Path: news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Bob La Londe <none@none.com99>
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
Subject: Re: Batteries - EV Conversion
Date: Sat, 5 Apr 2025 18:51:18 -0700
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On 2/26/2025 4:38 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
> Back Story:  About 3-1/2 to 4 years ago my dad had a brain tumor 
> removed, and it came to my attention that he was not managing their 
> affairs very well.  He and my mom were receiving social security, and he 
> was doing various handyman type work.  He had some other assets, but he 
> was hoarding them instead of using them.  I stepped in and took over for 
> a little while, but out of respect I kept him in the loop.  When he 
> would tell me something, I'd put in my time and work to make it happen 
> and find out how it would work out and he would try to horse trade with 
> me I quit.
> 
> Example:  He said he would like to sell a fifth wheel trailer he owned. 
> I looked it, up checked the market, found how much others selling the 
> exact same trailer were asking, and how long theirs had been on the 
> market I knew for a fact what they wouldn't sell for, and what I would 
> have to settle for in order to sell it.  He tried to negotiate with me. 
> He literally burned my time without regard.  I'd have been ahead if I 
> had just made stuff in the shop and given him money.  That was the 
> proverbial straw.  I'm not faulting him.  He literally had a hole in his 
> head.  Not his fault.  He just wouldn't let me do what I needed to do 
> without throwing my time in the fire.
> 
> One thing I did do was line up a renter for a commercial property he 
> owned.  I was working out the deal at the same time as my peeve, and 
> then turned the renter over to him because I wasn't going to have my 
> time wasted again.
> 
> My dad passed away a year ago, and I wound up taking over everything 
> again.  I'm actually a bit overwhelmed, but that's beside the point.  At 
> least because of the time my dad was recovering from his brain surgery I 
> had all his account names, passwords, and I have his cell phone.  I was 
> able to just step in and make short term decisions quickly.
> 
> Among other things I took over working with the renter until they moved 
> out at the end of last year.  They were from out of the region, using 
> the property as their local base of operations for a solar generating 
> station they were working on.  While they were here (for three years) 
> they accumulated some stuff.  Trying to get out before the end of the 
> year they had a truck sitting in the yard with a blown engine they 
> wanted to just get rid of.  I told them if they couldn't rid of it they 
> could leave it behind, but they would have to provide the title or I 
> would charge them what it cost me to have it hauled away.  I figured 
> worst case scenario with the title I could load the truck on one of my 
> trailers and get a few hundred bucks from a salvage yard with the title. 
>   Enough to make up for my time to do it.  A few weeks later the title 
> arrived in the mail.
> 
> I got to looking at the truck and its better, and worse than I thought. 
> The motor is not rebuildable.  They already had it out of the truck 
> laying on the ground half apart.  All of the front trim, radiator, grill 
> parts are all out laying in the bed of the truck.  Probably made it 
> easier to pull the motor.  They had told me "The motor is completely 
> blown up, but the transmission is good."  I got to looking at it and the 
> body is straight.  All the trim is there.  The interior is full of 
> desert dust as any vehicle that sets around here gets, but its intact 
> and in good shape. If it had a good motor (less than 3 grand for a reman 
> (4.7L) long block, and a couple grand in additional parts to do it 
> right), it could be made into a decent truck again.  The only real 
> cosmetic negative is for some reason beyond my understanding one end of 
> the front bumper is bent up and out.  Not impact or wreck damage.  Maybe 
> getting pulled out the sand or something by somebody who doesn't know ho 
> to do a pull.  The sheet metal behind it is all perfect for its age. 
> 2013 Dodge Ram 1500 Extended Cab.  Its a Dodge.  I am sure there is 
> stuff that doesn't work, but cosmetically it could be a nice truck.
> 
> The thing is I don't need a truck for serious truck things right now.  I 
> bought the new F250 FX4 back around the end of August last year for 
> truck things.  With its 6.8L engine it develops more horsepower and 
> torque than the 6.6L turbo diesel in the 07 Silverado I sold last year. 
> There is one thing though.  The F250 only averages about 11.8 mpg.
> 
> Finally getting to the point:
> 
> I got it in my mind to do AN EV conversion on that Dodge.  Not for heavy 
> hauling or road trips, but for going to the hardware store.  A few 
> sheets of plywood.  A couple bags of ready mix.  That sort of thing.
> 
> I kinda had a plan.  I was going to use LiFePo batteries instead of 
> lithium Ion because they are safer.  Since its short range it wouldn't 
> matter.  100 miles range would be fantastic.  50 miles range would be 
> more than adequate.  This lets out the obviously killer deal in EV 
> motors.  Ford released the Mach-E crate motor dirt cheap.  I mean cheap. 
>   I think the original OEM price was around $3-4K, but you can buy them 
> from a number of reputable sources including the big name racing stores 
> for $1.5K or less.  Power and torque are very good.  It also requires a 
> 400V battery.  That lets out cheap battery options.  It doesn't come 
> with a controller, inverter, charger, etc.  I could make any gear train 
> parts, but the rest adds up, and the companies that have proven gear to 
> work with it aren't even selling any of it to the unannointed. Basically 
> if you buy that motor hoping to do an EV conversion you will be bread 
> boarding everything from scratch or you will have to turn your vehicle 
> and motor over to one of the CABAL and pay them to do everything.  
> Pricing is very closed mouth, but those who have dared to defy the 
> priesthood have said the minimum cost is around 20 grand and it goes up 
> very quickly from there.  Basically it makes it all pointless. Might as 
> well drop a remanufactured 4.7L gasser in it be out 6 grand including 
> all new front/top of the engine stuff.
> 
> The thing is I don't necessarily need the 285 true horsepower of the 
> Ford Mach-E.  A Hyper-9 is only 144 volts nominal 90ish horsepower.  It 
> would work just fine for a local only surface street pickup truck with a 
> gear box instead of a transmission, and its only about 5 times the price 
> of the Ford Mach-E crate motor.  Still needs controller/inverter/ 
> charger/batteries, etc.
> 
> I really want to do something with this truck.  Its to nice to throw 
> away, but in the end I may just haul it to a salvage yard.
> 

EV is on the back burner for now.  I've been trying to clear out my 
folks commercial property for sale or lease, and that truck does have to 
go, but there is a fellow nearby who rolled an almost identical truck 
who might benefit from this one.  I'm not against doing it anyway, but 
if I can sell it to somebody local to the property that saves me a half 
day (half days are really whole days) hauling it to my place or to the 
salvage yard.

In the mean time I hauled another truck away from the property.  A 2000 
Ford Ranger with (I was told) a good 4.0L engine and a bad transmission, 
except the transmission is completely missing.  I saw some connectors 
hanging down, and looked underneath.  Yep the tranny is gone.  Atleast 
the drive line was in the bed when I opened the camper doors to take a 
look.  Also missing is the exhaust section with the catalytic converter, 
which is, amazingly not that expensive when looked up on Rock Auto.  I 
guess I'll look around to see if I can find the transmission, but I've 
been through the property before.

Next time I run out that way I plan to change all the locks on the 
gates, doors, shop, etc on the property.  I've got an insane bucket of 
keys, and I am trying to eliminate most of them.  If I can put that 
property on just one or two keys it won't make a dent, but it will help. 
  I need to replace the jam on one door, but it leads into a single room 
that has a locked door between it and the main building. Well replace, 
all the locks, but one on the front commercial glass door.  Its an 
oddball.  I hope I can find the key for it, otherwise I'm going to have 
to spend an afternoon watching videos from "The Lock Picking Lawyer. 
Like many commercial locks it generally can't be removed from either 
side when the door is closed.

Next vehicle to haul is probably the 42 Willys.  Its been sitting about 
40 years when it got water in the transfer case if I recall correctly. 
I think it has an original Willys engine so it might have some value, 
but its got all the weathering of 40 years of sitting.

I did turn one thing back into cash.  The Ranger had a contractor work 
cap on it that I originally used on my S10 pickup when I was using it as 
my personal service vehicle.  When I sold the S10 I kept the cap and 
gave it to my dad.  That old steel Gemtop shell still holds some value 
over the aluminum most work caps are today.  I sold it after many years 
of use for nearly what I paid for it back in 2002.  Of course it would 
be three to four times that much to replace it new today.

The Ranger is in decent shape, but the driver's window was converted 
from electric to manual, or manual to electric.  The passenger side has 
buttons, but no crank, but a cover for a crank hole...  The driver's 
side has both buttons and crank.  The paint is "crunchy" like a bubbling 
clear coat or something, and there is a bullet hole in the passenger 
side rear door.  I may wind up hauling that one to the junk yard.  I 
don't see it being worth making drive-able again for myself, and they 
don't tend to sell for enough to be worth making it into a runner to 
sell.  Maybe an alternative for an EV conversion.  LOL.  Lighter, but 
then not as much suspension to handle batteries.  Nah, probably not.  On 
a positive note.  No body cancer.


-- 
Bob La Londe
CNC Molds N Stuff

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