Laying out the underhood area, and finishing the heater.

Time to start figuring out how all the parts will fit under the hood. The pizza boxes I've been saving up will prove useful here.

Thus I started putting in the steering column, emergency brake, firewall mounted brake pedal, transmission...

Here I have a cardboard model of the 8" motor, as I don't have my real one yet. There is not much room for anything larger, so while I thought a of going with a 9" motor to get more performance, the option was not really there.

A criterion of my design is to group all the batteries together in an insulated box, as done for the rear batteries, so I really can't stick my batteries here and there wherever there's a spot, as seen in some conversions. Here I'm trying out simple box arrangement that would hold 4 batteries in a 2x2 arrangement. It doesnt fit that well and doesn't provide clearance in critical areas.

A second arrangement. Clearance is a bit better, however the batteries sit a bit higher up.

This is a different arrangement that will make more room about the brake linkage components. This will require hammering back the wheel wells a few inches in the front, however, here the batteries will sit lower. This layout should work.


The start of the front battery box(es).

Back to the heater. There is quite a difference between the old heater core and the ceramic element taken from a $25 heater that will replace it.

Making a metal shroud to accomodate the smaller size. I knew the cover from the old BetaMax VCR would come in handy some day.

The completed shroud.

The element mounted on the shroud.

more parts assembled...

And the finished heater.

Making the first battery box....

This is the steel frame for the rear battery box, made of slotted angle iron. It will hold four 12V batteries (Trojan 1275 flooded lead acid golf cart batteries) the walls will be made of plywood and will have a 1" styrofoam lining for insulation. (the top part of the frame has not yet been assembled in this photo)


The original gas tank also served as part of the trunk floor, so its removal leaves a hole in the trunk, but its not large enough for the battery box.


After elarging the hole.



Its a tight fit, but the box goes in.


Next will be the front battery box that will hold another 4 batteries. With tigher space constraints, and other parts in the way like brake mechanisms and a steering column, this will be more of a challenge. Using cardboard mockups of the batteries is useful in trying different layouts.