It's just a car, dude. Sheetmetal, plastic, rubber, leather, aluminum, leather. More importantly, it's HIS car; he can cover it with pink feathers and call it pumpkin pie and that'll be alright too. There's 10K others just like it, and this one burned if you look at the beginning of the thread so it was already a salvage project- restored no one would touch it with a tainted title anyways.
I understand. I agree that it is his car to do as he pleases just as I'm allowed to have my own point of view. Perhaps I worded it poorly in my first post and appeared to be bashing the project. I'm in awe of the skill and ingenuity behind this project. I do think it would be better served by creating something truly unique rather than putting it in a 30 year old classic car. At the end of the day it's just another electric powered car like the many 911's I have seen around here. Neat but doesn't get much of a second look. However, if they were to put it in their own originally design body then they have something really cool. Something cutting edge to give Tesla a run for their money. Even better, why not use a custom Art Morrison hot rod chassis and then create a kick ass one-off futuristic looking electric hot rod? Or what about a new electric futuristic Bugatti type sled? Something with some unique style? Their own electric concept car if you will? Nobody has done anything like this well and it would garner boat loads of PR. Then all this engineering and hard work gets the attention it deserves, no?
Hope everyone has a wonderful Thangiving with family and friends. Such good times w good people! Project note: Much more coming with significant refinements and mods so we can get into performance testing. Been out for several weeks on projects but have been moving a couple pressing refinements. Will post details next week. Have been driving the @$-"; out of the 308 GTE shaking it down. All i can say.... . Lots of passangers have the same comment when cornering: "Oh J@$&s"! In good way! Happy Thanksgiving!
Looks like we have to part with the OEM 308 rear calipers. Let me know if anyone is in need of a pair (PM me). Gold Line Brakes in Seattle re-built/overhauled completely the original calipers (recently) for $500 and we had them powder coated red.... Girodisc in Bellingham supplied the new pads and we have less than 250 miles on the car. Testing and subsequent engineering with Martin at Girodisc yielded some interesting specs. Brake performance is moderate (and totally functional) but we want to lock em up much easier.... After a couple days of calculations (and discussion on several approaches to close the gap back to @ OEM 1500nm at the piston), we opted for a switch of front calipers to similar dual piston calipers with 1.75" pistons. These work well with the pressure generated from the dual 9/16" CNC master cylinders operating with 6.75/1 brake pedal ratio minus the distribution block. Front calipers are going to the back wheels and we are designing new mount brackets for those (similar to the front set up). Since we are working without the booster on a manual set up this will deliver stopping power (without regen considered) to just about original specs. This will be superseded with regenerative braking. Goal here is to get 110% of original plus when dialed in. Thanks to the Martin and his team at Girodisc for working with us at EV West on this project! Awesome crew. Will follow up with some installation photos of the modifications. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The versatility of a 308! Parade escort, sports suv... . Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I just spent the last 3 hours reading all of this thread. Unbelievable. Someone once said ti me, "its just money" . Sounds like you guys had a lot of support in order to pull this off. Hopefully one day, we can buy or pay someone to revive our exotics into E versions. Being a Tesla and Ferrari owner, I'd find it really hard to pass up a pure high performance electric version of an F430.
Mike - Michael Bream picked up the VW Transporter from the right coast a few months ago in great shape with upgrades to suspension brakes etc. He dropped 2 HPEVS AC-50 electric motors into the engine bay and connected them to the stock manual trans. Powered it up with 18 Telsa battery modules under the rear seat & bed. It is really quick (to say it mildly) and has a functional 200+ mi range. Check out EV West on Facebook or Instagram for the various projects that come through the shop (link below). EV West primarily sells parts, kits, etc for conversions. Actual conversions are R&D for in addition to just being flat our exciting and fun. Cheng - Thanks for taking time to read the thread. We have been having a great time doing this project and a lot of people have been putting their hands on the project. It certainly is far from being a "kit" convertible car like the VW's though. Having a Tesla I am sure you are following news and articles on battery developments. Range on the 308 will get a major upgrade in our planned change out of the cells in a couple years but it certainly is now a highly reliable every day driver. (Albeit I sheered 3 CV bolts last week ) It is really fun having a classic electric car that is not "off the shelf". There are a lot of neat conversion projects that that come through the EV West shop. Again there are lots of pics on the EV West FB: https://www.facebook.com/ElectricVehicleWest/?fref=ts A few photos below: 1. Steve at Car Builder Magazine stopped by and is putting together something soon to run. He was really stoked and extremely surprised with results of the projects and their performance. 2. Fiat 124 Spider 1980 coming in from paint and getting ready for conversion (1 ac-50 and 8 tesla packs). 3. EV West Shop transporter. 4. VW transporter motor bay. Happy Holidays.... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Getting a little Holiday work done. (1) Pulled the G50 last week out the rear of the vehicle (it went in through the mid-bay compartment). Had to cut and fab a "removable" rear support for access to the trans. Cool photo... you can see the 2 x 2.5kWhr chargers tucked in above and the cooling lines for the 3 chill plates for the controllers. We will be re-plumbing the chill plates and adding a larger pump & coolant tank to decrease operating temps on the controllers. We have been running a bit hot. (2) New front calipers are here and waiting to be installed as part of our brake system realignment. Going to engineer/machine rear mounting brackets (similar to those on the front) for similar calipers which are being moved from their current location on the front. (3) Tilton throw-out is out of the trans and we are clocking it via the mounting bracket 45 degrees for a clean bleed and it is also extending the bracket thickness 4mm for a full throw. These adjustments should dial-in the shifting well. Happy Holidays from the toy store Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Good week of progress on punch list items while the shop is quiet . 1. Wavetech LSD is now installed in the G50...... tires will suffer 2. New Tilton throwout bearing mount with shims is about done so we can dial in the shifting... Just a hair shy on the throw but that should be checked with about 2-4mm shim... Clocking 45 degrees so we can get a perfect bleed of the the system... Trans and total drive-ability should be $ with these two tweeks. 3. Courtesy bell (retro and hard to find) fixed after over ringing/use.... whoops.... Melted the plastic but find with a re-drill... 4. Driver window adjusted on cables and and door panel tightened. 5. Exterior mirrors re-shimmed so they actual provide great visibility on both sides. 6. New Calipers with 1.75" bores installed on front wheels. 7. New Nico Line lock replaced the JEG... eliminates overheating and allows for actual functional use of "e" brake. That was an interesting find. 8. New rear rotors being custom fabricated with the awesome guys (Martin and team) at Girodisc in Washington.... Long story but we are moveing the front calipers to the rear and are getting bigger floating rotors with a custom hat to fit the calipers... matching the fronts while compensating for the hub differences. Brings us up to awesome braking power. Smaller rear "OEM" rotors missed on diameter by 1' and 4mm on total thickness for the calipers. (The "OEM" replacement rotors will be posted for sale if anyone wants please PM. Less than 500 miles of light use. Totally restored calipers and pads available too!) 9. In-house design on two new rear caliper mounting brackets going out to water jet Monday with the new Tilton bracket.... 10. Will re-plumb chill plate cooling system with a larger pump... 3 controllers are kicking off substantial heat especially on full single drive drain of the pack.. should be wrapped up this week. ....90c and we want about 60c. A couple really exciting events coming up in January... Stay tuned. We should be there with these adjustments...... One or two longer term ideas to deliver more power in the works..... (and a new axle shaft... whoops.. Sheered off 3 bolts and totaled the shaft with a a little too much torque... ) Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Preliminary punch list performance modifications are about ready for operational testing. Parts engineering and fab work completed with installation work in progress. Photo notes: - Parts piled up for the punch list mod work. - Rear Caliper Mounts: We engineered, designed and fab'd in house the new rear caliper mounts for the Girodisc custom brake rotors and caliper set up. Nice work Harry @EV West. - Brakes Upgrades: Mods completed and ready to test. Nice custom set up for the rear of the 308. New rear rotors custom designed and fabricated at Girodisc to assist with our specific system and related performance. Used a rear hub compatible hat on a 12" "front" rotor that meets factory hub and wheel mounting specs. We are utilizing former front Girodisc (OEM replacement for fronts on the 308) calipers on the rear. Anticipating OEM performance + on our manual braking system not counting region ability. - Clutch throw and shifting tuning: Tilton throw-out shims and mounting plates modified. Bleed valve clocked to true north and 4mm added to throw. Should clean up the G50's shifting performance. - Controller Cooling Upgrade for triple set up: Re-plumbed the controller cooling system in series. Cleared a few connection hoses, drilled fittings 2mm wider and confirmed smooth flow of the circuit. New High performance water pump, reservoir tank, and another triple fan radiator added to system. Aiming for cool running under heavy driving conditions and pack drain. G50 ready to go in this week and make final connections and testing of the other mods. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Plan and plan more and you still have to change things when you actual do it! ... So goes life. Makes it fun to see when you get it spot on.. (Thanks Pap) 1. Re-plumbing going well. Reduced 2nd chill plate radiator from 3 to 2 fan set up... shift cable in the way. Hoses had some blockage and new supplier of fittings that had narrower inside diameters so we drilled em and now have a good even flow. That smart car water pump should do the trick with the new "in series" plumbing route on the triple chill plates. Think we got it nailed. 2. G50 back in fairly easy. The rear frame access bar (cut out) was a good call. Bleed on the brakes was smooth and bleed on the Tilton was easy and fast. Throw looks spot on now. Tomorrow we should have mobility again. Re=program master controller and top off the charge and hope that the mods pan out as planned. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
That moment arrived yesterday! Everything fell into place perfectly and the resulting drivability/performance was sensational. Ear to ear grins on everyone who climbed out of the car. 1. Shifting: Pulled the G50 again Sunday am with an all hands on deck drill after fully installing and testing Friday. The Tilton is now throwing exactly as needed. Had to change our clutch and that solved the rough shifting issue. The performance throughout the gears is astounding 1st gear is fully functional and very tall... think sideways. 2. Chill Plate Cooling Results: All three motor controllers are running under 35c even after extended use under full load. The coolest running project to date and bodes well for full track runs and future increased battery capacity. The SmartCar water pump, reservoir addition, and fan/radiator expansion was almost overkill. 3. E-Brake set up on the rears via line/pedal lock is proving very functional for daily use. no issues to date. 4. GiroDisc Brake system: Changes made per prior post and after some hard testing and seating of the new pads the manual CNC system allows total lock up (and not fully seated yet). Martin predicted a little more pedal throw on top and was spot on. It firms up quickly with use and is totally useable and functional. Next Projects: - Working with Controller Manufacturer to modify the software to reset up the 3 controllers as Master and 2 Slaves. (vs three masters). Very effective on the dual motor set up that was "updated" recently. This is cutting edge stuff as they have not had a triple motor set up prior to this project. Cool. - Regen Braking will be fully programmed through testing with various modes available through console control buttons. - The fun stuff... dyno, track, etc. ) Will get video and details together for more posting on performance results. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here is a cool on-board Go Pro view of the 308 while Adam is having fun with the GTE in his shop yard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5L3y1-NIcc
Happy to hear we were able to help get the brakes sorted! Looking forward to seeing you guys beat on this thing!
BTW! Mike you guys crushed the re-engineering effort! Cant wait to design a system from scratch with a new salvage frame. Thanks, and you are invited to drive anytime! The private beating has been going down.... hard. We are not afraid to test the limits. 100 to 0! Holy *%#^*%. We got easy lock up x 4... and full manual control as needed for race (and grocery run accidents ). All this prior to engaging re-gen capabilities. You guys have some sharp pencils! The low center of gravity of this build makes the GTE stick to the ground well beyond its original brother. It went into the salon for an exterior touch up makeover today for a few days (yeah a couple minor defects and I scratched it in the shop 3x's.... Not to mention ripping out the front left wheel well while dialing in the QA-1's. Woops). The exciting stuff to come soon! Will be posting performance stats, footage, etc on this thread. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
These guys are the best at brakes. Got some for my 328. Martin, Mike and the rest of the crew were great when I visited them.
Steve at Car Builder Magazine visited last month and was really surprised and took the time to really check out the car! Even the die hard gas guys thought this worthy of a front page post and full article. Thanks Steve! Awesome article and appreciate your visit. Let us know when you are back and we now have it all dialed in for tossing you the keys! Several call outs to members quotes form the 308 Forum on the 78 GTE. https://view.flipdocs.com/?ID=10011589_629379#58 Image Unavailable, Please Login
