MetroXFi.com

Video on How to Replace a Geo Metro Convertible Top

Rick — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:47:01 +0000

This video pretty much explains everything about how to replace the top on a Geo Metro or Suzuki Swift Convertible. Just remember that it needs to be warm and sitting out in the sun when changing tops and it will be easy to do.

Charger Mounted

Rick — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 01:23:42 +0000

Doesn’t look like I did much since there are no pictures but I spent a good bit of the day sorting out the wiring. I have the shifter throttle wired up and adjusted perfectly now. It is a really smooth operating throttle. I noticed the pack voltage was a bit low so I mounted the socket for the charger and wired in the charger. It is in a spot I will never forget to unplug when getting in the car. the charger is under the batteries and passenger seat so there isn’t anything to take a picture of with it.

After that I put the pack on charge and kept wiring up other things. I tapped into the reverse light wire behind the seat and used a relay to set the controller to reverse when the backup lights are on. So now to back up with the electric I have to push the clutch and hold it down and shift it into reverse. I could have wired up a switch for it but the fewer switches on the dash the better.

After charging for a hour or so I unplugged the charger and tried out the new setup. The car is stronger with the batteries charged up some so maybe my first drive was on a half dead battery pack. I will let it charge overnight and equalize the pack. I also have a 44 tooth sprocket to swap out with the 36 that is on there now. That will limit my top speed to 60mph but it will pull much better on electric only so I think it is worth it.

Throttle Trigger Mounted

Rick — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:05:02 +0000

Another day without much being accomplished. But at least there is some progress.

I wired up the hall sensor to the controller and tried it out. The trigger is much smoother than the game controller joystick. The gauge layout seems ok but the position is a bit wrong. I will adjust the size and spacing and get it set up nice. I am thinking of putting a motor temperature display on there as well so I can monitor the motor temperature. The controller already monitors motor temperature but having a display would be nice. Also the switch to change to the gas pedal from the trigger will probably be taken off. The trigger pull is very smooth so I am not sure if I really need it.

Hopefully I will get my shortened struts next weekend and I can more or less finish up the mechanical part of the car. It is really close to being done just a few odds and ends that are taking forever

Throttle Trigger Made and Other Work.

Rick — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 03:29:00 +0000

Didn’t actually work on the car today. A friend gave me an old kids electric scooter so I could take the twist throttle and other random bits off it. So I took the throttle apart to see how it worked and it was a hall effect sensor with a magnet moving past it. I figured that was easy enough to modify so I took the brake lever off the other side and glued a hard drive magnet to the lever. The lever has a spring in it to return it back so I didn’t have to add one. After gluing the magnet on I made a simple bracket to attach the sensor over the magnet. I will make a better sensor mount after I know exactly where it needs to go but for now the plastic spoon handle will do.

I also picked up a panel ammeter from Radio Shack. It read 500mA the way it was set up. The Kelly controller outputs a PWM signal to indicate motor current so I cut the shunt out of the meter and wired it up so 5V was full scale using I think a 1K resistor. Now I can wire the meter to 5V and the ground side goes to the current indicator pin on the controller to give me a reading of how much current is going through the motor. I just had to edit and rescale the meter face. A bit of graphic editing and here it is.

The last part of the interior that needed work was where to mount all the switches and junk. I threw this together to print out and test the layout of the area under the center gauges.

After I get a layout I am happy with I will print it on a transparency film using a color laser then glue it to a piece of painted white lexan. I can then mount some green leds to the back of the lexan to make the white lettering glow at night. It should look good when it is done.

First Test Drive of the Electric Drive

Rick — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:56:57 +0000

The rain let up for a little while today so I decided to take the car for a spin. This is the first time the car has left the garage under electric.

The batteries have not been charged and I have no real controls set up yet for it. I am using an old game controller joystick for the throttle and it is not mounted. It was acting up a bit though. You can see that when I got out on the road and it quit pulling till I messed with it and made it start pulling again. I got up to 35mph with the electric. There was enough traffic I decided to pull out with the gas motor and just let it idle in neutral just in case I needed it.

The gearing is not really good the way it is set up. It has 4:1 gearing right now but if I go to 5:1 gearing it should pull much better than it does now. The chain was jumping a bit at the start. I don’t really have it adjusted or even lined up perfectly so that is expected.

Overall the car is doing pretty good and I am happy with how it is running. This weekend I will start putting the controls together and actually finishing things up with it so I can start driving the car again.

Motor Wiring Sorted Out

Rick — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 03:18:14 +0000

The wiring diagram that is listed on the Kelly controllers website works but the motor is pretty weak and a bit noisy wired up that way. I used a chart that listed all 36 possible combinations of hall sensor and motor wires and tried every combination. The way they have it listed with B and C reversed pulls 3.9A@36V no load. The wiring combination I found that is the best is this

With that wiring the motor spins the direction I want for my setup and pulls 3.5A@36V no load. The motor spins quietly and has a good bit more power. I put the chain back on and tried it out and the car actually moved without any help. With the wiring connected as listed on the Kelly website it was not able to move without a bit of help to get started. If anyone wants it to spin the opposite way just reverse two of the motor wires.

If I get time tomorrow I will put the car together good enough to get it out and see how it does. Then I will start actually wiring it up properly instead of having a pile of wires all over the interior of the car and nothing properly wired. I need to make a nice control panel so I might try printing something out on a sticker sheet that will look a bit nicer than the typical row of toggle switches with no labels.

Wired up and Test of Motor

Rick — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 03:25:20 +0000

I wired up the controller today. I don’t have the controls mounted in a good spot but they are hooked up and good enough to spin the tires.

Here is a video of the motor spinning the tire.

The next time I spun the tire after that video the chain jumped off. It really isn’t in line properly and the limiting strap I made didn’t last long before it broke so I guess it isn’t a big surprise that the chain would break under those conditions. I have lots of chain though so that is no big deal.

Drive Chain Installed

Rick — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:05:11 +0000

Today I cut a slot in the axle with an angle grinder for the keyway slot. I then welded the sprocket onto the hub and slid it onto the axle. I then put the cv joint back together and put it on the car. After that I had to make a limiting strap to keep the suspension from dropping real low when the car is jacked up. I didn’t want the chain to have enough slack for the 6 inches or so that the wheel drops down when jacked up so I set the strap to only give it an inch and half of downward movement. After that I just had to bolt the motor down and cut the chain to length. I will have to take the chain and motor back off one more time to finish weld a few spots on the mounting brackets and to dent in the cover on the side of the transmission to give the chain lots of clearance. The chain rolls nice and smooth though so it looks like this setup should work out ok.

The radiator only had to be moved two inches. I could have actually left it but it would have been right up against the motor mount and that might damage it over time. There is a lot of room to move it over so that was no real big deal. Just drill new mounting holes and slide it over. I didn’t move it enough to have to modify the hoses. The sprockets I ended up using are the 36 tooth and 9 tooth. That gives me a 4:1 ratio so with my 175/70R14 tires I can do 67MPH at 4000 RPM

Next up is to take it apart and finish weld and add a brace or two. From there I will start wiring it up and see how it does. It won’t be long now before it is moving under electric.

Finished the Motor Mounting Bracket

Rick — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 01:37:14 +0000

Got a few odds and ends done today. Main big thing was to get the electric motor mount made up. I didn’t get time to finish bolting it up but that will be next. Once the motor is mounted then I just need to take the axle back apart and cut the keyway slot into it for the sprocket. I should have it just about done after that and all that is left is to wire up the controller.

Few more days of work on it and it should be back on the road again.

Making Motor Mount Brackets

Rick — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 01:46:09 +0000

My plasma cutter decided to die today so it took me forever to cut out the mounting brackets for the motor. I managed to get the plate the motor attaches to made up and one side of the bracket made. It doesn’t look as good as I would like since I had to make it using only a chop saw and angle grinder but it is good enough to do the job. I will finish making the motor mount next then move on to a few odds and ends before starting to wire the controller up. I should have the electric running soon though.

I will be able to leave the fuse block in place and will only have to move the MSD box up to the firewall. The only other thing needing moved is the radiator needs moved over a few inches. Those should be easy things to do hopefully.