To date, I know of 3 other Porsche 914s being converted to electric, and 1 more in the planning stage. Only Steve Lacy has an active blog, http://914ev.com/blog/slacy/. I highly recommend that you follow Steve’s blog as well. I am hoping that others will somehow document their experience on the web, so that we’ll all learn from each other.
To those with electric 914’s, have ongoing conversions or planning one, please join the list! http://groups-beta.google.com/group/914ev.
References: Pelican Technical Article: 914 Engine Removal Made Easy (http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/914_engine_drop/914_engine_drop.htm) and Tech Tips 700 book by George A. Hussey, Appendix R, Powerplant Removal.
It was good having both references, because in steps that one glossed over, I generally found in greater detail in the other. Tech Tips included the size of the bolts (mostly 13mm and 17mm) that have to be removed, so that helped save some time as well. The two differed dramatically in the actual dropping step. Pelican calls for the removal of the rear tires, lowering of the car to about an inch above a furniture cart, and easing the engine/tranny onto the cart. Tech Tips, on the other hand, wants you to raise the rear of the car to about 4 feet, drop the engine/tranny onto a plywood board supported by a floor jack, and pulling the rig out, after of course lowering the jack.
I was torn between the two methods for a few days, time spent removing all the components from the engine compartment as well as underneath. Yes, I didn’t do everything in “one sitting”. I liked this leisurely approach better, because I ran into a few snags along the way and didn’t end up tired when I reached the final and potentially dangerous step. Yes, snags like the transmission oil drain bolt freezing up on me, and the CV bolts not cooperating, among others.
The Pelican way won out, but with an innovation that I came up with. Instead of removing the rear tires, I raised the height of the furniture cart using layers of scrap styrofoam. I happen to have 1″ thick styros from a tool packaging box, and several pieces stacked together raised the cart adequately. After the engine/tranny assembly settled on the cart, it took no more than a minute to pull out all the foam until the cart wheels settled on the garage floor. Here are some pictures:
Here’s a picture of the engine before it got dropped:
And here it is, sitting on the furniture cart:
Since I needed to see the flywheel in order to order the correct adaptor plate for the electric motor, I immediately separated the engine and the transmission, and removed the clutch and flywheel. Here’s a picture of the tranny:
Acronym game: ICE = Internal Combustion Engine
The first step in the ICE removal process is to drain the gas tank. I made sure I had a minimum of gas left in the tank by trying to run on vapor in the days leading to the conversion. I could think of 3 ways to drain the tank, a) by siphoning it out, b) by draining the fuel line through the bottom access hole, and c) by using the fuel pump to pump the gas out. I opted for the 3rd alternative. I won’t go into the details here because different models and fuel pumps require different procedures. The picture above shows draining in action, with a red drip irrigation hose. It is tapped inside a fuel line by the injectors and tightened with a hose clip. The gasoline from the 914 went to my truck.
The next step, of course, is to remove the gas tank. But first, we have to take off the hood, the trunk cover and engine compartment lid. This is fairly easy, but a 2-person job. I knew the hood was going to slide down after the last bolt was removed, so I placed a piece of cardboard underneath which helped prevent any damage. To minimize frustration during assembly, I bagged and labeled all the bolts. I even did the same to parts I won’t be needing, so I can easily pick them out when I put them up for sale in the future.
Here are pictures of the car and parts:
It’s a good idea to know the weight of the car before stripping it of its internal combustion engine and components. That way, you’ll have a reference when adding the batteries and coming up with the final weight configuration. This knowledge will help with suspension and brake upgrades as well.
A convenient vehicle scale for me is at the city dump. They weigh your vehicle as you enter and leave, and charge you dumping fee per weight of the garbage you leave behind. I wasn’t exactly dumping the car when I drove up, but I nicely requested for a weight reading, and the lady obliged, and even asked me to get off the car so my own weight won’t be counted. Result, 2075 lbs. That’s without a spare tire, near empty gas tank, and also with pre-1975 bumpers. The original rubber bumbers with shock absorbers are much heavier.
I also measured the ride height of the car at all four wheels to the center of the wheel arch: LF: 24 3/4″, LR 22 1/2″, RF 25″, RR 22 3/8″.
Times have changed since the days of “car for sale” ads in the newspaper classifieds. Nowadays, if you’re hunting for a particular car, you have to go online. I found www.craigslist.com and www.thesamba.com most helpful. Check beyond your immediate area to give you an idea of the going price range.
Another helpful resource is www.pelicanparts.com. Here’s a link to their official guide to buying a 914: http://www.pelicanparts.com/914/How_to_buy_a_914.htm. They also publish lots of technical guides for this vehicle.
One important decision to be made at this point is, “how much work and money do I want to put into the new car”? Remember, the last 914 was made in 1976, so they’re all at least 30 years old. Therefore, this is a two-pronged project, i.e., restoration and conversion. So, do you want to buy a rolling tub, a fully restored beauty, or a partially completed one? 914’s have a strong following, and many are racers. That means souped up engines, something that you have to pay for but don’t really need. At the other end of the spectrum are the project cars or junkyand rescues. They’re cheap, but do you have the time, money and technical/mechanical skills that something of this magnitude requires?
Caught within these parameters, I chose to search for a partially restored one. My patience (or impatience) was shortly rewarded, for I found a candidate about 80 miles away. Relatively rust free, except for evidence of prior repair in the usual “hell hole” underneath the battery tray, this car had a fuel injection challenge, something that I really didn’t care about. A cracked windshield also contributed to the discounted price, and I got a truck full of parts as well: new twin Weber carbs, springs with Koni shocks, the old bumpers, wheels, tires, rotors, wheel hubs, etc., etc., etc. eBay will be happy. As is typical in most restoration projects, the prior owner got back approximately 60% – 70% of the parts that he just put in, not counting his labor. More important things, like college, sometimes changes ones priority.
Here are pictures of the car:
After deciding to do a conversion, the next step was determining which type of vehicle to use: a truck, sedan, boxy 2-door, or sports car. I searched the web, and looked at dozens upon dozens of pictures, postings, descriptions, forums and wharthaveyous. Each has it’s own pros and cons, it all boils down to what you want and need.
In my case, the truck’s out, since I already have a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. The VW Rabbit and Geo Metro, popular conversions, just don’t appeal to me. The early VW bug is attractive, but lacks space for batteries. Since I’m a solo driver 99% of the time, and my commute to work is 10 miles round trip, I chose the sports car option.
Within this category I considered the Honda del Sol, Datsun 240, the Toyota MR2 and the Porsche 914. I drifted towards the mid-engine MR2 and 914 for the potential battery weight balance that this configuration provided. The fact that a conversion kit for the 914 is available told me that others have done it before. An active 914club.com forum with parts and technical advise clinched the choice for me: it’s the Porsche 914! Plus it’s a really cute car, and I love the history of this bastard, oops, I mean love child of the 60’s between VW and Porsche.
A good reference at this juncture of the project is a little outdated but still relevant book by Bob Brandt, Build Your Own Electric Vehicle. I was able to get a copy from Amazon.com for a pretty good price.
Want to see how a 914 looks like? Here’s a picture from www2.uol.com.br/bestcars/ph/108a.htm:
OK, I’m a slow starter. My interest in electric vehicles go way back to the late 1980’s. Back then I worked for Pacific Bell in San Ramon, California. Even in a building complex with 5,000+ employees, one gets to notice a bright red Karmann Ghia whose owner isn’t very shy about promoting the fact that it is battery powered. Heck, it even had a hair dryer serving as window defroster! Way too cool! So, I joined the Electric Auto Association, with the intention of converting a cool donor car to electric. I procrastinated, and eventually my interest waned, just as my membership with EAA expired.
So, what renewed this interest, hmmm, ~17 years later? My 2.1KW rooftop solar power plant installed in 2003 is a big factor. Selling excess power to the utility during the day and buying it back at a steep discount at night to ”fill ‘er up” is way too tempting. Plus my commute to work is now a whopping 10 miles a day, round trip. Add another 10 – 20 miles if I do errands or see clients in town, and now, we’re talking. An electric vehicle now makes perfect sense.
Even clean power needs cleaning:
Here’s the inspiration:
