May 26, 2007 by Rob.

Another item from the EVAmerica is to have the battery boxes be well sealed. I’m confident that they are strong enough, but they do not have closed sides.
I’m planning to use enclose the boxes with vinyl sheets (photos soon) that should protect everything from the battery acid, but I did not allow enough room for more complete boxes. I’m not sure if this is a big deal. Hopefully I’ll get some practical advice from the AustinEV group tomorrow.

5/27: Answer is no. The boxes are fine.

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May 26, 2007 by Rob.

Today was mostly a pour concrete foundations for the new play scape day, but I also needed to get some shopping and prep for the OG tomorrow. The big buy was a HUGE (and hugely expensive - $60) pair of wire cutters for the 2/0 wire. I also got the 10 & 14 gage wire that I’ll need for the control board. The thicker 10 gage wire is for the DC-DC and AC-DC power circuits. The wimpy 14 gage wire is for control items like relays, contactors, and the pot box.

The big item was drilling holes for the rear battery box. My EVAmerica reference material suggests that extra bolts for battery boxes in passenger compartments. My current mounting has 2 bolts into the frame and 2 into the deck (not very strong). I’m going to add an extra supports to the box in the middle so that the battery load does not rest on the thin decking. I’ll also add some bolts for that.

Note for future RAV4 conversions! Make the rear box 4″ wider do that the steel Ls rest on the frame. Also weld in center Ls to completely support the batteries.

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May 26, 2007 by Rob.

I got the rest of the vacuum system components the other day at the hardware store. Here is a picture with all the adapters and T joint needs to complete the system. The big white tube is the reservoir, the silver tube is the vacuum pump, the gray box is the pressure switch, and the extra T end goes to the brake drum. Note: Kate’s foot is not needed to complete the system.

I also figured out how to mount the reservoir to the firewall using 3″ ring clamps. I’ll attach it to the metal bar screwed to the firewall in the photo.  That moth eaten cardboard is my trusty battery mock-up - I kept dripping p/s fluid onto it while I worked on the new p/s pump.

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