Freelander 1 Freelander EV

Dar ran Dar ran said:

I think it’s a bit more than trade making them jump up and down

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To be honest I don't have a clue why they hate the protocol so much and I'm related to one of them . They were 100% behind B&3*!t in the first place and the Protocol (or something like it) was always going to be the inevitable outcome.
But please don't reply to this. I don't want my build thread to degenerate into politics.
Slightly more relevant to my last post I discovered yesterday I will not be able to fit hall sensors in my Alternator.
I tried on a second dirty old one and ended up damaging the coils. Others have made it work but their alternator had fewer coils and bigger gaps between them so they had more room. This means I will not be able to use a Sine wave controller which need hall sensors to work correctly.
But it's not a disaster as it will still work with a square wave controller and will still be quieter and more efficient than the GM electric PS pump.

Even though I've increasingly worried that Ali's probably going to kick my nuts for all the observations I've made throughout this project, I've erm, got another thing to point out....

@Alibro - do me a favour pal, put a grommet on the hole I've circled red on your alte-motor and heat-shrink the frack out of those blue and brown wires to stop them chaffing, shorting and starting a fire.

And since I'm most likely getting my stones kicked anyways, I figure "in for a penny in for a pound" so I'm probably as well to ask @Alibro to put some extra weld along the green lines to prevent the top and bottom tacks succumbing to vibration:

Jayridium said:

And since I'm most likely getting my stones kicked anyways, I figure "in for a penny in for a pound" so I'm probably as well to ask @Alibro to put some extra weld along the green lines to prevent the top and bottom tacks succumbing to vibration:
View attachment 252590

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LOL. I figured some smart arse might comment on those welds.
They're welded from below and above so all should be OK.
However much as I hate to admit when a smart arse is right, the cables coming out of the alternator could do with some reinforcement.
Yes the cover is plastic and yes they have thick insulation but the vibrations in a car are significant so I'll do as suggested.

Alibro said:

LOL. I figured some smart arse might comment on those welds.
They're welded from below and above so all should be OK.
However much as I hate to admit when a smart arse is right, the cables coming out of the alternator could do with some reinforcement.
Yes the cover is plastic and yes they have thick insulation but the vibrations in a car are significant so I'll do as suggested.

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Better being a smart ass than a dumb ass....

...Seriously though, I'd like to reiterate that any observations that I share with you aren't a dig at you, it's just me trying to share "the spectator sees more of the ball game" perspective with you.

Jayridium said:

Better being a smart ass than a dumb ass....

...Seriously though, I'd like to reiterate that any observations that I share with you aren't a dig at you, it's just me trying to share "the spectator sees more of the ball game" perspective with you.

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I know that mate, I can see when someone is just being a dick and when they are genuinely coming up with helpful suggestions like you are.
All positive criticism is welcome as I often miss stuff others see. It's normal when you are so close to a project you don't see the obvious stuff.
I'm only having a laugh, I try not to take myself too seriously as life is Waaay too short so please don't be offended as I will surely insult you again.
A mate of mine used to say, "If I'm not insulting you I don't like you"

We're on the same page then...

...Does that mean I dinnae have to wear a groin guard if there's ever a freelandyzone meet up?

Jayridium said:

We're on the same page then...

...Does that mean I dinnae have to wear a groin guard if there's ever a freelandyzone meet up?

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Probably!

I've been dithering for the last few weeks trying to figure out the best way to secure the battery/PS frame to the chassis legs.
I didn't want to use rivnuts as I'm not convinced they would be suitable for such a heavy unit. The bolts don't need to support any weight but I still wasn't happy with the idea.
It was while trial fitting yesterday it suddenly occurred there is a hole in the front of the chassis leg big enough to fit plate through with nuts welded to it.


So this is what I came up with.


The ropy looking box section is just some scrap steel welded on as a handle to hold it while fitting.


And this is what it looks like from the engine/motor bay



I just need to do the same for the other side.
So now I'm happy everything will be nice and solid I can get on with finishing the stupid thing.

So I spent a few hours today building up the under bonnet frame for inverter, high Voltage contactor box and possibly charger and a few batteries.


Originally I couldn't decide if I wanted the inverter as high as possible or as low as possible so welded in the the lower cross sections but had the uprights high enough to weld in the upper section if required. Today I decided the 3 phase wiring would be strained badly at the lower height so went ahead and welded in the upper cross bars.
When I first started building this I wasn't happy the frame was supported enough for batteries so I wasn't going to put any on it but I now think it is possible. I had a root around my scrap metal box and found the 4mm or 5mm angle bracket you can see under the upper tie arm and drilled a couple of holes to bolt it in. The lower bolt screws into an extension of the nut holder in the photos in the previous post and for the upper bolt I just tapped the chassis arm. I may try to adapt the nut holder bracket thingy for the upper bolt but for now I think it's OK.



I plan to weld in a bit of box section on the diagonal as shown below, in the photo this is just held with a magnet but when properly welded in the frame should be strong enough to take the weight of batteries so long I do something similar at the rearmost section too. I wouldn't be happy supporting batteries with only a few bolts in the upper tie arm support.



I also went to see a car for sale that the seller said had water put in the diesel tank. He claimed the car was clean but when I saw it I was very disappointed. It was truly a dog that had lain unused for years with the boot window down, so the search for a clean high spec car with a dead engine continues. I can't believe how few Freelanders there are for sale now compared to a couple of years ago.

Alibro said:

So I spent a few hours today building up the under bonnet frame for inverter, high Voltage contactor box and possibly charger and a few batteries.
I also went to see a car for sale that the seller said had water put in the diesel tank. He claimed the car was clean but when I saw it I was very disappointed. It was truly a dog that had lain unused for years with the boot window down, so the search for a clean high spec car with a dead engine continues. I can't believe how few Freelanders there are for sale now compared to a couple of years ago.

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A boy I worked wiht did the opposite, put diesel in the water tank....


...of a camper can. As in diesel int he DRINKING water tank

I think, maybe I've finally finished beefing up the under bonnet frame so it should be strong enough for batteries.
You can see some more triangulation and gusseting and I now have decent strength at every corner.



It ended up kinda messy but in my defence, when I started I didn't have a clue how I was going to do it or how to secure it to the chassis in a way that would be strong yet didn't require welding directly to the chassis. If I started again now I would do it differently but I've no intention of doing that and am happy it will be OK.

Here are a few more pics.





There are still a several issues to sort out, I need to decide where the HV battery box will go and what shape/size it will be. I also need to decide what charger and DC to DC converter I will go with, where the heater will go, coolant pumps, brake vac pump and probably 10 other things I've forgotten about but I'm still moving (at a glacier pace) in the right direction.

This is a great idea please let me know how you get on. If i had a garage i would store it for the next few years until it got cheaper
https://www.londonelectriccars.com/
I found this company, they estimate 30k in general

James Pond said:

This is a great idea please let me know how you get on. If i had a garage i would store it for the next few years until it got cheaper
https://www.londonelectriccars.com/
I found this company, they estimate 30k in general

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LOL, I think it's a TERRIBLE idea and the number of man hours I've spent on it so far would tend to agree.
If I wasn't having fun and enjoying the process I would have given up long ago.

I wonder how much of that £30k is parts, and how much is labour ?

For the nissan Leaf powered Mini allow 5k to 10k for parts 15k for labour and 5k for profit.
Probably

BTW your battery frame is looking good. It looks like it would support an elephant, let alone the batteries & controller stuff..

pwood999 said:

BTW your battery frame is looking good. It looks like it would support an elephant, let alone the batteries & controller stuff..

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LOL, thanks. I tend to work from the possibility that my welds may not be as strong as they could or should be so to mitigate I over engineer.
Plus the idea of 100kg or more of battery and electronics bouncing down the road because I was too lazy or stupid to do it right doesn't appeal.

Alibro said:

Plus the idea of 100kg or more of battery and electronics bouncing down the road because I was too lazy or stupid to do it right doesn't appeal.

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You mean unlike an EV conversion on YT at the moment?
I'm just waiting for the motor to fall out of that one.

Nodge68 said:

You mean unlike an EV conversion on YT at the moment?
I'm just waiting for the motor to fall out of that one.

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Ermmm, I couldn't possibly comment.