I got the left transmission mount today and fabricated a motor mount in 40x40x4mm angle steel. I'm not 100% sure about the geometries since I used the bottom transmission mount from the gasoline transmission. It doesn't fit the diesel transmission that good but at least it holds everything about right. I have ordered a used diesel bottom transmission mount so when I get that I will adjust the motor mount a well.
Installing the motor and transmission using the hoist
The motor is in!
When I decided on the Kostov K9HV motor I really took a chance when it comes to its size. I see now that it is a perfect fit! There is only half a centimeter between the front side of the motor mount and the frame of the car. The back side of the motor mount I actually had to reduce by a centimeter to get it in there. The rear axle of the motor is protruding under the frame. So a larger motor would not fit. At least not a longer motor.
A tight fit between the motor mount and the car frame
I made two integration tests today and tried to mount the motor to the transmission.
After my frind Ola had machined off a centimeter of material from the flywheel it was balanced enough to test. I have been thinking of getting a special tool for centering the clutch plate to the flywheel bu now I just used a vernier caliper to measure the distance between the clutch plate and the holes in the flywheel and centering it manually. That turned out to be good enough. The garage hoist was a bless to use for navigating the 55 kg heavy motor/adapter/flywheel/clutch assembly.
Mounting the motor to the transmission
It turned out that the fit is so tight I could not get the motor and transmisstion together. Maybe the flywheel for the VW New Beetle, for which the adapter is originally made, has a smaller flywheel.
So, test number two failed as well.
I then removed the gear ring on the flywheel to make it smaller and shaved off a small indent on the inside of the transmission that seemed to be in the way.
After removing the gear ring from the flywheel
I used a simple propane burner that I normally use for an (other) outdoor stove to heat the gear ring and then a hammer and chisel to beat it off.
The indent before and after shaving with a angle grinder
Without the gear ring and indent I managed to push the motor and transmission together! Horray!
After reading several electric conversion blogs I now know that if you convert at car to electric you have to make a video with the first test run of the motor and transmission together ;) So, here is mine:
The Kostov K9HV arrived yesterday from Bulgaria. It is a really neat little motor and I am amazed it will be able to accelerate the A2 0-100 in 10 seconds and give it a top speed of 130 km/h. Well, we'll see!
First spin
I connected it to 12V and gave it a first spin and it works allright. I also connected the motor-transmission adapter to it.
When I mounted the flywheel to the adapter I noticed a substantial unbalance. So severe that I had to shut it down after just a few seconds. After some investigation it turns out the flywheel is unbalanced!
The unbalanced flywheel. Note the big piece of material missing in the lower left!
I thought I was smart to get exactly the flywheel that is used on the engine that fits the transmission that I'm using. But that engine is a three cynlinder diesel engine which, because it has only three cylinders, is unbalanced. To counteract the imbalance of the engine VAG made the flywheel equally unbalanced the other way. That means the flywheel will only work with those three cylinder engines and not my perfectly balanced little Kostov motor :(
So the solution is to use another flywheel. I hope the existing flywheel from the four cylinder petrol engine in the car will work. The only difference I know of is that the clutch is smaller on the petrol engine so maybe the diesel clutch will not fit.
The other day the Soliton Jr motor controller arrived from Rebbl in the Netherlands. The Soliton is an American made controller manufactured by Evnetics in Florida.
The Soliton Jr
It is a beutiful piece of machinery made from a single piece of aluminum. It can take a maximum of 340VDC input and produce 450A continous motor current. Its maximum power output is 150kW which is more than enough for the little Audi A2. Actually the Kostov K9HV motor that will drive the A2 has a maximum power of 80kW and can deliver 31kW continously. That will be enough for 130 km/h sustained speed and acceleration of 0-100km/h in 10 seconds.
Well, that's according to my simulations. We will see when we get there...
;)
The motor to transmission adapter arrived today from Rebbl in the Netherlands. It is manufactured by Rebirth Auto in th US for VW New Beetle. It turns out it fits perfectly on the Audi A2 1.4 TDI transmission. Apart from the M12 and M10 bolts it needs two guide pins to find the right position so I have to get those.
Tha adapter on the transmission
Also, the VW Polo flywheel fits nicely onto the adapter.
However, the bolts that I bought from a VAG shop for the flywheel didnt fit. They are thread M10x1 and they can be threaded down half a turn but then they get stuck. I also tried a normal M10 (M10x1,5) but it didn't fit either. I guess it could be a UNC thread that is used in the US so I will ask Rebbl and Rebirth Auto about it.
Different threads?
Or, I realize now when looking at thread tables that it could be a M10x1,25. Will try to find one tomorrow and test.
