EcoClassic Electric Mk1 Austin Mini

[miniminor]

This is fantastic, not a fan of electric cars at all but lovely to see the attention to detail you're putting in to make this as much like a stock mk1 as possible.
Re your initial long led high level brake light that you removed, do you have a link for it? I've been wary of cars behind my mk1 recently and having seen two threads on the mini forum of rear end shunts recently I'm thinking a high intensity 3rd brake light might be just the thing. If it was mounted at the very top or bottom of the screen it would be pretty discrete.

[Bitsilly]

Many thanks and pm sent.

Not much to report except brakes are plumbed to the servo:

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And unfortunately I will have problems using a standard Mini radiator after all, as the matrix has to now fit inside the plenum/cage/box that it is normally up against. Luckily for all the cooling and heating I need to do that size is plenty and less around £20 for a matrix.
As I would need all the available heat when I need to heat the car, I'll add a cable operated bypass to send all the hot coolant too the Smiths heater:

[Bitsilly]

Who said I can't cook!

[Bitsilly]

So the gear/drive shift is fitted:

[Bitsilly]

And the exhaust pipe/plenum chamber for the vacuum pump:

[Bitsilly]

A busy couple of days!
Nick dropped off the motor, inverter, charger and the front battery pack.
As my car is a sort of development car he stayed to make sure everything fitted, and I have to say it was awesome. He had built everything to fit from his 3D scan and it went in faultlessly. However, my old engine crane was very useful. The individual components are not too heavy but the crane made slow manoeuvring a lot easier!
Motor went in first:

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[Bitsilly]

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of it properly in with the rope removed, sorry!

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[Bitsilly]

Once in place the front battery pack went over the top and is attached to the front subframe rails:

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[Bitsilly]

Then the inverter which will be wired up later.

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[Bitsilly]

I can now get on and get the front wheels etc on and run the wiring and plumbing.
Nick is going to build the electric components loom once I have some measurements and build the second battery box which is going in the boot.
Apparently I don't strictly need the boot battery unless I want the full power and range increases it offers, but I do!!

[Bitsilly]

As can be expected on a project like this, there has been a few changes due to the picture becoming clearer as I move along.
The first thing is that Nick recommended an upgraded charger following his experience on his own car, to allow much better charging. Unfortunately this will need liquid cooling.
Also, because of the extra battery pack in the boot, and the charger being in the boot, I'll need to run three heavy duty cables the length of the car.
The coolant also requires a pipe there and one back.

I have loads of vicious speed bumps around where I live, so I I decided to allow the cables and pipes to be no lower than the floor, ie. I needed to route them inside the tunnel, so the exhaust pipe plenum had to be ditched. This was replaced with a plenum in the boot to the side of where the battery will be. I am keeping the 'fake' end of the exhaust!

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[Bitsilly]

I also decided to ditch my homemade drive/gear selector.
This is partially due to it getting in the way at the front of the tunnel, but mainly due to me not trusting it's resilience.
With the (relatively heavy and long) gearstick inserted and the typical ride of the Mini I decided it was a much much better option to have an electronic selector but again, I am keeping the now unused gearstick just for show.
Having looked into various options and having spoken to Nick about the electronics, he was able to offer the option of three momentary-make switches to select one of drive, reverse or neutral.
Lucas make classic momentary switches which fit the bill nicely in black or ivory!
I can also get traditional tags made for them like this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282507833340 ... 1438.l2649

The most ergonomic site for them is in the panel above the front shelf, to the RHS of the steering wheel but the jury is still out. One advantage of using the electronic option is that it is simple to fit a small telltale light for each state (with or without legend) so there will be no doubt about whether it is in reverse, drive or neutral.
These can also be fitted remotely so I'm considering either actually in the face of the speedo, or the side of the pod, or under the pod, or even above the drivers sun visor!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124798845281 ... %3A2047675

[Bitsilly]

Due to the position of the handbrake cables and things like seatbelt mounting bolts I figured I would get more mounting options and prevent fouling if I put bridges across the tunnel and used them to mount the pipes and cables.
So far I have only trial fitted the pipes but there is plenty of room for the cable too now and they all will be out of reach of the speed bumps.

[Bitsilly]

Running coolant to the motor, the charger, the inverter the heater, the pump, a filling neck and the radiator took some figuring but proved possible while still keeping it neat!
I also got it wrong about being able to use the old radiator. I had thought it fitted into the space by the grill rather than against it. The simplest solution was to buy a small radiator that does fit inside the space. The cooling required is nothing like as much as an engine so even this small one with a fan is more than needed.
This is just the motor cooling pipes trial fitted but all the routes worked out nice and safe and the filling neck is the highest part of the system, although I also fitted a an in-line bleed valve above the charger in the boot.
The left hand pipe is the vacuum.

[Bitsilly]

Here is the filling point, and don't worry the whole system is waterproof and mug-proof so any spillage won't blow me up!!
Note the smaller radiator.

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[Bitsilly]

The drivers side front wing contains the servo, and as the radiator and fan were already in the passenger front wing it seemed a good place to fit the water pump!
The fan is small but entirely covers the radiator area

[Bitsilly]

Enough had been done to allow me to fit the CV joints and prop-shafts to the reduction box and the good news is they fitted like a dream!
Forward on to the new hubs, shiny shocks and my new wheels!
It was a big day, the weight finally supported by the wheels!

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Unfortunately the longer wheel studs fitted to the new disk brakes at the front were still too short due to the extra thickness of the alloys.
Two steps forward.....
Back on to Minispares and now waiting on the post.
So for the moment the cars modelling career is on hold!

[underkut]

I am loving this build.
Yes you are having problems , but they are expected and you are finding neat and sensible solutions to them all.
Well done.

[Exminiman]

Far from a “bit silly”

Great thread thanks for sharing the highs and lows……. Be interesting to see if it handles like a Mini, its certainly likely to go faster……

[Bitsilly]

Cheers gents,
I don't really regret the 'opportunities to improve', (or 'lows'!) and finding solutions is part of the fun/challenge, I just wish they wouldn't arise when one is jaded after a good days work, and looking forward to a little QT with the beauty in the garage!