Cheers Andy!
Z3(00S) - EV project
- Thread starter Tom Cheesewright
- Start date
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- Tags
- electric car
AlexGSi2000
Dedicated Member
Been following your videos on YouTube the past few months.
What a fantastic project - there must be such a sense of achievement knowing you have a completely unique car.
What a fantastic project - there must be such a sense of achievement knowing you have a completely unique car.
Cheers! And very much so. It's very rewarding. And have really enjoyed getting stuck into the second one too.
There are lots of things I love about my car. But if I’m honest, because I’m a child, one of my absolute favourite things is the way it leaves the line. Or the way it did…
A few too many enthusiastic launches seem to have taken their toll, lunching the gearbox, the coupler, and even the electric motor. I only worked this out after replacing the coupler and the gearbox, so the car has now been off the road for a couple of months. Not ideal for a soft top in summer.
Rather than source another motor and put it back to the way it was, I decided I might as well bring the planned upgrade forward, and swap over the drive train from my new EV project. And so, the fourth or fifth round of upgrades in the last five years of this project begins.
New motor is the eCVT from a Lexus IS300h, as fitted by Andy to his Z project. This is paired with its matching inverter and a Zombieverter ECU. The existing batteries are staying for now but will soon enough be swapped for the Mini pack that was going in the GT project, giving me an upgrade to around 120 mile range. At some point I’ll splash out on a FoCCCi controller and add CCS fast charging as well.
Before that though, I’m slightly(!) concerned what the torque of the new larger motor is going to do to the back axle. Remember this started as a 1.9 with the dinky little diff.
I believe I can swap in the LSD back axle from a 2.8, though this will be wider track - not a problem for the rear end on my Z300S body. Is this a straight swap with the same mountings? Assuming I’ll need to at least reinforce the diff mounting ears? And possibly do some other reinforcement as well, as many do on the coupes and M cars.
I’ve found a (relatively) local source for a back axle and am hoping to pick up the larger front calipers from the same breaker, since if I’m tripling the power, some more stopping power would seem to be a good idea.
A few too many enthusiastic launches seem to have taken their toll, lunching the gearbox, the coupler, and even the electric motor. I only worked this out after replacing the coupler and the gearbox, so the car has now been off the road for a couple of months. Not ideal for a soft top in summer.
Rather than source another motor and put it back to the way it was, I decided I might as well bring the planned upgrade forward, and swap over the drive train from my new EV project. And so, the fourth or fifth round of upgrades in the last five years of this project begins.
New motor is the eCVT from a Lexus IS300h, as fitted by Andy to his Z project. This is paired with its matching inverter and a Zombieverter ECU. The existing batteries are staying for now but will soon enough be swapped for the Mini pack that was going in the GT project, giving me an upgrade to around 120 mile range. At some point I’ll splash out on a FoCCCi controller and add CCS fast charging as well.
Before that though, I’m slightly(!) concerned what the torque of the new larger motor is going to do to the back axle. Remember this started as a 1.9 with the dinky little diff.
I believe I can swap in the LSD back axle from a 2.8, though this will be wider track - not a problem for the rear end on my Z300S body. Is this a straight swap with the same mountings? Assuming I’ll need to at least reinforce the diff mounting ears? And possibly do some other reinforcement as well, as many do on the coupes and M cars.
I’ve found a (relatively) local source for a back axle and am hoping to pick up the larger front calipers from the same breaker, since if I’m tripling the power, some more stopping power would seem to be a good idea.
The beams are the same Tom, only the M’s are different, they have internal bracing. Swingarm mountings are identical.
Only difference in the arms is the 2.8/facelift arms have a longer casting and bracing in the arm. Larger bearings.
Check the backplates. If you have to put washers/nylocs on the shoes because the pins are pulling through, or to future proof it to prevent that, it’s a lot easier when it’s off the car.
Only difference in the arms is the 2.8/facelift arms have a longer casting and bracing in the arm. Larger bearings.
Check the backplates. If you have to put washers/nylocs on the shoes because the pins are pulling through, or to future proof it to prevent that, it’s a lot easier when it’s off the car.
Brilliant - thanks Iain. Nice to have it confirmed by a proper expert! Now I just need some a) money and b) time. The usual barriers!