7/22/10

Happy Casual Pi Day.* Well, I'm giving thought to an electric conversion again. The other day John and I were discussing what engine was going in what car. Since we decided that Nadine was going to get the KA-24 due to (tee hee, I said doo doo) its displacement advantage, that left the Chickenhawk without an engine, so to speak. I don't want to go back in with the Z-20, especially without the hot rod cam, so we were thinking of other options. I asked him, “Electric Chickenhawk, forward or backward?” I think he’s on board for that. I began looking at kits again. My biggest problem with the whole scheme, other than the appearance of giving two thirds of a shit about the environment, is the fact that the batteries alone will weigh as much as the rest of the car. Literally, the battery pack for a 96 volt system, using sixteen 6 volt flooded lead/acid batteries would weigh 1,072 pounds! Substituting twelve 8 volt batteries drops the pack weight to 774 pounds, but at the cost of some range. A 144 volt system using 8 volt batteries has a pack weight of 1,161 pounds. (You don't want to know how much 144 volts worth of 6 volt batteries weigh. Suffices to say it is more than the Chickenhawk weighed with a gasoline engine.) Hells bells, I just realized that 144 volts worth of batteries weigh more than The Seven! Yikes! OK, so if I guesstimate the Z-20 engine and all its accessories to weigh 400 pounds, that puts the Chickenhawk as a chassis with transmission at around 1,100 pounds. (Yes, I weighed the Chickenhawk and it did weigh 1,499 pounds with the Z-20 engine. John can poo-poo that figure all he wants, I seen’t it.) A 150 pound WarP 9 motor plus 774 pounds of batteries jumps us to vehicle weight of 2,024 pounds. Figure at least another 175 pounds of stuff like battery trays, motor controller, wiring, and various bric-a-brac, we’re looking at a 2,200 pound car. OK, so that really isn't so bad in the real world, but to a Datsun 1200 Guy, that is a very heavy vehicle. Hell, anything over a ton and it might as well be a freight train. I'm not sure I could live with a 1200 that was that portly. I may have to do more cipherin’ and figgerin’ on this idea. Oh, not to mention a “Universal Kit” costs about $6,500.00 plus shipping. I'm not sure how I'd finance this venture. The thought occurs that Nadine with a KA-24 might be sufficiently “British” that The Seven becomes... well, not superfluous, but perhaps more... for sale? I figure if I could get at least $15,000.00 for it, I could pay off some debt and buy the universal conversion kit for the Chickenhawk. Of course, unless someone offers me over $20,000.00 for it, I'm not going to sell The Seven until after Nadine is up and running and I know it is a suitable/acceptable replacement. “Twenty K” is my tipping point, yes. Over that and I'd be a fool to refuse. Oh, I suppose extenuating circumstances could prevent a twenty-large sale. Say, for instance, that douche “singer” from U2 wanted it. I'd burn it to the ground before allowing that turd-sandwich to own it. Yep, I'm that spiteful. I was going to make a list of other shit-for-brains assholes I wouldn't allow to buy The Seven, but decided against it. Well, I'm just about bored with y'all today and it is after 1500 h. I think I'll call it a rant and... I don't know, play solitaire, or take a nap, or who knows.

*Because 22/7 is an approximation of the value of Pi, duh.