Welder

Never waste the opportunity of using a project as an excuse to buy new tools. A lot of fabrication will be required making racks to hold all of the batteries I plan to use. I will also need to make a mount for the new motor. So, I purchased a MIG welder.

Welders join metal by heating the joint above the melting point of the metal. The heating is done by passing current across an air gap between the joint and the welder tip. An arc is formed, and as the sparks fly, some of the metal is vaporized. The welder replaces this with a filler metal. In the case of a MIG welder, the filler metal is a spool of wire fed through the tip of the welder. An inert gas is sprayed around the metal joint to protect the metal from oxidation while the metal is molten.

What is the first project to make with the welder? A welding cart of course. The goals of the cart are to make the welder mobile (the transformer in the welder is heavy), and to store all of the accessories in one location.

My 2 year old son is car crazy.  He loves car shows (Disney's Cars, Top Gear), toy cars, and playing in the Porsche.

Component Layout Planning

There are several activities going on in parallel with the car. They involve painting, water proofing and setting up a new welder so that I can make some of the car parts myself.  Details will be coming soon.

A friend from Minnesota was in town and he wanted to take a look at the car. He asked a very important question, “Where are you going to put all of the batteries?” I’ve been wondering the same thing. I made a few drawings in Google Sketchup. I want to fit 86 cells into the car.  Each cell is 5.59" x 2.64" x 8.58"  (67 mm x 142 mm x 218 mm).



32 cells will fit on the sides of the motor – 16 on each side.


Another 20 cells can fit across the top of the motor. I need to leave room for the motor controller.




35 batteries can fit in the space at the front trunk where the gas tank once resided.

Once I get the motor and transmission mounted in the car I will make cardboard mock-ups of the batteries. After I finalize the placement, I will design the battery racks.