9/11/13

Ok, I think I'm going to run screaming away from the electric conversion idea after all.  I've been thinking about it and looking into various options and it is beginning to give me a headache.  I did find out that NetGain makes their WarP series motors with a GM Turbo 400 output yoke now.  That would make connecting to a driveshaft ever so easy.  That got me thinking, “motor behind/between the seats and a driveshaft either running forward to a Datsun 720 pickup front differential or backward to the narrowed Toyota axle.”  Larry suggested the Honduh transaxle and the motor up front.  Basically I'd use an EV kit for a Honduh Civic VX and some of the bits to install that in a Mini.  I wouldn’t need the Full Monty Mini Mania VTEC kit, just the bits to mate the transaxle’s output to the Mini’s wheels.  That was when the headache began.  I was trying to cipher and figger on how much different the price was going to be and finally said, “Fuck it!  We’re building the liquid-dinosaur powered Honduh version!  Screw the environment.”  Hell’s bells, the thing will still be “green” due to (tee hee, I said "doo doo!") the fact that that engine is the high-fuel-economy donk of the Civic line and otter get somewhere in the bajillion mile per gallon range in a Mini… all while making three times the horsepower of the stock Mini lump!  Oh, and there is one more factor against an electric conversion: it won't go “Brrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaap!” out the zorst, what with it not having a zorst and all.  Every time I open the door to the new shop and see that wee little megaphone poking out from the center of the Mini, I dream of the day when it barks to life again.  Yeah, we need an infernal combustion engine in there.  So, there’s all of THAT going on.  As for Lil' Wiggly, I've been cipherin’ and figgerin’ on how to re-route the serpentine belt to make it work.  I think I have two options… but first I need to describe the pulley situation.  The crank pulley, alternator, and idler all work on the ribbed side of the belt.  The water pump and the tensioner run on the smooth side of the belt.  What I need to do is make sure the smooth pulleys are in between two ribbed pulleys.  I can do this by running the belt from the crank, to the water pump, to the idler, to the alternator, to the tensioner, and back to the crank.  This is how I've been trying to route it.  The first belt was just a hair too short to go on even without the tensioner in place whereas the second belt was… just way to friggin’ long.  So, I think if I re-route the belt so it goes from the crank, to the idler, down to the water pump, back up to the alternator, to the tensioner, and back to the crank we can use a longer belt.  The problem may come in if there isn’t enough wrap around the water pump pulley to get sufficient friction to drive the thing.  In other words, it may slip.  Of course, if that is what I have to do, that is what I have to do.  We’ll check it out Saturday I'm sure.  And I guess I'm going to call it a rant on that note.