The place I moved to in San Marino has a swimming pool, a deck, a grill, outdoor couches, and a kegerator. Everything one would need to throw great summer parties. But, whenever we throw a party, few people jump in the pool. Why? Because it’s much too cold! The beautiful oak trees that shade our deck, also do a great job of shading our pool. So only in the warmest summer months is our pool decent to swim in. I’m not a big fan of personal swimming pools in general. But if we have it, and are paying for the weekly maintenance, we might as well make is usable.
Things were cheaper back then.
I decided to solve the problem in the most environmentally friendly way I could: a solar water heater. Solar water heating has a strong history in Pasadena. In 1897 30% of all homes here had solar water heaters installed. Sadly, they’re not common today. I can’t change the public behavior, but I can put one on my own roof!
Simple, elegant, inspiring.
I was inspired by a story of a guy building his own home, and constructing a make-shift solar water heater so he could shower after a day in the Florida heat. It seemed very straightforward to build. I started pricing things out and discovered that copper was just a little too expensive. However as I priced it out, it seemed that this plastic, store bought solar water heater would cost about as much, and will work right out of the box. It seemed like a no brainer.
The solar water heater claims to raise the temp of the pool 5-10 degrees. The warmer we can get our pool the better! It also requires a pump. I didn’t want to tie it in with the existing pool pump, as that only runs a few hour during the day. I found a surplus dishwasher pump which claims 10gpm of flow. After a little plumbing, it could be just the thing. I liked the idea of only pumping if the panels were warm, and leaving it off at night. For at night, the solar heat collectors would act as radiators and give off heat instead of taking it in. I have plans for an automatic relay that turns the pump on only when it’s needed. But, for now I can make do with plugging it in manually.
After 4 long months, I finally got the EV back on the road. I apologize for not keeping this blog well updated. In the meantime I’ve done so many small tasks, that it was hard to blog about them.
Here’s a short list of the things I completed:
Fixed the driveshaft
Connected the transmission housing to the motor
Mounted motor
Mounted reversing contactor
Destroyed reversing contactor’s diode
Hooked up reversing contactor between motor/controller
Rebuilt steering column
Replaced steering wheel with later model wheel
Fixed wiring for blinkers
Re-mounted batteries
Test-drove new direct drive set up
2 miles into test drive, noticed speedo failed
Finally leaving the stuffy garage.
There are tons of things to do cosmetically: little small things that I will hopefully get around to fixing. At the moment, I am content with how she’s driving, and I’ll likely work on some other projects until Burning Man is over.
A few weeks ago, Syyn Labs, drove out to the desert to complete a project for Die Hard batteries. It was the culmination of a month’s preparation work. But, unfortunately, we couldn’t actually do most of the work until we got out to the location. The setting was a dry lake bed an hour East of Victorville. There were 24 white and black cars parked, waiting to be set up. We got to work, and in a couple of days arrived at this:
While the setup looks simple and straightforward, it was indeed a lot of hard work. We were working with 20 unique cars, with 4 of them being repeats. We were busy wiring them up so that their brights and horns would sound with a press of a keyboard key 100ft away. Each car required it’s own solution. Some cars we used the fuse box to interrupt the brights. Other cars we ran our own lines to the brights. And even other cars we had pigtail plugs that we were able to snap onto the existing bulbs. Some cars were a dream to work on, easy to get to things, and simple connectors. Other cars required contortionist hands and had tricky wiring.
We had to disconnect all of the batteries inside of the cars and run cables so that all of the cars could run off of a single battery, which was 60 feet out in front of the line of cars. I thought I had brought extra cables, but we used up all 1000 feet of the 1/0 welding cable I hauled out to the desert for this shoot.
To top it all off, we suffered a huge set of problems, right as the production crew was ready to start filming. The EMI from the cars starting and running during testing had knocked out our control schemes. Luckily, Eric Gradman was able to construct an entirely new control layout and recode his computers to get everything to work. I’m fuzzy on tech details, but he basically had to change the command signals through about 4 different protocols between the keyboard and the lights/horns. Once he finished we had an amazingly robust system, despite the kludge of a solution. Eric solved the problem, but there were some tense moments where we weren’t sure it was going to actually work at all. We were all scared of what would happen if we had to abort the project and go home empty handed.
In the end, we were very happy with the result. It really worked and we really made it happen. Congrats to the Syyn Labs team.
After a few weeks of being much too busy to work on the Spitfire, I decided to warm back up with a cosmetic fix that has been nagging me for a while. I decided to tackle the windows, seals, and door trim. While not important to getting the car back on the road, I feel much better about having part of the car in a finished state.
The first thing I had to get the window mechanism working. I greased it up with plenty of white lithium grease and a spritz of WD-40. I then had to figure out how to seat the glass into the mechanism. The original solution was rubber, but that rubber has long since rotted away and replacement parts aren’t available. I made an attempt at using layers of electrical tape and a couple of lengths of an old inner tube to solve the problem. I later found a better solution, but more on that later.
The last time I install waist seals. They look so easy...
I temporarily fit the window in place and began to fit the waist seals. These are the rubber and felt seals that are in the door slot that seal against the window on the outside and inside. The waist seals are held in by clips that grip onto an edge of the door on the inside. They’re notoriously difficult to install, and deceptively unassuming. But, with a homemade hook-like tool and some patience it’s possible to get all of them in place. It only took me three hours to get 4 seals installed.
Silicone and Grease, old friends
With the waist seals where they should be, I ran the windows up and down. The rubber was gripping so hard against the glass that it kept the windows from going down. The glass just pulled out of the mechanism and hung up dangerously. I needed to find a new solution. I asked around on my favorite Spitfire forum and found the solution: using silicone to seal the glass into the mechanism. This provides just enough grip, but it’s also not permanently affixed.
Next I put the door trim back into place and reinstalled the door and window handles. They fit back in with out any difficulty.
It feels great to get another part of the car finished. There is so much more to work on, though. Next I need to figure out the solution to the motor mounting and alignment. I’m going to ask some experts at work for advice.
The ugliest part of my Spitfire has been the wheels. I had intended on cleaning them up and re-painting them, but having the vehicle undriveable for a few days to do so was unthinkable. But, with the car laid up with the transmission work, it was a great time to get this done. The rust may look pretty bad, but it was mostly just on the surface. A Scotch-Brite pad, CLR, and some elbow grease got rid of almost all of the rust. The rest was in the grooves which were hard to get at, but also hard to see.
I took a trip down to the auto paint store and bought some primer, some adhesion promoter and finally some white automotive paint. John Wee, the owner of Daisy Mint, and I followed the directions carefully, which really just means waiting enough between coats. A few bugs tried to kamikaze onto the paint and ruin it, but we carefully picked them out with a pocket knife.
After a couple of days for the epoxy paint to completely dry, I took them to the tire store and they put the tires back on and rebalanced the wheels. They were nice enough to put the lead weights on the inside of the rims so the outside remains beautiful. Plus they gave me a great deal.
Pretty...
After all of that process it cost me $20 to take the tires off, $40 for the paint stuff, and another $40 to put the tires back on and balance them. $100 for brand new wheels? Works for me!
I’ve been making a lot of progress lately, but it’s been a lot of little things that are difficult to write about. I’ll just lump them all together here in one big post.
First I installed the new amber blinkers that I bought. Believe it or not the car originally had plastic lenses, but they not only looked bad, but broke while I tried to install them almost a year ago. I wasn’t sad to see them go. The design is horrible on these things. The only way to get them on is to coax a rubber seal to grip onto the outside of them. Installing each blinker was at least a 30 minute job. I sure hope those bulbs don’t fail anytime soon.
Probably a bit overkill.
Next I welded up a couple of motor mounts. I had cut up some 3/8″ thick steel and welded them in a simple 45 degree angle. I bought some motor mounts and slapped them on. These will be bolted into the frame of the vehicle, and an aluminum plate will be fabricated to span them and bolt to the motor. This plate will have to be welded by my friend, who is fantastic at welding aluminum.
Gratuitously polished
I also drilled and tapped the adaptor plate which mates the motor to the rear transmission extension. I had to spend an hour measuring out exactly where those holes were going to be, as I couldn’t just oversize them and use nut on the other side. The plate is up against the motor itself, and this is just not an option. However, my patience paid off as the holes are aligned well. I still need to attach the forward/reverse shift apparatus to the plate, but the motor mounting stuff is complete.
Ready to hold up the mainshaft.
Finally, I pressed the sealed bearing into the rear extension. This new bearing replaced the older one that had to be swamped with oil. This new one keeps all of its grease to itself, so it’s much easier and cleaner to use. I was happy to no longer need the transmission gear oil.
My motor has an output shaft of 1 1/8″ with a 1/4″ keyway. How do I mate that to the mainshaft with an OD of .920″ and no keyway? Well, I machined a collar to slip over the mainshaft with an OD of 1 1/8″. Then, I milled out a deep keyway, to make sure the key bites into the mainshaft and not just the collar. Of course, this means I had to make an extra deep key to fit. But, that’s not too hard.
Mainshaft detail
I was impressed with how well everything fit together. It really looks like a professional job. *Pats self on back* Thank goodness that I have access to a machine shop at work. And while I’m baby-sitting the battery tests at 3am I can take my time and do my best work. With this high speed rotational stuff, accuracy is very important. A poorly aligned mainshaft can vibrate the car violently, even to the point of breaking something expensive.
While working on the shaft, I accidentally cracked a nylon gear that feeds the speedometer cable. That part wasn’t available anymore from the usual Spitfire parts sources. So, I bought a gear from a later model, and lathed it out so it will fit on my larger shaft.
Not pictured: the smell of machining oil.
The shaft coupler was over an inch too long, as well as being just a touch too wide at the end that is inside of the rear extension. I lathed it down to fit, and the results were great. I was really on a roll in the machine shop.
Dry Fit
I tested everything on the motor, and it fit extremely well. I hooked up the motor to a 12V battery and spun it up. Everything was nice and true. I was very pleased with the result to say the least. Next I need to fit the bearing into the rear extension, and drill out the mounting holes in the adaptor plate. I’m hoping to have the motor mounted in the car in a week or so!
Step 4. Drill and tap holes in the flanges for mounting the speaker and Buna-N rubber sheet. The reasons will become clear in later steps, but I’ll just describe what holes I drilled. One flange will be welded to the tube itself, so it will have nothing but tapped holes (flange on the right). I chose 6-32 as my size. The other flange will be used to hold down a thin sheet of Buna-N rubber to seal the tube. This has 8 countersunk holes for countersunk screws and 4 through holes for the screws which will be used to mount the speaker. I drilled one of the flanges first, then transferred the hole locations through using a punch. This way my holes don’t have to line up to an absolute location, as long as they line up relative to one another. Locating these holes before cutting out the rings is a better option. But, I got ahead of myself. Whoops.
Welded flanges are even hotter.
Step 5. Weld the flange with the tapped holes onto the tube. Make sure to make an nice tight seal with the weld bead. The propane won’t be under a lot of pressure, but you still don’t want too much flammable gas coming out in a place you don’t want.
In the next installment I’ll get the propane-input side of the tube ready and prepare the seal for the speaker end. Once that’s done the Rubens tube is ready for a test!
On April 23rd, 23andme.com ran a special on the anniversary of the discovery of DNA. $99 for their complete ancestry and health analysis kit, which usually costs $499. A bunch of my nerd friends and I got the kit, so we can analyze our own genes. They’re mine, why shouldn’t I know what they say? Apparently 23andme does a very limited analysis, so they wouldn’t butt up against regulations concerning diagnoses, etc. But the data can be run through other DNA analysis programs to get a more in depth look at the data.
I let the kit sit for a few weeks, because I was too busy to spit in a cup. But, I finally got around to it last week, and my sample has been received by 23andme. They say it will take 6-8 weeks to get the data, but my friend has already received his analysis, so maybe they’re just keeping expectations low.
Spit, close, cap, and shake. Knowledge here I come.
I’m not sure how much of the data I’m going to divulge on this blog, but I’ll probably step through the process a bit. Either way, I’m excited to see the data…
An oily rear extension, mainshaft, speedo gear, and rubber mounts.
Progress has been slow lately on the direct drive conversion for my EV. I’ve been a bit busy with life lately. There’s been a lot of planning and discussing with local experts concerning the best way to implement the direct drive system. I’ve settled on using the rear extension off of the back of the transmission. Using it will require some work arounds, but it means I don’t have to worry about the speedometer, the rear mounts, or having to change and rebalance the driveshaft.
Measure twice, cut once.
Meanwhile, I had a number of parts and metal bits on their way. They’ve mostly all arrived, so now I just need to find the time to start fabricating. I started with the metal plate that couples the motor to the rear extension. I used some calipers to measure out the radius of the motor, and where the mounting holes should be. In the center I’ll have to drill a hole big enough for the 2″ OD shaft coupler to go through.
Ready to plunge out a hole.
The hole saw is adequate for the job. Aluminum is soft enough to cut easily. It’s a loud job, and the plate got pretty hot to the touch afterward. But, it works. I predrilled a starter hole for the hole saw to follow. With everything clamped down, it’s a pretty straight forward task. I spend most of my time in the machine shop setting up the big cuts. The cuts themselves don’t take much time at all.
Getting the circle out of the square.
The next step is to cut the 9 1/4″ circle out. Bandsaws are great for this. The key is to go slow, and let the bandsaw do its work. With slow steady pushing, and some guidance by my hands, the result looks professional. It’s not hard to get it right, but it takes some patience. That’s usually true for machine shop work though. It’s taken me years of machining to really learn that lesson. The best way to get a good finished product is to take your time.
My own Aluminum donut.
I still need to drill out some the holes, but it’s definitely taking shape. After I make cuts, I always deburr. I’ve got hands covered in tiny scars to remind me to do this. Not only does it help avoid getting blood on your parts, it also makes the piece look finished. It’s worth the extra few minutes to take pride in your work.
