to around 5000 rpm. This wide of a torque band is unique to electric motors and makes the car very quick off the line. Wankels have their torque up high. My redline is 6000 but there is no power up that high so I never get close to that. And probably nothing bad would happen to the motor until it got to over 8000 rpm. But I don't want to see that. The drag racing battery pack only weighs about 55 lbs so the car weighs about 350 lbs less with the drag pack. With the street pack the car weighs 2424 lbs and should weigh around 2074 lbs. I am going to take the battery charger out of the car for the races and that should save another 25 lbs so call it 2050 without me. This is lighter than a stock FB. There are currently records for the 1/8th mile only in SC/D of 9.128@72.92 mph set by an Electric TVR in Jan of 2015. I know I cant beat that now with the street pack but hopefully the lighter weight and greater power output of the drag battery will do it.
The action should take place on Oct 4 at Dyno Dons 1/8 mile strip in Sikeston MO. Wish me luck!
I've said it before, but your EV build is really cool. I'd like to convert one of my engineless chassis one of these days, but it would basically have to be for fun - currently, the motor and controller cost more than a rotary rebuild (a DIY one, anyway), not to mention the batteries. Hopefully costs will come down over the next few years. I know it's come down a bit since I started looking at EVs a decade or two ago.
I've said it before, but your EV build is really cool. I'd like to convert one of my engineless chassis one of these days, but it would basically have to be for fun - currently, the motor and controller cost more than a rotary rebuild (a DIY one, anyway), not to mention the batteries. Hopefully costs will come down over the next few years. I know it's come down a bit since I started looking at EVs a decade or two ago.
Thanks. I know there have been several FB's converted. In retrospect it makes a good platform. The only thing I don't have that would be nice is air conditioning. My next one will. I don't have any room left for it. Have to redo a lot of stuff under the hood.
An electric motor is a rotary device and in a number of ways is even more rotary than the Wankel. I both miss the noise and am glad it is not there at the same time (if that makes sense).
The way to do a real monster conversion would be to get the drive system out of a salvage Tesla model S and then fit an IRS. If you can find one they seem to go for about $6000. I think it would fit in an FB but it might make more sense to put it in an FD. The Tesla drive system includes the motor, differential and motor controller (Inverter) and weighs about 300 lbs giving 440 ft-lb and 400+ HP (without insane or ludicrous modes). the 9.73 final drive ratio amplifies the torque to 4319 ft-lbs. Not quite twice the weight of the car. It would make a scary fast FB. From my admittedly optimistic drag race sim:
0-60 time of 1.35 secs
60' time of 1.42 secs
100 mph reached 2.50 secs
Max RPM reached in 3.62 seconds (15500) 116 mph
1/8 mile 5.31 secs
1/4 mile 9.18 secs
The problem is traction. I put the GSL-SE tire size into the sim which is why the top speed is so low. I don't know what you could fit for tires on an FB. Weight of vehicle with driver and a lightweight drag racing battery pack would be around 2400 lbs with 440 hp. I really need to add in the rolling resistance and air drag.
i believe in entropy, so while you were covering yours, i uncovered mine and changed the coolant. and the oil filter base, i had put an FD one in there with a temp sender, but i switched back to the period correct one. thereby keeping the universe in order
Today I mounted up my bike rack with the cargo basket.
So if you are going this direction, you should raise the ride height by about 6 inches,
added larger knobby tires and then put big shields under the frontend and rear diff.
Oh and then put some huge Cibie lights across the top of the windshield. Rally ready!
Just messin with ya! To each his own, the mods look nicely done.
So if you are going this direction, you should raise the ride height by about 6 inches,
added larger knobby tires and then put big shields under the frontend and rear diff.
Oh and then put some huge Cibie lights across the top of the windshield. Rally ready!
Just messin with ya! To each his own, the mods look nicely done.
And a winch, because if I go ANYWHERE off road, I'm probably going to get stuck.
I have rallycrossed the car and that's kinda what gave me the utility idea. Just having fun with it. If I could do it cheaply, I would be tempted to raise it and add knobby tires.
I put a sticker on the hood, scrubbed the underside of the hood, charged the AC, and replaced the noisemaker air filter with the nicely polished stock can. Much more civilized.
08-20-15, 12:19 AM
