1993 Eclipse Convert

The high voltage wiring is complete.  The control circuits all tested out OK and the right things go click when they are suppose to.  The Brake Vacuum pump turns on and off when it is supposed to.  Throttle gives me 0 - 5,000 ohms like it is supposed to.  So far so good.

I’ll measure for a custom box to keep the electronics dry and my guy Ray will make me a good professional looking box.  Next step is to get the Traction battery box mounted permanent and wire up the DC-DC converter.  It is already mounted under the battery rack behind the drivers seat. 

Well, the Zilla Motor Controller package finally arrived!  It was ordered the second week of January and it is now August!  It was worth the wait.  I am fabricating a mount for the Zilla.  It will mount in front of the Aux. Battery, just above the transmission.

The Hairball2 Interface is the ‘brains’ of the package.  It controlls the flow of current and voltage to the motor.  It monitors several parameters like battery voltage, motor amps, motor speed, etc. You can set limits on things like minimum Battery Pack voltage, maximum Motor Amps, etc using a laptop or palm type device.  It converts the speed pickup from the motor and will drive the cars original tachometer.  It displays several status indicators using it’s own LED’s and the dash indicator lights.  It can trap and store status and error codes.  It is a very nice little device with a cool factor of 100.

This will mount on the ‘Low voltage board’.   I should have all this installed in the next day or so.  I should be able to test all the low voltage controls at that point.  If all looks good it will be time to move on to the Charger and other 110 VAC wiring.

The Passenger side seatbelt motor was burned out.  It had to be replaced now because to get it out requires removing the battery support, battery box, etc.  The car won’t pass state inspection without working seatbelts.

Now the battery box can be installed for the last time.

The Low Voltage ( 12 volt DC) schematic has been modified.  It is specific to the Zilla Motor Controller and the Mitsubishi Eclipse but is close to any Conversion your working on.

The High Voltage (144 volt DC) schematic has been modified. It is specific to the Zilla Motor Controller and the Mitsubishi Eclipse but is close to any Conversion your working on.

The Links are also in the sidebar at Right.  Check there for updates in the future.

The throttle or speed control is accomplished using a ‘potbox’.  This device connects to the existing throttle cable that is connected to the gas pedal. It converts the ‘gas pedal’ position to an equivalant electrical signal measued as 0-5,000 ohms.  0 ohms= no gas.  5000 ohms = full throttle.

The end of the throttle cable has a lead barrel so I removed the cable adapter from the original throttle body.  I had to grind off some material so it would clear the potbox housing.

I had bought a choke conversion kit to use most parts as the main emergency disconnect and there were a couple parts left over, including two perfect L-Brackets.

I cut off a hunk of the same channel material I used to route the high voltage cable under the car and used it as the base for the potbox.

The parts used for this are

Here is a couple views of the final assembly

The throttle cable mounted real nice using 2 existing srew holes behind the passenger headlight! 

This is the finished throttle all hokked up with a secondary return spring for SAFETY.  The visible spring is actually the main return spring and is a bit stiffer than the spring on the potbox.  It gives good feedback at the gas pedal.  The last thing you want is to have the spring break when at full throttle so please use redundant return springs!

There is a deadman switch on the potbox we will hook up later but this is basically done and is very secure and safe.

There is a ‘Member Website’ page now.  There are a lot of people converting cars these days and I wanted to give one more place to share projects.  If you have an Electric Conversion, Alternative Fuel Project, Renewable Energy Project (Solar/Wind), we would like to link to your site or even provide a space for you to create a website and share your project with us.

I got a bit side tracked in the last week or so.  Cars have been breaking down here like crazy.  Had to change brakes,caliper,rotor and hub/bearings on my wifes car.  Had to get my Cutlass towed home and change the starter.  Had to repair a cracked oil pan gaurd on my daughters Jetta.  Next week I work in Baltimore Maryland and the following week in Sugarland Texas so nothing is gonna get done on the car for a couple weeks. 

I hope the Zilla is here by then so I can still finish up by July.  I have been updating and improving the Electric Schematics in the evening and will post them soon  (I found a lot lacking in the ones posted now).

I added a Video page for displaying the Eclipse project videos.

Check it out.   I have never recorded a video in my life so forgive my first attempt.  Maybe I’ll get better as time goes on.

Well I started mounting all the stuff under the hood.  Brackets and locations were chosen before the Motor was in so I was not 100% sure everything would fit.  As you can see, so far so good.

The high voltage box is mounted on firewall next to Aux battery.

The Low voltage board is mounted on a custom frame that attaches from frame rail to frame rail .  I may have a box made for this but I haven’t decided.

The space is getting more full but everything looks easy to get to and work on.  That is an improvement over the ICE which ALWAYS required removing ten things to get to something. 

The Hairball interface for the Zilla Controller will mount in that blank space on the front low voltage board.  Now I can find a good location for the Potbox, DC-DC converter and Zilla Controller.  I have sheetmetal to close in the motor compartment for better weather proofing.  I will be bringing fresh air in through the original air filter location for cooling the motor.

The Motor mounts are finished and the Motor/Trans are firmly in the car.  Everything fits great and it doesn’t look too bad.  Lets show the motor end mount first in the order of fabrication.

And then the Middle of the Trans/Motor assembly needs support for both weight and anti-torque.

I used the original rubber half of the mounts for fabrication.  Since the originals have cracks in the rubber, I ordered  new rubber mounts which should be here any day.  I am pleased with the final results and it all seems strong.