My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by yuccales

Hubcap looks nice (straighten that bowtie). Kinda chuckled seeing the firing order on the 2x4. Years down the road that will be seen as some sort of "EV hieroglyphics".

oh may gawd you spotted that, I was literally on the ladder hammering that nail when I saw that firing order and I simply thought: never again

and as far as the bowtie I was wondering how many people would get bent out of shape for it being vertical, remember I'm a GMC Guy, ha ha

[Gregski]

so instead I decided to replace my PVC Ts on the inverter with this orange bracket

[Gregski]

well well well, look what decided to show up, as my friend, your friend Patrick said "a world traveler" the bracket for our BMW E39, E46, E53 throttle pedal part # 6762481

[Gregski]

nothing like buying brand new parts and having to modify them straight away, I really wish GM and BMW engineers communicated more better

and what is this appendage ?

[Gregski]

a few minutes later

[Gregski]

what on this green earth is this?

[Gregski]

some gentle persuasion was required

$4 bit coin bucks to the first person to tell us what them magnets are out of?

Fun Fact: if they ever go missing, flip your floor jack over... you're welcome !

[Gregski]

and job done! what's next

• 1. mount the BMW E46 throttle pedal ✔

• 2. Integrate Damien's BMW Safety Box control Arduino code into the VCU (the old pre Zombie version)

• 3. Wiretize all the low voltage wiring (VCU, Inverter, Throttle, Safety Neutral Switch, Resolvers, Water Pump, Oil Pump, Steering Module, CAN Bus, etc.)

• 4. Decide how to connect the second gen Chevy Volt battery charger high voltage orange wiring

• 5. Install some digital gauges (I am having our good forum friend Artur Kustusch - Jaguar XJR EV Conversion fandangle for me)

[Gregski]

finally time to do some softwearing

so I integrated Damien's BMW Safety Box code, you know the one that controls the contactors inside that box, with his ver 2 VCU (the older controller before Zombie Verter) commercial software or firmware version gs450h_v3_user

so this is what my custom combined menu looks like now


BMW Safety Box Code On Lexus GS450h VCU Ver 2

[Gregski]

THE LIST

• 1. mount the BMW E46 throttle pedal ✔

• 2. Integrate Damien's BMW Safety Box control Arduino code into the VCU (the old pre Zombie version) ✔

• 3. Wiretize all the low voltage wiring (VCU, Inverter, Throttle, Safety Neutral Switch, Resolvers, Water Pump, Oil Pump, Steering Module, CAN Bus, etc.)

• 4. Decide how to connect the second gen Chevy Volt battery charger high voltage orange wiring

• 5. Install some digital gauges (I am having our good forum friend Artur Kustusch - Jaguar XJR EV Conversion fandangle for me)

[Gregski]

then I recalled that I wasn't too keen on 351 volt power lines hanging off the inverter on two M6 bolts so I decided to reinforce them with a custom bracket

as always we source our metal from only the finest of scrap piles

[Gregski]

Fun fact the holes on the left are not at the same elevation as the ones on the right on the Inverter (but if I don't tell you, you will never know that I have a slanted bracket)

I'm very please with the way it turned out, and it's strong enuff to tow a boat

[Gregski]

I grew tired of trying to convince my petrol heads that electric cars have less moving components than gas guzzlers so I whipped this out:

[72 tigger]

Nice retainer bracket!

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

Nice retainer bracket!

thanks bro, I got to paint it outside on the windiest day of the year too !!! you ever paint down wind, lol

[Gregski]

now let me tell you what you already know when it comes to these trucks

so we were doing great until we wasn't, I recently discovered that my truck never had a hole in the floor for the transmission ( I'M LOOKING AT YOU PATRICK ) and somewhere along the line one of the previous owners cut the hole out, this explains why I didn't find any of these U nuts around the perimeter holes as they were recessed way too far away from the edge (and had to recruit a family member to sit in the cab and hold a wrench whilst I crawled under with another wrench, any time I wanted to put on or remove that tortoise shell)

here's some pictures of an unmolested 1972 truck (mine is a 1971 so same thing(ish))

[Gregski]

bro thanks for that history lesson, but what does that have to do with the EV Conversion and when are we gonna see them wheels spin?

well, because the previous owner was rather conservative in the opening she cut, it made access to the emgeez difficult (MG1 & MG2) and since my Lexus transmotor came with only one MG safety cover thingie, The Greg had to figure out how to get to the other one, one had better access than the other, can you guess which side needed the cover, lol?


before pics of access to MG1 or should I say lack of, plus the orange high voltage cable ran way to close to the sheet metal and on these old trucks there are a million sharp edges or all sorts of pointy screws protruding below deck, just waiting to nick that cable


access to MG2 was gooder but also too close for my taste

[Gregski]

and here's what the MG covers look like I hope they are identical cause I just ordered a new one ($25 bucks plus another $20 to have it shipped, but I justified it as a much needed safety item)

Part # 82821-30710

[Gregski]

before commiittiing (how do you even spell that word? it's the Mississippi of verbs) blade to sheet metal, I made this fancy shield, to protect me... [wait for it] from me !!!

and couple angle grinder cutting wheels later and dust once again all over my beautiful shop and in my nostrils we had gorgeous access and clearance for MG2 and had to use an adjustable hammer to improve access to MG1

couple short 1 minute videos of how it all went down:

EV Conversion by a 1,000 Cuts

Body Work With An Adjustable Hammer

[Gregski]

so while I was standing in line at the Lexus parts counter the two dudes in front of me were buying OEM Lexus floor mats each, and one of them asked the parts guy behind the counter how do you install them [you can't make this stuff up people]

I am way more handsum than this, the sun was in my eyes, and the WS stands for World Standard (that's sum next level made up sh!et right there)

[zicc1835]

Originally Posted by Gregski

so while I was standing in line at the Lexus parts counter the two dudes in front of me were buying OEM Lexus floor mats each, and one of them asked the parts guy behind the counter how do you install them [you can't make this stuff up people]

I am way more handsum than this, the sun was in my eyes, and the WS stands for World Standard (that's sum next level made up sh!et right there)

LOL the G-Man always informative definitely entertaining

[sakustoms]

Originally Posted by Gregski

some gentle persuasion was required

$4 bit coin bucks to the first person to tell us what them magnets are out of?

Fun Fact: if they ever go missing, flip your floor jack over... you're welcome !

I'm sure I am late in this but those are hard drive magnets. I love those things for doing sheet metal replacement.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by zicc1835

LOL the G-Man always informative definitely entertaining

ha thanks that made my day

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by sakustoms

I'm sure I am late in this but those are hard drive magnets. I love those things for doing sheet metal replacement.

my man, now for double or nothin' what size hard drive was it? LOL

[Gregski]

Me: "I need to stop procrastinating and figure out how to add more transmission fluid to that Lexus GS450 haytch !"

also Me: "Can you vacuum a shop-vac with another shop-vac ?"


Hank Hill proves WD40 is the answer to all problems.