Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

This is going to sound odd but is the axle centered on the frame correctly. The PO may have done a swap and been off on his measurements when he welded in New hardware

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

That is a great point and I am the dingleberry who mounted it in haste in the sellers driveway to get that rig on a trailer relying solely on only my eyecrometer in the dark a few beers in, so anything could have happened, will check for sure

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

TireRack oh how I love thee

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

One of these has got to fit, if only I marked it somehow

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

got a chance to try the new rims on the front and now I know that at least the rims clear the drumulators and any linknesses around that general area, pleased with that knowledge I set off to get the tires mounted

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

man tire mounting has gotten expensive here in California they wanted $120 (cause of new stems) I offered $100 cash and we had a deal

by the way I love how these tires fit, they have just a 1/4" of meat past the rim

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

mandatory stare and compare

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

so here's the driver rear and how much clearance we got

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

passenger rear and how much clearance we have on this side

I think once we wiggle the rear axle a little bit and center it we should be OK

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

and then we moved on to the passenger front

Note the obligatory Chevy drip pan

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

and we finished on the driver side

and oh by the way we do have the center caps and some nice black acorn lug nuts, this was just a trial fit

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

I can't wait to charge the battery and roll this beauty outside to take a better look

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

looks like, winter is [ahem] rolling in

I got these rollpans (both front and rear on eBay for $80 bucks each and FREE shipping) and I must admit I totally missed the part about them being fiberglass, not sure I would have pulled the trigger had I caught that, I just thought they were cheap cause they was used

any of youz running fiberglass rollpans, any thoughts/feedback?

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

Nice new wheels and tires! My onion on the rear not being centered is you might need an adjustable pan hard bar now that you have lowered it. Measurements change when that suspension geometry changes. That bar is fixed and the only thing that would move would be the axle housing since that's the other end. I could be wrong but I'd check that.

I've used glass roll pans before and never had any real problems with them. I want to get steel ones for my wife's burb so I can weld them all in and have no seams. But that makes me question front clip removal later down the road. :lol:

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

I'm in for this build.

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

hold on to your underwear: 1971 GMCe Lexus GS450H BMW 530e Tesla Model S powered Electruck

the 2007 - 2011 Lexus GS450H hybrid cars have not one but two electric motors in their two speed planetary gears transmission. Folks on the Open Inverter forum have reversed engineered these Unicorns to power the rear wheels minus the [ahem] Lexus, ha ha

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

Wow! I didn't see this coming.
Mom's on board with this?

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

ha ha, well I am currently suffering from TMT syndrome, Too Many Trucks, I already sold one, and have another 90% complete (minus the windows in my garage at my house, YES it is rain season, and yes the brand new windows are resting on the dining room table, waiting to go in, ha ha)

I say this because Dusty is back at my mom's house in her garage, she would rather have her Honda Civic in there as it has developed a windshield leak, see thread below:

Gotta replace this for my mom and why I despise modern cars - Honda Civic this time

Land The Plane Greg!

so I'm sure Mum is down with it, but I am NOT converting Dusty to electric in her garage, I need it back at my house, so when I feel a moment of inspiration at 2am I can prance out there in my jammies and Tweety bird slippers and stare at it for as long as it takes, know what I'm sayin'?

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

Enjoy it. I won't do that until it isn't an option. It's just against my hot rod standards. :lol:

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

Oh I hear you, but do you like Horse Power and instant Torque?

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

I do, along with cool noises. :lol:

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

Now you sucked me in been thinking about doing something similar as well

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

ha ha, awesome so I started stock piling the parts starting with a 2010 Lexus GS450H transmission, which I scored on eBay for $700 bucks and FREE Freight shipping (meaning you best have a buddy with a company that has a loading dock and a friggen fork lift, I found out later)

Here is a link to my FIRST project video the sound quality is horrible (but if you crank up the volume all the way you can almost hear it, I apologize for that). I went out and bought a mic for my second one. I had to get the stuff out of my wife's car so I could go and pick her up from the airport that very day, little did I know the Blue Angels must have been in town that day practicing their touch and goes right over my house. It also must have been the National Mow Your Lawn day as it seems all the odds were against me.

So when it comes to Electric Vehicle Conversions most folks want to know two things:

1. How much did you spend? ie Cost
2. How far can you go? ie Range

so here we go let's keep a Running Total:

Transmission: $761 with tax and license, ha ha
============
TOTAL: $761

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

So for those of you intimidated by doing an Electric Conversion, it only takes these Six Major Components, and I will show you the parallels to gasoline powered cars where applicable.

1. Motor vs Engine

2. Inverter

3. Controller vs ECM/ECU/PCM

4. Battery Pack

5. Hall Effect Throttle Pedal vs Drive by Wire Throttle Pedal

6. Battery Charger

Using a rear wheel drive classic car or truck as an example:

We still keep the radiator as majority of those components tend to be liquid cooled (motor, inverter, controller, some battery packs, and some chargers)

We also keep the transmission (in my case I have a Unicorn, the motor lives inside the transmission, technically there's two electric motors inside of that bad boy)

We keep the driveshaft

We keep the power steering but will drive it with an electric pump

We keep the vacuum brake booster but will use an electric vacuum pump

We even keep the 12 volt car battery, yup an electric car still needs a regular dime a dozen car battery, all 12 volt electronics, lights, windshield wipers, stay the same

Heater can be replaced by an electric element

AC in my case is NA I don't need no stinkin' AC (till I do in the summer time, ha ha)

Everything else get's deICEd

ICE = Internal Combustion Engine

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

since that transmission has a funny looking output shaft joint and not the TH350 universal joint looking thingie I am used to, I decided to buy the spinny stick as well

looks like a two piece with a center support, that was another reason I got it so that the weight would not be supported by the transmissions output shaft alone

[I'm just Super Smart like that, ha ha]

Transmission: $761 with tax and license, ha ha
Drive Shaft: $125
============
TOTAL: $886

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

and I also read about how I have to lock the input shaft in order to get Motor #1 to spin the output shaft along with Motor #2 so I bought the flywheel looking disc just to cut the center piece out of and make some sort of a lock it up coupling

Transmission: $761
Drive Shaft: $125
Flywheel: $125
============
TOTAL: $1,011

* item prices include B.S. fees such as shipping, tax, and license, ha ha

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

Rules Of Acquisition

Are no different than doing an LS Swap, buy as much junk from the same donor vehicle as possible to ensure proper fitament.

... and wrecked is good, means no mechanical issues like a bad motor or a bad I don't know... transmission! ha ha

Re: My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck
 

so far all those parts came from the same eBayer seller, a really nice chap willing to work with me and shoot some pics over now and then knowing I was long distance

since WE are using an AC motor and DC batteries we need some sort of box to take the Direct battery Current and invert it into Alternating motor Current, if there only was such a box, perhaps called an Inverter

this was not listed on eBay I just asked if the transmission seller had a matching 2010 Lexus GS450H Inverter, which he did for $250 = Score!

Transmission: $761
Drive Shaft: $125
Flywheel: $125
Inverter: $250
============
TOTAL: $1,261

* item prices include B.S. fees such as shipping, tax, and license, ha ha

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

Will you work on a way to generate juice to charge it's self while driving after you get it up and going?

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

oh yeah, almost forgot this transmission has two oil pumps in/on it, there's the internal mechanical one and an external electric one (cause why not, right? lol) the electric one is what circulates the trans fluid when in 100% electric mode, keep in mind the transmission came out of a hybrid vehicle meaning it had both a conventional gasoline powered engine and an electric motor

well as we are learning anything electric needs some sort of brain to control it, so this electric pump requires a controller, so I got one of them too, yup from the same eBayer

Transmission: $761
Drive Shaft: $125
Flywheel: $125
Inverter: $250
Oil Pump Controller: $150
============
TOTAL: $1,411

* item prices include B.S. fees such as shipping, tax, and license, ha ha

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

eh? whatchu talkin' about Willis?

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

Are you going to put a small block in front of this trans, or just a giant electric motor? Real electric vehicle, or hybrid? By the parts you have collected I'm assuming you are going full electric, no mule engine. :lol: My earlier question was asking if you plan to try to come up up with a way to have the vehicle charge it's self once you have it operational? You know, so you don't have to plug it in or walk when your 100 miles runs out.

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

gotcha, 100% electric, and the transmission is the motor(s), no other motor needed, there will be nothing mounted in front of it ��

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

Sounds like you could use the engine bay like a trunk then ;)

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

I'd at least put a mock up resin sbc in it dressed up as a real engine to keep everyone on their feet. :lol:

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

Haha then you could set up a nice quality sound system in there to have it make revving sounds :lol:

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

yup a Frunk

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

the wife and I joked about this, we said let's leave the engine bay completely empty, and put the battery pack under the bed and the battery charger behind the seat where the fuel tank went, and pull up to a car show, pop the hood open, set up our lawn chairs and just sit there, then after everyone takes a look see at the end of the day, shut the hood and drive off :eek::eek:

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

Your going to have room under the bed for the battery pack? Are you going to raise the bed? Didn't think there was enough room to give much range under. I was looking to go in the bed and then use a hard cover to hide it.

Re: My Dusty 71 GMC a Mother & Son Project
 

Another question what is the hp and torque you are expecting to get out of this set up?