Zilla wiring/cabling in progress

The Zilla and Hairball have been *mostly* cabled and wired up. I am trying to keep wiring tidy as I go through this process - it can get messy in a hurry. Here is a pic of the Zilla mount:


And here is a picture of the Hairball mount:


The HEPI accelerator has been wired in as well. The only things missing are the key input and start input wires from the keyswitch. Today I also put work in on the Zilla water pump mount - yes, the Zilla is water-cooled. I made a mount shelf for the mini-reservoir and electric pump - picture pending. This mount will also contain the relays for the vaccuum and water pumps, which will also be wired to the key input. Still working on the cooling plumbing for the Zilla, which is about half-done and consists of coolant tubes running in and out of the Zilla. As I understand it, you can run the Zilla without such cooling, but it is recommended for longer life of the component. At the price I paid for the Zilla, I am a BIG fan of longer life for that thing.

I fixed the sheared bolt situation on the motor as well - by removing the lower nut. Still clearance for the cable lug, so I dodged a bullet there! So the motor is officially wired in as well.

This weekend I went with a friend to the Greenwood Auto Show, which reportedly has a pretty big EV contingent, which grows every year. Surprisingly, I met and had a nice chat with John Wayland and got to see his White Zombie EV up close for the first time, along with some other cool EV conversions! Pics forthcoming.

Christmas came early this year!

I completely expected the Zilla to show up in August, based on backorder estimates. I was completely floored when a package from Cafe Electric showed up on my doorstep today. Woo-hoo!
My EV may be running sooner than I thought! I unpacked the Z1K and HB2, and did a test fit on the mounts. Here is a pic of how the Zilla fits on the side (no cables yet):
And here is how the Hairball interface fits in the firewall mount:
It's all coming together! Next step is to wire these guys up properly.

Makin' Cables, part 3

Boy, I have never gotten so sore, or sick of making cables. The good news is I am almost done. The front was a cabling nightmare, routing stuff between the various HV components, both there and soon to be there. Here is a picture of most stuff laid out:Notice the batteries are in and the power brake booster has tubing! Also note the two main HV posts along the back wall. I found this was necessary to keep things in order, and also separating them by a significant amount made good safety sense.

I also cabled up the motor as much as I could, but suffered a (hopefully) minor setback with one of the motor bolts shearing. Ack! Hopefully I can replace the bolt or figure a workaround without taking the motor out!

The HV Side Module

Those poly cutting boards are a great resource. They cut easily, are drillable, durable, waterproof and are an electrical insulator material. I am using this material anywhere I need mounts, and this is usually in the engine compartment. I started on the HV side module, which will contain the Z1K, the contactor and the current shunt. Even though I don't have the Zilla, I do know the dimensions. This module will also be removable as a unit, allowing me to do work on it outside the engine compartment if I need to. Here is a pic of the HV module, complete with bolt holes that go through into the fender well.More mounts to follow. My wife thinks its a crime how I cut up perfectly good cutting boards!

Makin' Cables, part 2

I started crafting the battery cables. Still don't have a heat gun, so the heat shrink collars are still loose. I laid out the batteries and cables (without attaching) to see how the dimensions work:
Note the cable conduit. I have decided not to put an eighth battery back here, to allow room for the cables and conduit. So the back cabling is close to complete (still waiting for the charger)!

HV Plumbing Update

Sunday I tried using fish tape to pull three 2/0 cables through the 1.5" PVC plumbing network I had built under the EV. Ha! I found out the hard way that, even if the cable *is* flexible welding cable, three of them can't snake through more than two 45 degree turns without considerable elbow grease.

I had to rethink the PVC pipe to be essentially a straight shot back, engine compartment to the battery box. Just finished it tonight, with the only bend being a slight rise to get over the rear axle. I was able to keep the straight run with the bracket (the hardest part of the original install).

Pictures of the new undercarriage arrangement. Notice, hardly any turns, and straight into the box:


BTW, my 2/0 automotive battery clamps arrived today with protective hoods. So I can start making battery cables soon!

HV Wiring Conduit Installation

There will be three HV cables running between the rear and front of the car - the HV+, HV- and HV/2 cables. In order for these cables NOT to run through the passenger compartment, I decided to create an under-car 1.5" PVC conduit in the center channel where the exhaust pipe used to be. I started as near to the rear box as possible. Here is a picture of the rear inlet.
Cables will enter it from a center space under the reinforcing member. From there, they travel through the space formerly occupied by the fuel tank, over the rear axle and into the center channel...
Three brackets constructed of 1/16" steel are bolted in through bolts placed in the floor of the car.It resides well-protected in the center channel. Getting up into the engine compartment was a bit tricky, as I had to navigate around the steering rack.From here it's an easy route up through the passenger side corner of the engine compartment. I did a test run of one 2/0 cable, and although I purposely avoided many right angles in the route, the cable still wouldn't go on its own. Time for some fish tape to help with the cable pulling.