Let me drop back a second from all the mechanical problems, and talk about the electrical layout.
The battery pack is split between the front and rear of the car. Due to limited space, there will be nine batteries in the back, recessed into the hatchback area. Six batteries will be under the hood. Four where the radiator was, and two near the fire wall. The battery charger is mounted in the hatchback area, next to the battery pack. I located it there to free up space under the hood, in fact the battery charger’s wiring runs to the front of the car. Also I located the battery charger in the hatchback area, because its plug connects where the gas tank filler use to be.
To connect the rear battery pack and charger with the electrical connections under the hood, I’m running a 2" PVC pipe from the rear to the front of the car, basically following the route the exhaust system followed. Credit for this idea goes to Chip Gribben, I first saw it on his Escort.
Under the hood an MDO board will be attached to hinges, mounted to brackets bolted to the transmission. On it will be mounted the circuit breaker, main contactors, the motor controller, the DC to DC converter, and misc. wiring. I plan to mount the electric vacuum pump on the firewall by the vacuum assist unit.
The main modifications to the passenger compartment consist of the addition of the cruising E-Meter. The E-Meter is a very versatile instrument. It tells you how much current you are currently using, how many Amp hours you’ve used, battery pack voltage (or state of charge), and battery temperature. It has a 2 ½ inch diameter face and a 2 inch inside diameter. I plan to make a periscope like arrangement out of gray two inch schedule 80 PVC that will come out of the dash board and face the driver. There really didn’t seem to be a logical place to put it in the dash itself where it would have good visability.
Also mounted on the dash will be a switch to the heater relay. To review, the hot water heater core will be removed and replaced with an electric heater core that is powered by the main battery pack voltage. A rule of EV safety is to keep the high voltage out of the passenger compartment. Therefore, I will need to use a relay powered by the 12 volt system to activate the heater core. This relay must be wired so that: 1. the heater core only comes on when the ignition key is on, 2. the heater core only comes on when the fan is on, and 3. the heater core only comes on when the controls are directing air through the heater core. If the heater came on and the fan wasn't running or the air stream from the fan was bypassing the heater core, the heat from the heater core could cause a fire, so we want to insure the fan is on and the vent is in the right position before applying power to the heater core. You might not say, "Why don't you just wire the relay through the heater fan circuit? The reason is, when summer rolls around, I want to be able to get ventilation by running the fan without the heater core heating up the car. Remember, this car has no AC.