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Making a Tow Plate · 929 days ago by Seth Rothenberg

I bought a Tow Plate for $50 on E-bay.
OK, sounds cheap, but it’s rated for 5000 lb,

Only problem, it needs a real bumper or a bar to bolt to.

So, I’m building a Tow Adaptor.

I saw drawings of adaptors that sell for $400,
but they were designed for a particular tow bar,
which is also $400. It seems I can do better.

(I’m not RV’ing across the country….I’m going across town.)

Notes:
The Tow Bar is a self-adjusting isoscoles triangle,
where the car is the base.
Each bar ends in various joints, and finally a contact plate
that will bolt to the “tow plate”. The contact plate is 1/4” thick,
and has 2 half-inch bolts 3.5” apart….the two plates
should be 24-41” apart.

The tow vehicle hitch is 12” off the ground.
This matches the Saturn bumper. Blah.
Above the Saturn bumper is a grille, originally for
air in the gas engine days.
The grill has plastic bars, horizontal.

My plan is to have 2 tabs protrude through the grille,
attached to an angle iron 1/4” x 2” x 2” x 40”.
Actually, probably each tab will be two 1/4” x 2 flat iron
(from a computer pallet that was delivered to my employer)

Behind and above the grille, is a C-channel that is non-
load bearing. It is 15” off the ground.

40” behind this there is a hole in each frame rail.
The holes are 1.5” diam, and there is room behind
the hole for 1/4” x 2” flat stock. Holes are 26.5” apart.

4” forward of this, 2 holes are 24” apart, 7/8” diam.
nearby, 2 holes, 11/16×1-3/8 are 28.5” apart…
there is room behind them for 1/4×2 x 5, but this is
outside the welds.

17.5” forward, 30” apart, there are 2 holes 1/2” diam.

There are notches above the front sway bar, with
access from behind. They were not measured yet.

Plan is 1/4×2x2×36 on either side,
1/4×2.5×5 with bends to reach up….two bolted together…
will use clevis pins to allow quick disconnect in field.

Comment

Weighing in · 986 days ago by Seth Rothenberg

The car has 22 “traction” or drive batteries.
They don’t hold a charge, but I plan to use them
for early testing, at least to measure vehicle performance.

The batteries are AC/Delco batteries that were
made for EV1’s, measuring 4.5” * 15.5” *7”
and weigh 43 lbs. 43 * 22 = 946lbs

weigh battery/ies, find contribution to F/R ratio
43 lb each 172lb front, 172lb middle, 602lb back = 946lb

Vehicled Max load capacity 864 lb.
Approx engine weight 500 lb
Battery + occupants = 1364 lb
Battery capacity appox 950 lb

Considering replacement batteries,
target is 156 Volts, or 13 twelve-volt batteries.

Trojan 30XHS, for example, is 66lb.
13 * 66 = 858

Trojan T1275 = 82lb = 1066, just 120 lb. increase
over previous batteries. That’s a good sign.

I still need to weigh the car, as is, with batteries,
to figure out how close it is to the GMVWR, the
Gross Maximum Vehicle Weight Rating.
With the increase and a driver, it should not be exceeded.
(It is possible that exceeding this would be
OK, if suspension is enhanced, but it
creates other concerns that are unfavorable.)

Comment

It goes!...But..... · 989 days ago by Seth Rothenberg

Well, in mid-air it goes….I got the front end up on jackstands,
and hooked up one battery that had a charge of 12VDC,
and the motor ran, and I put it in first gear, and the wheels turn!

And in Reverse, the wheels turn backwards!

And using the middle of the chain, two batteries at
12VDC and 11.5 VDC, it also goes forwards and backwards in air

But..!....I do hear drag in the wheels.
Whether it’s brakes dragging (likely) or bearings
that need grease, I don’t know…but my buddy
Willie knows (“Willie can catch him” was the line, right?)...
Willie is my former neighbor, built some drag racers
with friends, may help me with this one.

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Saturn EV TODO · 997 days ago by Seth Rothenberg

Near Term Tasks

Future Tasks

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EV News · 1004 days ago by Seth Rothenberg

I bought an EV!

Well, it’s a “distressed property”....

Basically, its the very desirable, huge
Kostov motor, with an adaptor plate,
in a donor car, a 1995 Saturn.

The batteries are dead, the Controller and Charger
and DC/DC and vacuum pump were taken by the
previous owner, but the car rolls, the motor turns,
and it’s a starting point.

Front view

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Snow Removal · 1123 days ago by Seth Rothenberg

This is the reality.
I finished the snowblower long after I had shovelled
this snow.

Snow Removal Reality

Worse yet, I confirmed that a 1 HP motor
with in a 1:3 belt drive ratio won’t move much snow.

I hope to do one of several things.
a) find a new gear for the driven pulley (hard, because it seems to be bolted on to the propeller shaft)
b) Find a new gear for the drive pulley (hard, since it is just 2”)
c) find a different motor (hard, because the budget for this project was totally ignored in equipping my “machine shop” to build this “EV”.

This blog will have much more information as
I learn how to use it, and how to build EV’s.
I took about 100 pictures while converting the snowblower.

My first EV conversion... · 1123 days ago by Seth Rothenberg

Before I try a big project like converting a car,
I thought I would convert something small
like a snowblower…

Note! Be sure to read the next article…

EV Blog Kick-off · 1150 days ago by Seth Rothenberg

This is the beginning of my EV Blog.
Let’s see if it works….

If you got to here, it must be working.