Thunderbolt Grease Slapper

[Turbotom]

I have been interested in electric vehicles for a while and done a bunch of research then last summer when fuel prices shot up I finally decided it was time so I went to the Auto Auction in Flint and picked up a 2002 S10 extended cab PU as a donor vehicle. It is a nice truck, but I did not want to start with something that would not last for a number of years after the conversion. I decided on the electric motor, controller, etc. and ordered a bunch of parts.



I advertised the engine and trans on Craigslist and sold the engine pretty quickly last summer, but it took a year to sell the trans, the damn things must not break. I picked up a 5speed manual trans, bought a couple 1/2-inch thick aluminum plates to use as an adapter and bought a bunch of deep cycle batteries from yours and my favorite parts store Richard's Auto Parts in New Baltimore Michigan open 7 days a week for your shopping convenience.



Well last summer/fall I had problems with the dragster so I spent a bunch of time rewiring and chasing gremlins and we took the race trailer to Talladega for the Oct race, so the electric truck (ET) was put on the back burner for most of last winter, and then we picked up the mini buggy that needed attention, overhauled the golf cart and got ready for the Pro Truck Series so it stayed on the back burner through spring and summer. Anyway I am sure you all know what I am talking about luggling projects, so anyway with this summer officially over I finally decided it was time for the ET to move forward.

I started working on the adapter plate and CJ tackled the battery mounts. We decided to just mount the batteries in the box, a lot of people mount them under the box in the frame rails, I thought that yes that would be better but a lot more work and I do not plan on hauling a lot.

[Turbotom]

Here is a pic of the coupler I am building to connect the motor to the trans. Some people use a clutch setup, but a lot of conversions direct couple the trans to the motor, just like a golf cart. For normal driving 0-40 MPH the trans is in 2nd gear, to go faster you let off the throttle and shift, 3rd will take it to its top speed which I estimate at 55-60 MPH.



The input shaft was too long so it had to be cut off

[rixpix]

WOW! very impressive. what trans did it have that you wanted to sell? auto? just curious on why you opted to go manual. im guessing that the torque of the electric is rather substantial, and that first gear on the auto would be too low, and the electric motor may not have the rpm to get the trans up to shift to second? just me guessing. is anyone trying snowmobile type cluthches? the tuning would be a nightmare, and may not utilize the torque of the electric, and i suppose reverse may be a bit tricky. i dont know much about snowmobiles down here in missouri. very impressive project, im facinated, so keep the pix and info coming as you progress, ill really like to follow up with this

[quad killer]

sweet Tom that is gonna be really neat
and for the record I buy my stuff there also!

[Quicktripp3]

I just want to know where the name came from
And can i race it??
Lookin Good Tom!

[Turbotom]

Rick
The reason for manual trans is its more efficient than auto also shifting of auto is set for internal combustion engine (ICE) where ICE is most efficient at low rpms and the motor is most efficient at 4000-6000 rpms

Randy
You don't remember the Thunderbolt Grease Slapper? Does anyone else remember where the name came from without Googling it?

We got the motor in this weekend

[JonJ]

Looking good TTom, Where's the A/C pump?

[quad killer]

mount it in the bed and do big wheelies
grease slapper is too old of a term for a young buck like myself

hey I know what it is

[Turbotom]

Jon
I may connect the A/C typically people either connect to front of motor, then you have to be moving for it to work or use a seperate electric motor to run the air. But first I am going to worry about the heat not A/C. A lot of guys use a small ceramic heater, another option is a small tank with an immersion water heater and circulate water thru the heater core. I think that is what I will do, that way all the heater/defrost controls work the same.

You should remember the Thunderbolt Grease Slapper, you would have been 8-10 yrs old at the time

[rixpix]

i noticed the front shaft of the motor as a possible source for powering "auxillaries". so that raises a bunch of questions in addition to ac and heat... brakes, power steering, vaccum etc....? also, can you utilize your drive motor as a generator when slowing down?